‘They’ve been trying’ – Waerea-Hargreaves’ Super League warning that Hull KR fans will love

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves expects to find himself in the crosshairs of every Super League front-rower when the season gets underway next year.

The Hull KR man has penned a one-year deal with the Robins in a deal that sees him call time on his 16-year spell in the NRL to finish his career in Super League. It’s a move that set tongues wagging when it was announced by the club in February and without a shadow of a doubt, the three-time Premiership winner is the most high profile recruit of the off-season.

His name on a teamsheet will give neutrals a reason to tune in, then, but it will also give those forwards on the opposing side a healthy dose of adrenaline as they look to test themselves against the man who carries a reputation as one of the fiercest men in the sport.

Waerea-Hargreaves’ disciplinary record from Down Under goes before him and while the 35-year-old’s aggression is what makes him the player he is, he understands that he will have to adapt his game in order to stay on the field in red and white. However, he also knows that on the back of his name in the sport, opposing players will come looking for him on the field.

“They’ve been coming for a long time,” Waerea-Hargreaves grinned during an unveiling to the press at Craven Park on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s the role you play.

“If it means opposition players do what they need to do, so be it. They’ve been trying for a while.

“There will be no slowing down. Not yet anyway, not while I’m still out there.”

He added: “I want to try and play every game. I came here to play for Hull KR and I look forward to playing as many games as possible.

“I don’t plan on getting suspended but that’s that fine line that I play on. At the same time it’s just being better in those types of areas.

“I’ve played that role for a long time, I’m not really looking forward to changing much of my game. Willie and I will sit down and talk about a few things but I’m just really getting into pre-season, working on those techniques and trying to be better in those areas.”

Arriving at the start of November, Waerea-Hargreaves will be acclimatised and ready to make an impression on his new teammates when day one of pre-season comes around in the final week of the month. And, with two and a half months of training to be had with his new teammates before the start of the Super League season, he’ll be looking to put that time to good use.

“Obviously I play a style of football that I have for a while now and I’m looking forward to starting pre-season,” he said. “I haven’t had four or five weeks pre-Christmas in many years, so for me to get out there on the paddock and practice new techniques and the communications on how the game is interpreted over here, it gives me enough time to learn, to be better and work on techniques.”