Nanai aspires to follow in his hero’s footsteps
WITH a cheeky grin and nervous jiggle of his leg, Jeremiah Nanai proclaims he doesn’t like doing interviews.
The softly spoken 16-yearold said he struggled speaking to the media and preferred to stay out of the spotlight, but the very light he likes to shy away from may be about to grow exponentially brighter.
A gentle giant off the field, Jeremiah has earned a repuWHETHER tation for being a wrecking ball on it.
So much so, he’s been compared to his childhood hero and one of the greatest dual code athletes of all time.
“I look up to Sonny Bill Williams, I watched him all the time,” Jeremiah said.
“He’s second row and people say ‘you’re the next Sonny Bill’ to me. They tell me I play like him.
“He’s got a good step, I like his fend and he is a great offloader. They’re all things I try to do.”
Just like his hero, Jeremiah has built his reputation around philosophies he lives by both on the field and away from footy.
“Respecting everyone and discipline are big ones for me,” he said.
“Footy has taught me to keep putting in the hard work.”
Jeremiah has been selected in the under-18s Emerging Maroons squad and is a real chance of donning the Queensland jersey this year.
It’s a rapid rise for the former Cairns resident, who has played rugby league for only three years.
“I started playing because of my older brother, he inspired me to play. We used to play touch and backyard footy all the time,” he said.
“He was pretty good back then, so it was a tough challenge playing against him. So my uncle signed me up for my first club when I was 13, because my Dad didn’t like me playing. He thought I’d get injured.”
One of five boys in his family, Jeremiah said it didn’t take him long to find his feet in the sport.
“I was probably the biggest bloke on the field and just ran over everyone (laughs),” he said.
The bulldozing didn’t stop there, with the Kirwan State High student a central figure in the Bears’ charge to the National Schoolboys Cup last year.