Cherrington grabs Warriors lifeline
WITH his career going nowhere at the Sharks, Manaia Cherrington jumped at the chance to move to the Warriors, even though his pathway isn’t clear.
The 22-year-old made the move from Wests Tigers to the 2016 premiers for this season and it looked as if his career was about to take off after making 16 appearances and earning a Kiwis call up while at the joint venture.
However, after playing for the Sharks at the Auckland Nines, Cherrington never got a sniff of the first grade team or the chance to replace the retired Michael Ennis.
Instead, Sharks coach Shane Flanagan went with Jayden Brailey and Cherrington was left to wallow in the reserve grade ISP team.
‘‘Flano didn’t really like the way I played,’’ Cherrington said.
‘‘He wanted a hooker that distributes to the halves and works like that.
‘‘I definitely learnt a lot there, don’t get me wrong, but that’s all behind me now and I’m ready to go here.’’
He’s a handy pick up for the Warriors as a replacement for Erin Clark, who has been given an early release from his contract to join the Raiders.
‘‘I’m very grateful to the Warriors for taking me onboard,’’ he said.
‘‘Hopefully, I can repay them by playing good footy.
But the elephant in the room is Issac Luke. Playing in the same position as one of the Warriors’ leading figures means it’s going to be a battle for him to get game time.
He wants to learn what he can off Luke and Warriors coach Stephen Kearney says Cherrington’s pathway at the club is all down to him.
‘‘It will be in Manaia’s hands,’’ Kearney said.
‘‘That’s what football is all about, challenging the guys that are above you and making sure they’re earning their position.
‘‘There’s also Nate Roach, who I think can turn into a wonderful dummy half, so it’s a good position for us to be in.’’
‘‘It was a good opportunity to bring in a young guy who I’ve had a fair bit to do with, through the Junior Kiwis and I also had with the New Zealand train-on squad,’’ Kearney said of the signing of Cherrington for one and a half seasons on a second tier contract.
‘‘He’s a young Kiwi hooker with a great deal of talent. He can certainly help the reserve grade and he’s been great since he’s been here.’’
Cherrington was a surprise call up to the Kiwis squad for their three-test tour of England in 2015, but Kearney had a track record of identifying young players and giving them a taste of international footy at an early age.
The Kiwis lost that series 2-1 and Cherrington didn’t get to play in any of the tests, however he said it was a great experience for him.
‘‘It was everything I dreamt of,’’ he said.
‘‘If you’d ask any Kiwi boy coming through the ranks what their main goal was, it would be to put on that black jumper.
‘‘Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do that but to be around the boys and learn off players like Shaun Johnson, Ben Matulino and Issac Luke was an awesome feeling and I’m definitely eager to get back there.
‘‘But first of all I’ve got to play good footy, whether that’s in the NRL or ISP.’’