In the few games he played last season for the Manly Sea Eagles, Kiwi Test forward Jared Waerea Hargreaves certified himself as the NRL’s most promising forward since Sonny Bill Williams.
It did not take long at all for New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney to call up Hargreaves into the Kiwi Four Nations squad last year, despite the 21 year old having played only six first grade games.
And it only took a massive hit on Kangaroos forward Sam Thaiday in the opening match of the Four Nations to realise how disappointed Manly officials were when the Sydney Roosters had already secured Hargreaves’ services for the next three seasons.
Believe the hype when one tells you Hargreaves is the prototype of the modern Rugby League forward.
The man from Rotorua, New Zealand, hits like a Bull in defence, can offload at will and also possesses great footwork and good speed which invariably saw him break the first line of defence last season.
Unfortunately for Roosters fans, the anticipated debut of Hargreaves this season suffered a blow thanks to a pre-season mishap with a team-mate that saw the 110 kilogram forward suffer a dislocated shoulder.
Luckily, the injury has only kept him out of the opening five matches so far this year, with Hargreaves named to make his return against the Canberra Raiders this Saturday from the bench.
Although the majority of eyes will focus on how Todd Carney presents himself against his former club, one will watch with anticipation the return of potentially one of the NRL’s most influential players.
Indeed Hargreaves’s first match of the season will present the Kiwi forward with some terrific individual match-ups upfront, with representative forwards David Shillington, Tom Learoyd Lars and Bronson Harrison the main challengers in the Raiders big pack.
If Hargreaves can replicate the form which earned him a Kiwi Test jumper at 21 against Canberra, the prospect of watching him evolve into one of the NRL’s elite players throughout the remainder of the season spells severe danger for the rest of the Roosters opponents.
The 21 year old will certainly add some much needed steel to a Roosters defence that is still the worst in the NRL by a fair margin.
Based on last season’s showing however, opponents will think twice than to come into contact with a shoulder that has already left some of the NRL’s biggest names seeing stars.
What Hargreaves will add to defence, he will certainly match in attack thanks to his blend of footwork, power and offloading ability which, i dare say, rivals that of the legendary Arthur Beetson.
Whilst the majority of the Roosters early season successes have been acquitted to the solid performances of both Todd Carney and Mitchell Pearce, Hargreaves’ form for the next 20 weeks in the NRL could well determine whether or not the Bondi-Junction club will overcome last season’s wooden spoon performance with a finals showing this year.
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