LEAGUE - Teen centre Aussie-bound

It takes a powerful rugby league boot to stride the divide between local amateur club rugby league and the professional world of the Cronulla Sharks in Sydney.
Jarom Wihongi-Henare from Tikipunga has made that leap.
After being head-hunted by Sydney talent scouts, who saw him work his magic with the New Zealand Maori under-18 team, the 17-year-old centre or back-rower has signed a prestigious three-year contract with the Sharks.
He leaves this week for a new career in Australia - a big step for a schoolboy from Tikipunga whose success has come faster than he imagined.
"Although my family thought it would come eventually, no one expected it to be quite so soon - it is kind of nerve wracking the whole thing of moving to Australia," he said.
He considers himself fortunate that he will not be making the journey to a new life in a new country alone.
Long-time Northland teammate, Dargaville's Shane Pumipi, left the country on Sunday to begin a similar contract with the Sharks and, like Wihongi, he will live in the apartments owned by the club in Sydney.
The pair will train with the larger Jersey Flegg (under-20) squad but will probably end up playing in the SG Ball under-18 competition.
Wihongi leaves behind large sporting shoes to fill at Tikipunga High School.
He has been a key figure in highly successful teams crossing five codes: volleyball, league, touch, sevens and basketball.
His shift to Australia is a brave move for a boy who has lived his entire life with his family, firstly in Hikurangi and for the last five years in Tikipunga. He has always been close to his family, which includes his four brothers, his sister and his parents.
"Our family would not be as close without our Mormon faith. It is very important to me and has saved me from making a lot of mistakes. I think one of mum's concerns about me going overseas is that I might drift away from my faith. One of the first things I intend doing is to make contact with the church in Sydney," he said.
Jarom sees Tikipunga High School as being a crucial factor in his success.
"I don't think I would be where I am today if I had been at another school. Mr Woods, the head of sport, and another teacher who was there for a while, Brad Miller, were very important. Mr Woods has guided me in many areas of my life not just including sport," he said.
Jarom acknowledges that his first step into the world of professionalism is a large team effort: a mother who believed in him, a father who went to nearly every league game and taxied him and fellow team mates every weekend for three years to games in Auckland, younger brother Kieron, who is an impressive sportsman in his own right, other family members who cheered him on the sidelines, great teachers and great coaches.
There was even one dedicated intermediate teacher, Mrs Wellington.
"She followed my progress through school and went to nearly every game I played. No man, it seems, in terms of sport, is ever truly an island."