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How do you solve a problem like Waerea?

30th April, 2015
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Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has not been named in the Kiwis squad. Again. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville)
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30th April, 2015
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There’s a Trans-Tasman Test on tonight, and in another punch to his patriotic whiskers, the only thing Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will be lacing up is his best dressing gown at home.

Is it just me, or is this starting to become a tad weird?

The firebrand Chook hasn’t pulled on the national threads since 2013, and to be honest, I haven’t been able to pin an agreed line of thinking on why. The mystique is constantly thickening and it’s beginning to emit quite the stench.

It started last year with a stunning mid-season snub that was filed away under many guises. Some pointed to his lax numbers in the World Cup, whereas others thought it was just a regulation motivational spur that would see him back throwing coat-hangers for the national cause in no time.

But just as we expected his glorious return, the chiffon-strength excuse of ‘burnout’ was given to explain his omission from last year’s Four Nations. Immediately, conspiracy theorists shifted their attention from Roswell and began on the relationship between the scorned forward and his coach Steve Kearney.

Four months on to the 2015 mid-season match-up, and the riddle has been perpetuated with New Zealand Rugby League giving him the finger again.

Adding further mystique, this time around Waerea-Hargreaves made it uber-crystal that he wanted back in, firstly by healing rapidly to return three weeks early from a pectoral injury for Anzac Day, and secondly, by stating publicly that he was ‘always available for Kiwi selection.’

Articulated in clear English and delivered without a wink, I’m going to assume the powers-that-be knew he wasn’t pledging his candidacy for the Silver Ferns with this statement. But again, nothing.

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So can we at least know why a long-term cornerstone and 16-Test premiership-winning veteran is being passed over?

Now don’t get me wrong. Kearney is a good burger, and I’m not here to question him and the NZRL on their operational matters, especially after I was put on The Roar rotisserie this time last year when I playfully lampooned his attitude to international footy.

I also acknowledge that no man on this earth is entitled to a Test jumper unless they spend over $300 at a clearance sale in any Peter Wynn’s Score. Quite simply, I am just a fan who is looking to file this away somewhere so I can get some sleep.

I know the Kiwi coach is looking to re-stump his squad for the long-term, so I can understand if there’s some older dudes he wants to leave on the side of the road on his journey. As they say, there’s no room in footy for arthritis.

Unfortunately, with Waerea-Hargreaves aged 26, that reason’s not going to stick. If anything, you could say he’s approaching prime beef stage for the front row, meaning his best days of horrendous body impact are ahead of him.

As for those in front of him in the team?

Sam Moa, Ben Matulino, Jesse Bromwich and Martin Taupau are tremendous talents in fine nick, and I’m certainly not going to get off the fence and pick one to be replaced. But couldn’t you just find room for a spiritual leader with violent tendencies in there somewhere? 18th man? Bus driver? Special teams? Something?

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So in summary, I am still confused. Waerea-Hargreaves is not injured, not old, not unavailable and not in such gangrenous form that a goldfish would run over the top of him.

He’s a long-term prospect who’s Kiwi to the bone marrow. And dare I say it, even future captain potential?

After examining this issue from many different angles, I can only come to two conclusions. Either the Roosters enforcer owes Kearney money, or lo and behold, the coach may just not rate him.

Perhaps he thinks he is more trouble than he’s worth?

We all know that Waerea-Hargreaves is a heart and soul heartbeat who wholeheartedly wears his heart on his sleeve. On the other hand, he has developed a reputation of also being prone to penalties, loose conduct, and worse still, well-directed bait.

Perhaps Kearney believes his feral edge is too much of a liability against the street-smarts of sophisticated international brawn, where the slightest snafu can cost dearly? Or is there some other theory or explanation I have missed?

The Waerea conspiracy. Like all of the greats, it is one we may never fully understand.

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