The Sydney Roosters were dealt a massive blow to their 2024 season opener in Las Vegas after it was confirmed that star prop Jarryd Waerea-Hargreaves wasn’t able to reduce his suspension in the NRL’s All-Star game.
Waerea-Hargreaves’ bid to play in Vegas looked hopeful as a loophole in the NRL rules would count the All-Star game towards his suspension but the application was swiftly turned down by the NRL.
The 35-year-old hadn’t featured in the game since 2015 and will now have to wait until Round Two to make his 2024 season debut.
The decision has divided the NRL community but SEN’s Mat Rogers revealed his frustration with the judgment, stating it could hinder the overall experience of the NRL’s USA experiment.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to put our best showcase over in a foreign country, don’t we want a player of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves quality,” Rogers said on SEN 1170 Sportsday.
“That doesn’t mean you can throw everything out the window… but there is no doubt he is getting picked for the Māori team, if he’s not suspended, why can’t we use that if Jack Wighton’s using it, it just blows my mind.
“The Americans would love to see a player of Waerea-Hargreaves elk charging the ball forward, putting on the big hits, that’s what we want to see, that’s what we want to deliver and that game has gone, ‘Nah we’re not going to do it’, it just blows my mind.
“I don’t want to say it’s ok to do the wrong thing on a football field but it seems to me like sometimes we do everything we can to keep players off the field rather than do everything we can to keep players on the field.
“I’m befuddled, I just don’t know what’s going on.”
The Roosters face the Brisbane Broncos in the second game of the Vegas doubleheader on Saturday March 3rd from Allegiant Stadium.