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Does JWH stand for judiciary’s weekly hearing?

16th September, 2014
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The all-too common site of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves getting attention from the referees. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)
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16th September, 2014
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If a scrapbook of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ rugby league career is being kept, I suspect his children and grandchildren will be amazed by his abilities, but disappointed when they get the chance to read his rap sheet.

Many of his ‘highlights’ can easily turn into low-lights, such is the way he plays the game.

The Roosters front-rower is placed on report for an illegality so many times, it’s getting ridiculous. Seven suspensions since 2011 testify to that.

As a result, league reporters rarely write about his football skills. The part of their match reports that might be left to praise him for a clever offload, or a series of metre-eating charges, are used up informing readers he may be heading for yet another night at the judiciary.

Last Saturday, Waerea-Hargreaves left Penrith’s Brent Kite dazed and heading for a mid-match concussion test after he unleashed an unnecessary swinging arm high-shot.

He was placed on report but the judiciary panel subsequently felt he had no case to answer and freed him to play against North Queensland this week.

That puzzled me and league fans just about everywhere the incident was discussed. After two previous charges (and suspensions) this year, many feel he dodged a judicial bullet that could have ended his season.

Anyway, he had a slice of luck. Apparently, he had an open hand at the time and ball carrier Kite was falling. Accidents happen on the football field for sure – it’s a collision sport – but this didn’t look like an accident.

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It happened in the first half at a time when both teams were striving for the upper hand. Minutes before, Waerea-Hargreaves had crunched Panthers hooker James Segeyaro in a fierce tackle.

The man they call JWH is a Kiwi international, a formidable athlete equipped with a big motor. Some refer to him in print as an enforcer but I cannot bring myself to describe him that way. Clobbering a ball carrier in the head when he cannot protect himself is not enforcing anything or anyone. It’s cheap, but not as cheap as raising a forearm against on-rushing tacklers.

Obviously, I am not a big fan of the way he plays the game and I suspect there are even plenty of Roosters fans who groan every time they see him towering over a fallen opponent as the referees determine their course of action.

Waerea-Hargreaves has become a liability to the Roosters and could easily cost them the chance of defending their title. He’s a two-legged time bomb with major discipline problems and no team can afford to be down a senior player at this stage of the season.

On Friday night, Waerea-Hargreaves will be lining up against a genuine tough guy in the shape of Cowboys prop Matt Scott.

Scott will surely finish his career with a bulging scrapbook carrying reports of the many brilliant and inspirational games he played – peppered by sparse judiciary appointments.

The big Queenslander plays the game hard and pretty much within its rules. It’s fair to say he has earned the respect of every forward he has ever lined up against.

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Sadly, Waerea-Hargreaves has not.

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