Narre Warren South youngster Jared Hustler has the rugby league world at his feet.By Marc McGowan
NARRE Warren South rugby league prospect Jared Hustler left Queensland two years ago and arrived in the Australian Rules heartland but he has not switched football codes.
His father played Australian Rules football as well but, despite his playing one game for his school, Hustler’s heart never left rugby league.
“Aussie Rules isn’t hard enough; I love the intensity and being able to be so physical in rugby league,” Hustler, 18, said.
The 186-centimetre, 92-kilogram strongman is making an impact in rugby league circles and was recently selected in the Affiliated States 18 Years Rugby League team for the second year running, capping an impressive performance in the national championships.
“It was a pretty big shock last year but I was working towards it this year,” he said. “I did a lot more work in the gym and put a lot more effort in than last year. It’s pretty good after putting in six to 12 months of really hard training.”
The Affiliated States squad includes players from Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, which form Pool B in the national championships. Queensland and New South Wales players make up the open Australian 18s side. There is also a New South Wales team in Pool B but it does not qualify for the squad.
“You have to be in Pool A to get noticed by selectors (for the Australian 18s team),” Hustler said. “One guy made it from Pool B – but he’s from New South Wales and he plays junior representative football in New South Wales. He was the first guy to ever make the team (from Pool B).”
Hustler is a part of the Melbourne Storm’s academy and its high performance director Paul Bramley – who was also the coach of the Affiliated States side – is very impressed with him.
“Jared has a great training attitude and he is very good in the gym,” Bramley said. “He’s one of those kids who’s willing to learn and listen. Victorian kids face a lot of barriers in rugby but they probably have a better chance to be seen than kids in the other states. He has got a future.”
The Affiliated States squad has just completed a training camp in Sydney, where they came up against junior National Rugby League (NRL) sides the Parramatta Eels and the Penrith Panthers. The side split the two matches but Hustler came away with invaluable experience.
“It was a training camp to show us the life of a professional NRL player,” Hustler said. “We were training two to three times a day and we had to do recovery – ice baths and swimming. It was really good to see how other professional athletes prepare.”
His association with Melbourne Storm allows him to rub shoulders with the elite.
“You get to talk to them; see them in the gym. At first you noticed it but now it’s just ‘oh, it’s him again’,” he said. “We talk to them about our training and how they were when they were younger.”
All the hard work is paying dividends for the young second rower-prop.
“You have to sacrifice time out with mates for the early training sessions. I can’t go out on Saturday nights because I have training on Sunday mornings and I can’t go out on Friday nights because I train, but it’s all worth it,” he said.
