Jordie Barrett and Logan Crowley signed for Taranaki

Two local lads are coming home.  

All Blacks apprentice and second five-eighth Jordie Barrett and former Canterbury halfback Logan Crowley have signed up for Taranaki it was revealed on Tuesday.  

Taranaki Bulls coach Colin Cooper was thrilled to have the two up and coming players back home, who played together at Francis Douglas Memorial College.  

“We have a lot of promising first XV players moving away from the province to attend university and it has been great to be able to attract two of these local boys back home” Cooper said.  

He said both players have left the region and have improved their game since.  

Barrett has had a stand-out season for Canterbury in this year’s national provincial championship and has signed up with the Hurricanes for next year. His form was also rewarded when he joined the All Blacks on the end-of-year tour as an apprentice.  

Barrett, the son of Kevin and brother of Beauden said he felt that the signing with the province is the right decision for him.  

“It’s been a goal of mine to play for my home province and I am looking forward to being part of a strong rugby programme and what is a very good team” he said.  

“It is good to have my playing future sorted as now I can just focus on playing well over the next two years for both the Hurricanes and Taranaki and concentrate on developing as a player and further completing my studies.    

“It has been a busy year for me as I went straight from playing rep cricket into rugby for Lincoln University, the NZ U20's and then with Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup, so it has been really full-on” he said.    

Crowley will become the fifth Crowley to play for Taranaki after following father Alan and uncles Kieran, Sean and Neil Crowley.  

“My family have always had a strong involvement with rugby here in Taranaki so I understand the sense of pride and how important the sport is here in the region” he said.  

Like Barrett, Crowley said he was looking forward to playing for Taranaki and credited his Canterbury experience which has played a bit role in their development.  

Crowley who, like Barrett, attended Lincoln University starred for the Canterbury Under 19 team in 2015 and was called into the Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup team this year when Alby Mathewson was injured.    

A very talented cricketer, Jordie played for the Taranaki senior men’s Hawke Cup team, Central Districts under 17, under 19 and Central Districts A.