Harawira-Naera ready for change of scene

Corey Harawira-Naera is ready to give his all for the Raiders after a change of scenery

Corey Harawira-Naera at Canberra Raiders training on Tuesday

Canberra recruit Corey Harawira-Naera is preparing to make his bow for the Raiders but there is a part of him that still feels the urge to reach out one more time and make amends for the events of the pre-season.

At some point this week, he may take to social media to deliver a message to rugby league fans at both his former club Canterbury and his current one Canberra.

“I feel like I have to do it on a personal note,” Harawira-Naera said.

“For some reason I feel like I need to do it, to have some peace about it.”

Harawira-Naera trained alongside his new teammates in the nation’s capital for the first time on Tuesday. He is living in a hotel room for the time being, but will move in with teammates Hudson Young and Tim Starling in coming days.

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He has emerged from a difficult period with a new-found determination to make the most of the second chance that he has been given by the Raiders. There were dark days after he was initially deregistered by the NRL following an incident during the pre-season in Port Macquarie, when he was found to have breached the club’s code of conduct.

“Once the deregistration came, it wasn’t pretty,” Harawira-Naera said.

“I was looking at any excuse to drink. I wasn’t working. It was a pretty rough place. My family were checking up on me multiple times a day.

“I was in a dark place. A couple of weeks after that and even since April, I stopped the grog and started getting my head right.

“Easter weekend was the last time I drank – I was like is this it, am I just going to roll over and let it happen and not even try to get back?

“After that I started focusing on things that needed to be done. I need to mature as a person with a few things that did happen.

“I didn’t want to give up on the dream. I was only three seasons into my NRL career and I was like this can’t be it. I was lucky I had a lot of support through the boys at the Dogs, friends and family back home and here as well.

“But it was up to me – it was a mental reminder that this is not it. I am not giving up on it now.”

Harawira-Naera admits he is short of match time but he maintained a degree of fitness during his time off by attending the gym and working as a landscaper alongside fellow Bulldogs player Jayden Okunbor.

“It was actually bit of fun,” he said.

“The boys we were working with were really good. It was lucky compared to where we could have been. We were doing mainly stone work – sandstone walls and stuff mixing cements.

“There was one day when we did it all day, loading stones. It was a bit taxing on the back.”

He could have returned to the Bulldogs when the NRL appeals committee reinstated his contract. However, the lure of Canberra was too strong, Harawira-Naera tempted by the opportunity to work under Ricky Stuart and potentially win a premiership.

That journey, for him at least, starts on Saturday night in Townsville.

“Also the change-up – I was getting into a little bit of trouble in Sydney and the change of scenery, coming to a quieter place where I could focus a bit more without the outside noise,” he said.

“I love (Canberra). It is kind of on its own and a diehard league town. The quietness as well as … it is the politicians and us I guess.

“It is crazy. Just to know I am playing this weekend – I didn’t think I would be in this position two or three weeks ago.

“I told Rick I am keen to play but obviously he is going to manage my loads a bit and ease me into it. He talks about 20 or 30 minutes off the bench but we have to see how things play out.

“It has come quickly.”

His career back on track, Harawira-Naera’s only concern now is winning a premiership and winning it with Canberra. Others will no doubt linger on the past. His only focus is the future.

“For some people it is going to be an inside joke for them,” he said.

“It is something you have to accept and move on, know that people are going to say things about you and you can’t do anything about it.

“As long as I look after myself mentally and have good people around me, I will be right. Just let my performances on the field do the talking for me and look to the future.”