Water Polo: Teen primed for big splash

Joseph Kayes. Photo / Janna Dixon

Joseph Kayes would love nothing more than to get his mug on a billboard or the back of a bus in Budapest.

Then the 18-year-old would know he's made it. It's hard to imagine the mop-haired, half-Samoan grinning from the back of a smoky Volvo but it's not inconceivable.

Only one New Zealander is known to have played water polo in the prestigious Hungarian league - North Harbour's David Broome had three seasons - but already many are picking Kayes will be a household name in a country where water polo is revered as much as rugby is here.

Hungary have won nine Olympic titles, including the last three, and two world championships. There are thousands of players vying to pull on the Speedos and cap and be the next Dezso Gyarmati. Only a few make it.

Already, there is a splash swirling around the pools of Budapest about the imminent arrival of Kayes, who is taking up a two-year contract with glamour outfit Szeged Beton.

"I have never seen talent such as this before," Szeged coach and former Hungarian national coach Zoltan Kasas was recently quoted as saying of his new signing.

"A fantastically skilled centre from Zen Zeland [sic].

"He is talented in all aspects of the game. His co-ordination, his size, his hand [sic], his feet, his mind. In everything. He is a natural. My first question to him was if he had Hungarian ancestors. But sadly he doesn't.

"He's a never-before-seen natural, the kind which you have to be born [with]."

Kayes looks a little sheepish when he hears this.

"They are making a big deal of me, eh?" he says with an embarrassed grin. "Sometimes I think it's awesome. I will go over there and I am already respected by heaps of people. I also have a reputation to live up to and I haven't even played a game... or even trained.

"It's going to be really hard. I don't even speak a word of Hungarian. I'm trying to imagine what it's going to be like but it's really hard."

Kayes has some things going for him, not least his size. Standing 1.96m and 110kg, and with size 14 feet, he has the physique to cope with what can be a brutal game.

It rarely reaches the level of the Blood in the Water Olympic semifinal between Hungary and the Soviet Union in 1956, the most infamous match in the sport's history that was called off early to prevent a riot among fans. But violence is common in a game that is a combination of rugby, wrestling and football in a swimming pool.

In a junior international between New Zealand and Slovakia this year, eight players emerged with black eyes, two had fat lips, one a broken nose and another a broken cheek.

Kayes plays the key role of centre forward, the person the ball is played into and who does most of the scoring. He played in last year's Australian league with Fremantle, winning the national league, and was 'discovered' when playing against the Hungarian junior team in January. He had three offers from European clubs even before this year's junior world championships in Croatia.

The money, he says, "is enough to live on" and most of his expenses will be taken care of. Players tend to start on around €30,000 ($62,000) for six months. Established players earn between €100,000 and €200,000 and the MVP of last year's Olympics is reportedly on €680,000 ($1.4 million) playing in Italy.

"Not many people in New Zealand know about water polo," Kayes says. "When I tell them what I play, they are shocked. A six foot five [inch] Samoan not playing rugby or league. Even last week, a guy asked me if I played league. I said, 'no' and he said, 'what's wrong with you?'

"It's pretty hard for Kiwis to understand that water polo is Hungary's national sport. Going over there to play is similar to playing the Super 14 here. When you walk around the streets, there are huge billboards of water polo players. People even come and watch you train."

New Zealand Water Polo coaching director Steve Knights has little doubt Kayes will succeed. He's had 30 years in the game and has rarely seen a player of Kayes' talent come out of New Zealand.

"He's an exceptional talent. A prodigy," Knight says. "He's still young but I rate him. He's a good swimmer, is big and has a good attitude so I think he will do really well.

"Hungary have so many people to pick from around the world and don't pick anyone. They do serious research and want a return for their money."

If Kayes was to ever get on that billboard, it could be taken as read that they have got their money's worth.