Harry Hayes’s crazy football journey from Bulldogs water boy to NRL star

Unnoticed and overlooked during his teens, it seemed the closest Harry Hayes was going to get to the NRL was running water. Now he’s making a strong case to be part of the ladder leader’s best 17.

The first time Harry Hayes took to the field to represent the Bulldogs he did so as a water boy.

Hayes was like most teens who initially walk through the gates at Belmore Oval dreaming of becoming an NRL player.

While those around him had the chance to impress on the field, Hayes took a different path.

In fact he was only at Belmore as a favour from then-Canterbury talent spotter Mark Hughes, who was a friend of the Hayes’ family.

NRL’s Harvey Norman Women in League Round supporting Ovarian Cancer Australia: Donate now >

Hayes’ grandfather Merv Hicks is a former Bulldog and Great Britain international.

The first time he wore the famous blue-and-white, Hayes wasn’t taking hit-ups or making tackles, with the prospect of a rugby league career appearing unlikely.

“I got brought down here through a school subject,” Hayes said.

“It had nothing to do with playing. The year before Covid-19 I came down here to run water for Canterbury’s development teams.

“I got the opportunity to do that to see how the boys were training.”

Harry Hayes took an unconventional path to first grade. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

A torn ACL during a pre-season trial game for his club side at 15 plagued his development. Hayes was playing on the Central Coast but had gone relatively unnoticed by talent scouts and was overlooked for local representative teams.

It was a theme which would continue until there was a drastic change of good fortune.

Not only did Hayes get the chance to witness first-hand how Canterbury’s emerging players trained and played, he stumbled upon a chance to join them on the training field.

“They asked me to train in their high performance unit one night,” Hayes said.

“I had a bit of fun.”

Harry Hayes celebrates his NRL debut with friends and family.

Academy high-performance manager Craig Wilson then asked Hayes to return the next week.

And he just kept on turning up.

“That eventuated into a trial and I played all right. So I just kept coming back,” Hayes said.

“The ACL rocked me for a couple of years. I stayed off the field for about two years and it took me a while to find my passion for footy.

“Canterbury told me I didn’t make the SG Ball side but I could keep coming down a few times a week and play in some development games.”

Wilson said Hayes’ frame was what immediately caught his eye as Hayes was doing work experience with the Bulldogs youngsters.

They were caught short in a drill and asked Hayes to fill in with players his same age.

“We just pulled him into one of the sessions,” Wilson said.

“It was more of a look-and-see and we needed an extra body to fill in a spot at training. He impressed and he just kept impressing.

“Whenever we asked him to do something challenging, he just got better. He didn’t make our Harold Matthews or SG Ball squads but he had a sensational work ethic.”

So much so that despite being overlooked and knowing he would not play, Hayes still turned up to train with Canterbury’s offcuts – the players who have some talent but live on the Central Coast.

“We were training two or three nights a week and his parents would get him down to train,” Wilson said.

“We tried to convince his parents not to bring him from the Central Coast on the Fridays because it was a nightmare for them.

“But their attitude was if he was going to be part of it he was going to do the lot.”

Hayes would sometimes have to travel by train as he worked hard to stay in Canterbury’s calculations.

Harry Hayes of the Bulldogs is tackled during the round nine NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and Canterbury Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

“Those that know me know that I am pretty strict on counting training balls at the end of sessions,” Wilson said.

“We were always one short. It went on for two or three weeks. I found out (Pathways coach) Dave Hamilton gave Harry a ball so he could practise his grip on the train on the way home.

“So people might’ve been watching him going to and from the Central Coast practising his grip with a footy in his hand.

“At the end of the SG Ball (under-17s) season we gave him a trial because he was a big frame and still learning about the game.

“He didn’t make the Ball squad and then he got into the Flegg (under-21s) program.

“He trained hard and forced every coach in the senior grades to pick him on his training and work ethic on and off the field. He just earnt the right to keep getting another crack.

“I know it sounds corny, but when they run out to play NRL they aren’t talking about how many Harold Matthews or SG Ball games you play.”

Hayes celebrates scoring his first NRL try.

His hard work was formally recognised with a deal after impressing in a Jersey Flegg trial against the Sharks while still commuting from the Central Coast.

Eventually he moved to Sydney as he inched closer to his NRL dream and he was then part of Canterbury’s 2023 Jersey Flegg grand final win.

As Hayes was still trying to find his feet at the Bulldogs, he was continuing to grow physically. With each passing season he gradually moved further from the sidelines towards the middle of the field where he eventually found his home in the middle.

He was given a train-and-trial contract ahead of last season where he would make his NRL debut. Hayes picked up a two-year contract in the off-season.

“Every day I kind of think, ‘What is going on?’” Hayes said.

“I don’t want to take it for granted. Being around the people I’m with every day, I want to learn from them. Footy and life. I’m still finding my way in both.

“It’s been a pretty crazy journey. I’m so grateful.”

Originally published as Harry Hayes’s crazy football journey from Bulldogs water boy to NRL star