NRL: Explosive power in rising young star

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, left. Photo / Getty Images

His father dodged bombs, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves throws them, in rugby league terms anyway.

Note the name - it might be a mouthful but he is a handful and the Kiwi-born lock or second rower could be one of the young stars of the NRL when he moves to the Roosters next year.

The 1.93m, 110kg, powerfully built 20-year-old is currently with Manly who were disappointed to lose him but who had little leeway in their salary cap to cater for similarly off-contract stars such as halfback Matt Orford.

But Waerea-Hargreaves is notable for other reasons. He might be the only player in the NRL with a peacekeeper father who was kidnapped.

He was an extremely promising junior golfer in New Zealand, before the family moved to Australia.

He was also a dab hand at rugby - which is where Manly found him. Waerea-Hargreaves was a highly promising No 8 in the Waratahs academy and was being sized up by no less a judge than Ewen McKenzie, former Wallaby and Waratahs coach, now plying his trade in France.

His father Wayne was a peacekeeper. He has served in Iraq, Kosovo and Cambodia as well as Somalia - which is where he was kidnapped by militia in a story which went round the world.

As an 8-year-old in Rotorua, Waerea-Hargreaves was gobsmacked when called into his living room by his mother who pointed to the TV screen and news of the kidnapping and said: "That's your father."

According to interviews with Australian media, the parents had separated and that was one of the first times the boy had seen his father. Later, the two met and grew closer and, according to Sydney's Sunday Telegraph, two years ago Jared asked his father, then serving in Iraq, to come home and help him with his life.

Waerea-Hargreaves told the Telegraph: "I just thought I needed a bit of guidance and support to help me along and get me through. While I was talking to him on the phone, there were all these sirens going off in the background.

"I said 'Dad, what's that?'.

"He said 'that's just the Scud missile sirens. They've just fired one at our camps. I"ve got to get underground.'

Wayne Hargreaves said he decided to move to Australia because his son had impressed with the depth of his thinking and appeal. As a result Hargreaves was able to advise his son about an opportunity in Africa.

Waerea-Hargreaves was asked to help build orphanages in war-torn Rwanda and asked his father what he thought.

"Dad told me to do it," Waerea-Hargreaves said. "He had served in Africa and thought it would be a great life experience."

After Africa, moving to the Roosters may not seem quite such a terrific addition to the CV right now but knowledgeable judges are betting Waerea-Hargreaves will be a fixture in a Roosters team that has undergone many changes this year - and might be setting up for more in 2010.

Coach Brad Fittler has gone amidst a litany of off-field woes and scandals that have seen the Roosters plummet to the bottom of the NRL table. However, canny coach Brian Smith, currently of Newcastle, is taking over and most observers are betting he will get to work on the booze and party culture that has plagued the Roosters.

New signings who do the business on the field will also be a way of leaving the terrible 2009 season behind and Waerea-Hargreaves could be an integral part of that.

Although he hasn't yet forced his way into the main Manly line-up, he has raised eyebrows with his explosive shoulder charges and his damaging running. He was known as "Sonny" at his old rugby club - a reference to what some think is a strong resemblance to Sonny Bill Williams.

In a Toyota Cup game, he turned heads by landing three Penrith Panthers players with enormous "hits" before being warned to tone things down by the referee. He has played for Manly mostly off the interchange bench.

Now that he is leaving, he may see little first-team duty, barring injuries.

The Roosters loom as the team which could see this New Zealand-born prospect really making a mark in first grade. If he does, he will have one of the more unusual backgrounds in the NRL - coming to the competition via New Zealand, golf, rugby and, of course, Rwanda, Somalia and Iraq.