Roosters call up Hauraki for his debut against Newcastle

"I know I can play, I know I can do it, I just need to train hard out and play well." That's what Northlander Iwi Hauraki told the Advocate four years ago before he embarked on a league career in Australia.
It's been a long time coming, but perseverance and hard work have finally paid off  with Hauraki set to make his NRL premier grade debut tomorrow night.
Hauraki has been selected to play for the Sydney Roosters against the Newcastle Knights at Energy Australia Stadium.
Until now, the 22-year-old has been playing for Roosters' feeder club, the Newtown Jets, in the New South Wales Cup competition.
"He should have been promoted before this but the Roosters haven't always made the right selection decisions so far this season ... and he's had a few injuries otherwise I think he would have debuted earlier," Newtown's Glen Dwyer said.
"He deserves his chance and I think he'll make a real go of it."
 Dwyer said that Hauraki is a prime example of a "poacher turned gamekeeper" having scored the winning try for Wentworthville against Newtown in the 2008 premiership decider. The Newtown club liked what they saw and signed him for the 2009 season.
"From being our mortal enemy he became our best friend overnight," Dwyer said.
He has been one of the Jets' most consistent performers this year and has played primarily as a winger, but he has also turned out at fullback and five-eighth, scoring seven tries in 13 appearances.
"He runs hard, hits hard and can jump high for the ball and he's such a strong fellow that he doesn't have to worry about what the opposition will serve up," he said.
The form that Iwi has been in this year has drawn some flattering comparisons. "He is a tough, uncompromising winger in the style of Taniela Tuiaki from Wests Tigers and is the sort of player who will eagerly take up the challenge of competing at the highest level of professional club rugby league," Dwyer said.
Iwi is a product of the Northland system and was student at Kamo High School.
He represented the Junior Kiwis in 2005 along with Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Greg Eastwood, Sam Rapira and the late Sonny Fai, leaving New Zealand that year to join Kaikohe's Jonathon Tavinor in the Parramatta under-20s.
Northland fans wanting to watch Hauraki play in his debut will have to make the choice ahead of watching the Warriors play Penrith, with both matches starting at 9.30pm tomorrow.