There have been several players who have switched clubs ahead of the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season. In a new series, Rugby.com.au sits down with some of the key transfers, looking at NSW Waratahs lock Taleni Seu.
Seu returns to Super Rugby after making his name for the Chiefs under former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, arriving in NSW from Japanese club Toyota Industries Shuttles.
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The 29-year-old helped the club rise through the Japanese ranks, eventually earning their promotion to division one of the Japanese Rugby League One, the first time they have been in the top flight since 2010-11.
Seu has parlayed this into selection for the Samoan side ahead of September's World Cup, starting during wins over Georgia and Romania at the end of last year.
With a crucial year ahead, Seu was eager to 'challenge himself' in Australia in the hopes of nailing down consistent game-time.
“I wanted to challenge myself. I could’ve easily gone back to New Zealand and gone to what I know but I thought why not come over here and give Australian Rugby a crack,” he said to Rugby.com.au.
“I’ve been to Japan, Mitre 10 Cup with Auckland and the Chiefs so I’m not scared to try out new things. For me, this season is all about staying fit. I had a few injuries in Super Rugby (in my last stint) but now I’ve come back a lot heavier and trained a lot harder.
“I’m ready to see how the body will go now I’ve put some work in and time into my body.
“I wanted to get some good footy into me before the World Cup. I’m gunning for Samoa and it’s really exciting. It’s a big goal of mine to play a World Cup so as I’m starting to get older and seeing what I really want to get out of this sport.”
Seu is impressed with what his seen at the club so far under Darren Coleman and his ability to get the best out of his players.
He knows he has to 'earn each week' if he wants to achieve his goal of 50 Super Rugby caps, currently sitting at 44.
The former Chief believes the growing bond and connection fostered by the former Giltinis coach will only help the Waratahs as they push for further honours in 2023.
“I feel like coming here, I think DC (Darren Coleman) has built a good culture that’s all about working hard,” Seu explained.
“Over here, you can just be yourself. It’s really built off hard work and that’s what all our training is around. We want to outwork the competition and we’ve had a lot of trainings this pre-season which is different from New Zealand where it’s a lot of Rugby stuff
“You start putting in the hard work and you see the results and a lot of the boys are getting a lot of buy-in at training.
“With DC, he’s real open and allows you to be yourself in a Rugby sense and he knows how to coach the player…seeing the boys also open up and tell their stories, what they’re going through creates such a bond and connection to them knowing them more deeply.”
Seu has noticed the difference in himself, no longer the 'stick' that broke into Super Rugby in 2016 after impressing in the ITM Cup for Waikato.
This comes with added maturity in his own eyes, admitting his former Chiefs teammates would be 'shocked' at his transformation.
“It all happened pretty quickly and I think mentally I was ready for it but my body wasn’t in the right shape,” he admits.
“When I first started Super Rugby I was a stick. I was tossing between Basketball and playing Rugby and had one good breakout season and got a gig with the Chiefs. It was a big shock to me because I’d never gymed properly and I think that is why I got a lot of injuries, I couldn’t handle the physicality of the season and picked up a few injuries.
“This pre-season has shown me a lot. The numbers I’m hitting now compared to when I left (the Chiefs), people who were with me at the Chiefs would probably get a big shock…when I first started there I couldn’t even do ten push-ups, now I’m hitting PBs of 155 on the bench press so I’m pretty stoked with that and I want to keep pushing it.”
