Few signings have raised eyebrows quite like Manaaki Selby-Rickit putting pen to paper with the Chiefs.
Why, people asked on social and mainstream media, would an established Highlanders lock move north to a franchise that can start All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Tupou Vaa’i, with Josh Lord in reserve. Add to that the highly talented Laghlan McWhannell and Naitoa Ah Kuoi and there seems little chance Selby-Rickit will get much playing time.
It’s madness, surely.
Not really.
On a personal level Selby-Rickit has moved north because his partner, Renne Brown, is pregnant with their first child, a daughter who is due in March. Brown is from Auckland, they were living in Tauranga (but have since moved to Hamilton) and Dunedin is too far to commute.
“I love the Highlanders,” Selby-Rickit says. “They took care of me in the
