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For all the waxing lyrical about the incredible ability of Sonny Bill Williams, he isn’t the most important player at the Rugby League World Cup. In fact, he isn’t even the most important player in his own side.
It doesn’t stop there for silver medal SBW though. He’s also only the second best acronym in his own side.
I recently pondered whether the class and guile of the Kangaroos could be contained. After watching the big three countries run around and witnessing the paths to the final laid out before them, I believe they most certainly can.
Australia will be coasting to the final, while England and New Zealand will be battle-hardened and high on confidence after overcoming the other in the semi-finals, barring any incredible upsets which change this trajectory.
I’m not quite sold on England yet, but New Zealand definitely have the firepower to ambush Australia once again, and it all comes down to the acronym which has topped SBW OMG – JWH.
The Kiwis were an absolute powerhouse against Samoa while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was on the field, scoring at better than a point a minute at one point.
During the period he was off the field, Samoa mounted an astonishing fightback, only for the Kiwis to regain control and power home once the premiership-winning prop returned to the field.
It was no coincidence. When Waerea-Hargreaves enjoyed a stint on the sidelines through suspension, the Sydney Roosters also experienced their flattest patch of the year.
In an era when being a front rower is going out of fashion, Waerea-Hargreaves is proving that there is almost nothing as valuable as a big, strong and talented prop.
Statistically he was dominant, making 18 runs for 162 metres, but what Waerea-Hargreaves brings to the table goes beyond numbers. He is the style of player Australia do not want to face up against – a dominant front rower.
Tim Sheens has been playing with one prop on the bench before it was the latest rep fad and he has continued to do so in the RLWC.
The only issue? James Tamou and Matt Scott are coasting on 18-month-old form.
Should a Trans-Tasman final occur, the battle in the middle will be New Zealand’s to lose as they’ll be led by the best prop in the world in Waerea-Hargreaves, and ably assisted by Moa, Bromwich and Matulino.
Andrew Fifita is in excellent form and did not look out of place in a Kangaroos jersey, but the fabled ‘footwork’ that coaches love to look for through the ruck is useless when there are no props to start the roll-on and the play-the-balls are slow.
The English front row busted eight tackles between them, while Tamou and Scott failed to break one.
The sight of George Burgess charging over the try line twice (one luckily a drop ball) is a potent reminder Australia is far behind England and New Zealand when it comes to middle third firepower.
Waerea-Hargreaves is the best in the world – Tamou and Scott aren’t even the best in Australia.
The ambush is on again and it could very well come to fruition, but Sonny Bill Williams isn’t going to be the magic touch. If New Zealand wants to win back-to-back World Cups, it’s going to be off the back of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
Twitter: The_Hoss12
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