Jared Waerea-Hargreaves exits the NRL the way he entered it - with wild eyes and burning anger

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves burst onto the rugby league scene ready to take on anyone who stood in his way - 16 seasons later he’s yet to mellow. DEAN RITCHIE tracks the career of a rugby league icon.

Noel Cleal had heard the stories emanating from the Shute Shield rugby union competition.

About an aggressive Kiwi back-rower with tremendous skill and a growing reputation.

After he was sent a video of a young Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, from player manager Mick Newton, he had to investigate.

In 2007, Cleal was well known as Manly’s recruitment manager. If “Crusher” ever turned up at a game, you know he had an eye on one of the players.

So, in an attempt to remain inconspicuous from prying Northern Suburbs rugby union officials, Cleal donned a hat and sunglasses in an attempt to disguise himself.

“I went to North Sydney Oval and snuck in the back way,” Cleal said.

“Every man and his dog knew I was a rugby league scout and that I was spying so I wore sunnies and a hat, although the beard probably gave away my identity.”

Cleal didn’t even stay until full-time.

“What did I see in Jared that day? I saw a league player playing union,” Cleal said.

“I left before full-time. I’d seen enough and rang his manager that night. We signed Jared the next day. It was all done pretty quickly.

“I knew there and then he was going to play first grade through his attitude and willingness. The deal wasn’t for big dollars. I’ve got a feeling it was $25,000 or $30,000.

“There was a coffee shop at Cammeray where we did a little bit of business. It was like our office away from the office. I think we signed him there.”

Now, 17 years later, England-bound Waerea-Hargreaves will line up for the Sydney Roosters against Manly in Saturday night’s elimination final at Allianz Stadium, in what could be his final game in the NRL.

The NRL's referees might not miss Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as much as Roosters fans will.

STANDING TALL

There was a defining moment in Waerea-Hargreaves’ early days at Manly that put everyone on notice.

Former Sea Eagles prop Josh Perry remembered ambushing Waerea-Hargreaves – the young “buck” from rugby union – in one of his first pre-season session in a brutal rugby league initiation in 2008.

After watching Waerea-Hargreaves refuse to be intimidated by Manly’s elite forward pack, Cleal turned to then head coach Des Hasler and declared: “We’ve got a live one here.”

“There was some argy-bargy. Jared wasn’t to be intimidated. He was mixing it with the big boys,” Cleal said.

Perry, now 43, is a Manly premiership-winning front-rower who also played State of Origin for NSW.

He remembered challenging Waerea-Hargreaves at training – and was shocked by the response.

Waerea- Hargraves training at North Sydney Oval when he was playing rugby union for Norths.

“I was definitely trying to sort him out, for sure, because he was the new buck in the front-row and I was a senior player at that stage,” Perry said.

“We used to go at each other a fair bit at training. It was a classic situation of a senior player and a new guy coming across from rugby union.

“I wanted to test his mettle and he passed every test, I can tell you.

“We were just trying to determine where he was at. It wasn’t like a flare-up as in a push-and-shove, but we had a couple of cracks at him.”

Waerea-Hargreaves played in Manly’s NYC side team in 2008 and 2009 – he was named in the Toyota Cup team of the year – before making his NRL debut in round nine, 2009, coming off the bench against Brisbane.

Then he moved to the Roosters a year later.

“I remember the first time we played against the Roosters, he tried to have a go at me a couple of times,” Perry said.

“I would run at him but tip-on a pass and he would get the s..ts because he couldn’t get hold of me. It was good stuff.”

The battles earned Waerea-Hargreaves the respect of his more experienced former teammate.

“He’s a tough bugger. Like me, he’s probably been suspended more than he needed to but as a performer, and through his longevity, he’s up there with the best of them,” Perry said.

“There’s not many players like him left. It’s a different game these days.”

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves on the pads during his time at the Sea Eagles.

ROOSTERS DEFECTION

After playing just six NRL matches for the Sea Eagles, Waerea-Hargreaves defected to the Roosters in 2010 on a three-year deal.

He left Brookvale due to Manly’s salary cap pressure and because he had three NSW props – Perry, Brent Kite and Jason King – ahead of him.

Waerea-Hargreaves once said: “I was playing at Manly and I absolutely loved it, but I was behind a few players.”

At the time, Manly players say Waerea-Hargraves was driving a Datsun 120Y. They knew he had joined the Roosters when he turned up the next day in a Ford 4WD.

“He was a fierce competitor who loved the physicality of the game – he was ready to get down and dirty,” said Anthony Minichiello, who played at the Roosters alongside Waerea-Hargreaves in 2010.

“You always wanted Jared on your side. You need a front-rower who people fear and Jared has been that for the Roosters since day one, and right until the very end.

“He’s like a fine wine. The forward pack always felt comfortable when Jared was playing.”

A fresh faced Waerea-Hargreaves ahead of the 2010 Grand Final.

AN EARLY REPUTATION

Waerea-Hargreaves made a name for himself early on.

Players still talk about the day, in 2007, when Waerea-Hargreaves came on as a young replacement for Northern Suburbs against Eastwood in a Shute Shield match.

An old Eastwood hardhead yelled: ‘Look, they’ve bought a young kid on’.

With wild eyes and burning anger, Waerea-Hargreaves said: ‘Run at you me you old p***k.’

The Eastwood player decided, wisely, to steer clear.

That same year, The Daily Telegraph’s Jon Geddes wrote a story which read: “Rugby union has moved to secure and protect its brightest teenage talent as NRL clubs circle giant lock Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

“The exciting 18-year-old of New Zealand descent is the hottest prospect on the football radar, a rampaging 105kg back rower who bears a striking similarity to league star Sonny Bill Williams.”

Former Wallabies prop and ex-Northern Suburbs assistant coach Ben Darwin said at the time: “I’ve never seen anyone hit as hard as he can for a young buck.

“He hits like a freight train and I think that is very exciting. One thing we have to do is pull him back at training because he keeps wanting to knock everyone out.”

Even when playing number eight for Northern Suburbs Colts in 2007, Waerea-Hargreaves was physical and terrifying.

In one game against Manly, Marlins player Dave Kennett remembered with a laugh: “I remember him strangling me in that game.

“He hit me a bit late and proceeded to give me a facial.

“I got up and we both attempted to strangle each other until it ended up getting split up.

“It’s safe to say I came off second best.”

THE FUTURE

Sydney Roosters supremo Nick Politis has revealed his future plans for Waerea-Hargreaves, whom he insists is one of the last enforcers of his kind in the game.

“I think the new rules are making it hard for players like him to survive... the real firebrand players. It doesn’t mean he’s a dirty player, it’s just how he plays,” Politis says.

“He was young and wry,” Politis says of the kid they recruited from Manly back in 2009.

“But he’s matured a lot now and I’m very proud of him.

“He’s a family man off the field.

“A lot of people see what he’s like on the field and think he’s an aggressive, dirty player but he’s not, he just plays hard and tough.

“He’s a wonderful person.”

As the ferocious prop nears the end of his decorated career at the Roosters after 15 years and three premierships at the club, Politis is considering ways to keep him involved with a role if and when he wants it.

“We want him to come back to the club after he spends the year overseas,” he said.

“Hopefully he wants to come back here with the club in some capacity.

“We’re looking at getting him involved in the academy.

Club legends Jake Friend and Mitch Aubusson have also taken on similar roles in retirement,

“He speaks well and he’s an intelligent guy. He carries himself well.”

The ultimate NRL warrior: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. Picture: NRL photos

THE LEGACY

Cleal has compared Waerea-Hargreaves to some of rugby league’s greatest props.

At 35, he has played 314 NRL games, won three premierships and established himself as a Roosters great.

“He has been as good a front-rower as there’s been in this generation, and even before,” Cleal said.

“You go back to ‘Blocker’ (Steve Roach) and John O’Neill before that. Jared is up there with those sort of blokes. Jared is Les Boyd’s favourite player because of the way he plays.

“That says it all.”

Originally published as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves exits the NRL the way he entered it - with wild eyes and burning anger