Chiefs re-sign Jared Proffit for two more years, but who really is this walking contradiction?

Thursday, 28 May 2026

Prop Jared Proffit has re-signed with the Chiefs for a further two Super Rugby Pacific seasons.

He’s a walking contradiction, Jared Proffit, and he knows it.

The no-nonsense loosehead prop, who the Chiefs on Thursday announced had re-signed with them for a further two years, carries a ‘Gizzy Hard’ mentality on the field, where his actions have already this season drawn the ire of Crusaders fans, yet is quite the quiet, unassuming father-of-three off it.

It’s a case of heavy white-line fever, the 32-year-old Gisborne-born-and-bred Taranaki veteran admits to the Waikato Times, dispelling any myths he might be some 24-7 aggressive-type character.

“I try to play with a bit of brutality, but I’m definitely not that guy off the field,” a mild-mannered Proffit says.

“I sort of switch into a different person when I play. It’s funny, you get that kind of image of people when they’re playing, but then you meet them and you’re like, ‘Far out, you’re a different person to what I’ve seen’.

Jared Proffit sparked outrage in the Crusaders’ ranks after his tip-tackle on David Havili in round three in Hamilton.

“I suppose I came in in the era of Jarrad Hoeata [a former Naki team-mate and now Chiefs assistant coach] and people like that, and they’ve just rubbed off on me a bit, the way they play the game. And being from Gizzy, it can be pretty rough over there.”

For a man who earns a crust through being out of the spotlight ‒ “just head down and grind away” ‒ Proffit earned a fair bit more attention earlier in the season, when, in the round-three loss to the Crusaders in Hamilton, he kicked off quite the fracas with a tip-tackle on the visitors’ captain David Havili, which he was lucky not to be punished with with more than a penalty.

“I had to turn the phone off for the week, I was getting tagged left, right and centre, my mates here were giving me stick,” Proffit quips.

“It’s just heat-of-the-moment stuff. I definitely regret doing it, and apologised to him last weekend, after the game [the re-match in Christchurch], made sure he’s all good.”

In a Chiefs pack not exactly known for taking any backward steps, Proffit has fitted in well, though has taken another step up in 2026, on the back of extra opportunity, thanks to the departure of centurion Aidan Ross (Reds) and the early-season injury recovery of Ollie Norris.

In four seasons at the Chiefs, Jared Proffit has had to bide his time, but has become a valuable contributor.

“I think it helps with the confidence, having more games under the belt, I’ve been stoked with the amount of game-time I’ve had,” says Proffit, who, with Norris resting a knee problem, will get another start in the No 1 jersey in the final-round clash against the Blues in Hamilton on Saturday night.

Proving a key part of the Chiefs’ impressive scrum, Proffit has also been rock-solid on defence, making 84 tackles and missing only three (96.43%), in a body of work that has suitably impressed first-year coach Jono Gibbes.

“He does a lot of unseen stuff, is a big contributor to the forward pack, and a guy who is just a really reliable performer, gets on with his work, toils hard… he very rarely has really poor games,” Gibbes notes to the Waikato Times.

“To have people like that in your squad that you just know are consistent, it just makes things a lot easier. And players, they like playing alongside him, because they know he’s going to turn up.

“He’s a really well-liked team-mate, a lot of the guys enjoy his company, and he makes the changing shed a better place, that’s for sure.”

Jared Proffit, pictured in 2016, has racked up 90 games for Taranaki.

From a family of four boys, Proffit and his three siblings all share the distinction of having played in the Heartland Championship, though he is the only one, at this stage, at least, to have gone further.

Older brother, Trent, played 15 games as a loose forward for East Coast from 2017-2022, while younger brothers, Matt (19 games as an outside back from 2023-2025), and Nic (2 games as a first-five/fullback in 2025), have represented Poverty Bay, who Jared notched a single appearance for in 2012.

That was during his final year of school at Gisborne Boys’ High, where he played in the 1st XV for four seasons and helped steer them to a momentous Super Eight title in 2011, which was the only break on Hamilton Boys’ High’s stranglehold on that crown from 2006-2015.

Out of school Proffit moved to Taranaki to join their academy, as well as work as a glazier, starting his own business before eventually winding it up when rugby began to take up more time.

After getting called into the Hurricanes for one appearance in 2022, he found himself at the Chiefs just a few weeks later and picked up a full contract for 2023, a memorable year that also saw him savour NPC success with the amber and blacks, who he has now amassed 90 games for in 11 seasons.

With the Chiefs he has now logged 33 appearances, and this year has started more matches (six) than in his first three seasons put together, as well as scoring a maiden try, in rather bizarre fashion at that, in the win in Super Round in Christchurch, when Fijian Drua fullback Ilaisa Droasese had quite the brain explosion and grubbered for himself in-goal, with Proffit flying through to then ground the ball.

Coming on the back of a proud achievement of making the Māori All Blacks last year, Profit, albeit realistic about his age, acknowledges the drive is still there to make it to test level, so is grateful for this new deal through 2028 with the Chiefs.

“It’s good to get some stability for the family. And I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else, so it’s a privilege to be able to re-sign here.”