How Hohaia built his new life in the US
The former Warrior and Kiwi is now a real estate agent in small-town America, reports Ben Stanley.
In one of the downstairs wardrobes of a suburban family home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a local real estate agent is sorting through a tangle of old rugby league jerseys.
Among them are dozens of Warriors jumpers, stretching back to the early 2000s. There are old Kiwis test jerseys. Old New Zealand Maori ones. A green and gold Taniwharau club jumper, from Huntly.
The agent reaches deep into the pile and pulls out a black and grey one.
‘‘How about this?’’ he asks, holding the jersey up with a grin.
It is the hooker’s jumper from the Warriors last NRL Grand Final appearance, against the Manly Sea Eagles in 2011; an item worth its weight in Kiwi league history gold.
Five-and-a-half years ago, Lance Hohaia pulled it on at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium – and ran out for his 185th, and final, game for the Warriors. He remains the only player to make two Grand Finals with the club.
Now, he’s a 33-year-old father of two in small town Michigan, selling residential suburban properties and helping out with rugby coaching at a local university.
‘‘I got recognised by some Kiwis in Las Vegas once,’’ he says.
‘‘There was some Aussies who came up to me in LA one other time too, and they asked about my league. But, yeah, it has been the perfect opportunity to re-invent myself here.’’
Middle America
Almost to the point of cliche´, Grand Rapids is classic Middle America.
Home to around 190,000, its demographic splits are close to mirroring the national averages. The median income is only just below the same figure. For decades, the local economy has been based on furniture manufacturing and is still a big employer.
Politically, it is Republican heartland. President Donald Trump – a controversial New York property mogul – won the city’s Kent County in last year’s election by three percentage points, while Grand Rapids was also the long-time home of former US President Gerry Ford, who died in 2006.
Things get cold in the winter. When the Sunday Star-Times visited Grand Rapids in early January, snow covered open ground, kept the roads slick and the temperature at about minus 7C. The week before, it got down to minus 16C.
‘‘The winters can be pretty brutal, but I don’t really mind the cold,’’ the Huntly-born former Warrior says.
With his wife Marisa at work, Hohaia is looking after sons Riley (4) and Tyler (2) and working from home in Grand Rapids’ eastern suburbs. Snow falls lightly, outside.
‘‘I’d say [Grand Rapids] is probably double the size of Hamilton,’’ he continues. ‘‘It’s a great little place, with a lot of development going on.
‘‘The quality of life is pretty good here. It’s big enough that it has everything, but it’s not too big. It’s not like Auckland City where it is huge and there are so many people around. We barely have a rush hour here.’’
The 28-test Kiwi’s move to the United States was as unexpected as it was likely. With a season left on his contract with St Helens – who he joined after leaving the NRL in 2011 – Hohaia’s league career was cut short by a brutal punch by Wigan’s Ben Flower in the 2014 Super League Grand Final.
After-effects of the concussion he received lingered and although Hohaia played eight games of the following Super League season, constant headaches and memory loss forced him to step away from the game.
His wife – who hails from Grand Rapids – wanted to come home, and Hohaia was ready for a fresh start. So they headed to the States in July 2015.
Initially, Hohaia worked as an alcohol sales rep for one of his wife’s family members before pulling pin last January to begin pursuing his American real estate licence.
In July, the former Warrior started researching local development companies before eventually finding a role with one which was setting up a residential brokerage.
When the Star-Times visited, Hohaia already had eight deals under his belt and was on the cusp
The quality of life is pretty good here. Lance Hohaia
of selling two more.
‘‘I think I’m on track to be in the top two per cent as a new agent in the first 12 months,’’ he says.
Differences in value between the West Michigan property market and the over-inflated Auckland one are as stark as you’d expect.
Hohaia’s recent house sales in Grand Rapids have ranged between US$63,000 (NZ$88,000) and US$274,000 (NZ$383,600).
While value for money is clearly superior in Grand Rapids, Hohaia says the essence of being a good real estate agent is the same everywhere; be honest.
‘‘You have to show integrity, and look after your client’s best interests. I like getting up in the morning and going to work. I get to pick and choose how hard I want to work, or how much.’’
The concussion
When asked about the punch that ended his career, and what happened next, Hohaia is reluctant to open up.
It was a dark patch in his and his family’s life. Tension developed between both he and St Helens as his concussion symptoms continued before and after his retirement, reaching a flashpoint when his old club threatened legal action after an interview the former Kiwi gave last May.
While Hohaia admits he still has some on-going affects, he doesn’t want his legacy as a footy player pinned to that one horrific incident back in Manchester in 2014.
‘‘They had their say, and I had my say,’’ he says. ‘‘Both sides probably could have handled my exit a little differently.
‘‘I’ll admit to that: I probably could have done something different there. But at the end of the day, it happened and we’ve moved on. There haven’t been any legal issues, since. It’s been put to bed a long time ago now.
‘‘It’s professional sport,’’ he continues. ‘‘There’s money and egos, and a bit of politics mixed in there as well. It becomes heated at times when you’re dealing with issues like that – which I can understand.’’
Surprisingly, that next chapter is involving rugby union. Hohaia has taken up a role as an assistant coach for the men’s team at nearby Grand Valley State University, focusing on the backline and general skills.
Hohaia had researched American rugby league, and while small enclaves exist in Chicago and Florida, he decided that coaching rugby would be the easiest way to go.
‘‘Most Americans don’t know the difference between league and rugby,’’ he says. ‘‘Coaching-wise here, it’s much of a muchness anyway.’’
With no games screened on television and limited online full match coverage, Hohaia says he keeps up with the Warriors fortunes through NRL phone apps.
The club still means much to the former Warrior. One jersey you won’t find downstairs is the one he wore in 2002 Grand Final against the Roosters. That was buried along with his grandfather, in 2004.
Yet when he does cast his eye back to Mt Smart Stadium, the former utility likes what he sees ahead of this season.
‘‘I can see some good things on the horizon,’’ Hohaia says.
The future
As for Hohaia’s future, he says he’ll be staying put for the next few years. Since he and Marisa met in 2009, their former homes – New Zealand and the United Kingdom – have been dictated by his footy career.
Now, he’s comfortable keeping all those old jumpers in that downstairs wardrobe – and dedicating himself to the family life, with his wife’s family as support.
‘‘Regardless of how it was going to end, it was going to end at some point,’’ Hohaia says.
‘‘We’ve seen, over the years, players struggle to adapt to the real world. I definitely experienced that. You know; two parents, both of you working fulltime, having two kids.
‘‘There’s definitely been ups and downs since I moved here, just figuring out a new culture and what I would be doing.
‘‘But it’s nearly two years on from my retirement, and I’m heading in the direction I was hoping for – both with my career and the emotional side as well.’’