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\u201cIt was a thing,\u201d Carlos Roberts told foxsports.com.au. \u201cIt was a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was no rumour to Roberts.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d seen the player with his own eyes; the way he turned up to their first training session, almost as if he had a point to prove, and \u201crocked this guy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big man\u201d weighing about 140kg.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tackled him so f***ing hard,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cand I\u2019d never seen this guy be hit like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts had been playing rugby union since he was 10 years old, reaching a decent level.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut f*** \u2026 it\u2019s maybe a bit crazy to say but I\u2019d never seen someone tackle so f***ing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts went over to the Netherlands amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stuck at home doing nothing, he just \u201cthought f*** it\u201d and moved across the world.<\/p>\n
Soon after, fellow Kiwi Aublix Tawha did the same.<\/p>\n
The two lived just 50 minutes away from each other on New Zealand\u2019s North Island, Tawha in Huntly and Roberts in Waihi.<\/p>\n
Yet before they ended up together at Rugby Club \u2019t Gooi, founded in 1933 and one of the oldest clubs in the Netherlands, Roberts had \u201cnever heard of the guy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Neither had any of the rival players in their local competition. But then they started to hear the rumours, and later the loud, collective gasps when Tawha came flying in to put on a shot.<\/p>\n
Aublix Tawha quickly developed a reputation. Picture: Brisbane BroncosSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was known for that, for the physicality of his game,\u201d Gardiner told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
Apart from coaching the Netherlands national team, Gardiner was also helping out Delta, the nation\u2019s team in the new Rugby Europe Super Cup. The tournament was set up for clubs outside the traditional Six Nations powerhouses of the rugby union.<\/p>\n
Tawha was quick to gain selection. And to make an impression.<\/p>\n
In his first training session with Gardiner he \u201csmoked a few guys\u201d, even though they were holding hit-shields. Tawha was \u201cdifferent from everyone else\u201d in the Netherlands, Gardiner said.<\/p>\n
Having also played rugby league growing up, the coach could tell that Tawha was just taking another step towards an NRL career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was athletic, (had a) good skill set and (was) just super physical. But he also had that real hardman mindset that when he does something he does it with intent, which is what we always try and coach guys to do,\u201d Gardiner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he hits, he hits. You feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Get all the latest news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports NRL Sportmail. Sign up now!!! <\/a><\/p>\n Tawha in action for the Broncos. Picture: Brisbane BroncosSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n Gardiner ended up being right. But it was another four years until Tawha ran out off the bench for the Dolphins, making his NRL debut against the Knights at Perth\u2019s HBF Park.<\/p>\n It was somewhat fitting that Tawha\u2019s debut came in Western Australia, because it has been a road less travelled for the 26-year-old to get to the NRL.<\/p>\n From New Zealand to Canberra, the Netherlands and then country New South Wales, before finally getting his chance at Redcliffe and now, on Friday morning, in Hull for defending NRL premiers the Brisbane Broncos.<\/p>\n \u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t be any (more) proud of where he\u2019s got to now,\u201d Adam Kyle, Tawha\u2019s coach at the Canberra Raiders and Yass Magpies, told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rise from playing park football in Canberra three years ago to the World Club Challenge. He\u2019s just out of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n Haas and Reynolds departures confirmed | 01:54<\/p>\n \u2018PUMPING FRONT ROWERS\u2019 AS A \u2018SKINNY\u2019 TEENAGER AT THE RAIDERS<\/p>\n He\u2019s the talent spotter who helped unearth the likes of Jack Wighton, Jarrod Croker, Josh Dugan and Josh Papalii.<\/p>\n And before Tawha first came onto Canberra\u2019s radar, then recruitment manager David Hamilton had been doing a lot of work scouting in New Zealand.<\/p>\n It was there that the club came across a much skinner Tawha than the one now pushing for a bench spot in Michael Maguire\u2019s first-choice 17. Tawha was more of an outside back in his early Raiders days, playing a bit of fullback and centre in the 2017 SG Ball season.<\/p>\n But you wouldn\u2019t have been able to tell it unless you saw the No.1 on his back. Kyle, who coached the likes of Nick Cotric, Seb Kris, Harley Smith-Shields and Bailey Simonsson, compared it to the way Luke Phillips used to bring the ball up at the Roosters.<\/p>\n \u201cHe (Tawha) would just carry it like a front rower, a hundred miles an hour, just super aggressive,\u201d Kyle said.<\/p>\n At that point in time, the team wasn\u2019t doing too well. But as a coach, Kyle\u2019s goal was to identify talent that he could bring through the system, with the hope they would one day debut in the lime green.<\/p>\n \u201cAublix was certainly one of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n MORE WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE NEWS<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS: \u2018Scary\u2019 Walsh reality laid bare; next big thing in NRL to watch<\/a><\/p>\n FIVE BEST MOMENTS: Shock Broncos boilover… and teen SBW\u2019s scary statement<\/a><\/p>\n Aublix Tawha playing for the Raiders.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact he always was looking for contact, the fact he was always looking to put a shot on was something that got us really excited, but at the same time also we had a couple of issues with some of his discipline at times too, because he\u2019d get really amped up and try and look to put on a shot and maybe drift up a little bit too high or bounce off a tackle and end up missing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Or sometimes he would end up having a freak accident, like in one game against North Sydney where he clashed heads with teammate Tremayne Chatfield.<\/p>\n Aublix broke his nose, while Chatfield suffered a concussion. \u201cAnd then after that we just almost sort of became like best mates,\u201d Chatfield told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n Chatfield, who once had his own dreams of playing in the NRL, said Tawha\u2019s physicality was \u201cnext level\u201d, recalling games he was playing fullback and \u201cpumping front rowers\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen anyone as physical as him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n When the SG Ball season wrapped up, Tawha then played for the Belconnen Sharks in the Canberra Raiders Cup before moving up north the following year to join the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering Colts alongside former Raiders teammate Gideon Afemui.<\/p>\n He then played a few more games for the Seagulls in 2019 before a shoulder injury saw him return home to New Zealand, where he appeared for Waikato in the NZRL National Premiership.<\/p>\n Hughes rules himself out of Origin | 01:25<\/p>\n Covid-19 then hit, but when restrictions were lifted Tawha, who was working as a scaffolder in Hamilton at the time, got a call from Garry Phelps, who was captain-coach at Paraparaumu Rugby Club.<\/p>\n Phelps had got word from a family friend of his, who also happened to be an ex-player of the club, that he had a few boys from Hamilton, including Tawha, who would be a good fit for the team.<\/p>\n Tawha then played in a local Oz-tag tournament and from that alone, Phelps could tell that he was eager, so he told him pre-season would start in a few weeks and to come down.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know much more about Tawha, who was then about 21 years old. Phelps quickly learned that Tawha moved towards the storm, not away from it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could see it in his eyes,\u201d Phelps told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a thirst and a hunger for contact, and that\u2019s rare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018JEEPERS\u2019: THE \u2018RARE\u2019 TRAIT THAT MADE TAWHA STAND OUT<\/p>\n What\u2019s just as rare is bringing up the name Aublix Tawha and there not being a story. Not being someone who was on the wrong end of one of his tackles.<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t really words to best describe the ferocity with which Tawha hits. Only sounds.<\/p>\n On the occasion that Tawha came flying in and put a shot on one of Paraparaumu\u2019s 120kg second rowers at training, all you could hear according to Phelps was \u201cthe clap\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was loud, it was huge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guy was sort of horizontal with the field so you knew, \u2018Jeepers. He doesn\u2019t just like it. He can back it up\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n But Tawha didn\u2019t need to make big hits to earn his new teammates\u2019 respect. As much as that was what he was known for, Aublix Tawha \u2013 both the player and person \u2013 is so much more than that.<\/p>\n Aublix Tawha in the semi final match of the Gordonvale Indigenous Rugby League Carnival, held at Alley Park. Picture: Brendan RadkeSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n The \u201cbest thing about him\u201d, according to Phelps, was the humility that accompanied the ferocity.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants to fit in and you could really see what was important to him in terms of family, culture and camaraderie,\u201d the former Paraparaumu player-coach said.<\/p>\n Tawha would always come to him after games to see if there was anything he wanted to work on. He was always happy to do extras, and after missing one training session, he sent Phelps a message apologising and asking if he wanted him to play for the \u2018B\u2019 team that week.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a guy that\u2019s one of the more standout players to say stuff like that, it speaks volumes,\u201d Phelps said.<\/p>\n Tawha aced the fitness tests, too. Phelps can\u2019t remember the exact score, but it was around the middle of the four-minute mark in the Bronco, which is considered a professional elite time.<\/p>\n Tawha, playing at centre, was instrumental in getting Paraparaumu to the Ramsbotham Cup final that year. The game went into extra time and dragged on for 106 minutes in total \u2013 the longest in the history of Horowhenua-K\u0101piti club rugby, with Paraparaumu winning 36-33.<\/p>\n It was the perfect send-off for Tawha, who soon after moved to the Netherlands. With M\u0101ori and Dutch heritage, the idea of spending time in the Netherlands had been in the back of Tawha\u2019s mind for a few years after a friend put him in contact with Blake Nightingale, who was playing union over there.<\/p>\n Watch the 2026 World Club Challenge LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n “We wanna bring that trophy back” | 09:05<\/p>\n It was almost four years since Tawha was last in the Raiders\u2019 junior system, with the hope of one day making it to the NRL. But with that dream at a crossroads, he \u201csort of gave up\u201d.<\/p>\n So, he hopped on a plane for what ended up being a gap year of sorts. It was exactly what he needed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I went to Europe that it sparked it back up for me when I was making rep teams,\u201d Tawha said last year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gave me the inspiration to have another crack (at the NRL).\u201d<\/p>\n THE GAP YEAR THAT MADE TAWHA A \u2018COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLAYER\u2019<\/p>\n Nightingale remembers Tawha \u201cmade a name for himself very quickly\u201d when he arrived.<\/p>\n There\u2019s that rumour again; that rumour about the hardest hitter in Holland now running around in the domestic competition. But what exactly did that look like?<\/p>\n According to Nightingale, most players avoided running down Tawha\u2019s channel. And when they did?<\/p>\n Usually one of two things.<\/p>\n Either they ate turf, or ate turf and Tawha got a red card.<\/p>\n About three or four times, Roberts reckons.<\/p>\n That rumour saw Tawha start to develop a reputation \u2013 one that found him on the wrong end of the referee\u2019s whistle.<\/p>\n But Roberts said it had less to do with Tawha having poor technique and more the brute impact of his hits making them look worse than they were; recalling one game where he body slammed an opponent so violently that it appeared Tawha had dumped the player on his head.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we had it on video because we record our games,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis guy ran at him and then Aublix picked him up and body slammed him so f***ing hard \u2026 he got a lot of penalties for hitting people too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Gardiner added: \u201cThe hits he was putting on were big but that\u2019s what you\u2019re seeing now.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see him in the NRL, he\u2019s not the biggest guy but he\u2019s got good technique in terms of how he gets his power and generates power and then drives through the tackle using his front foot really well.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s mobile so he can get in front of guys and really hit him and then in rugby union because you\u2019ve got a guy that\u2019s sort of new to the competition and has a reputation of banging guys, it\u2019s just an unfortunate circumstance of being an extremely physical player and not having the technology to check and unfortunately there were a number of cards yellows and reds.\u201d<\/p>\n Chatfield reckons Tawha had only \u201cone gear\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s 100 per cent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That included his mate\u2019s form in Amsterdam nightclubs.<\/p>\n ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of the World Club Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n START TIME: What time does the World Club Challenge start in Australia?<\/a><\/p>\n Aublix Tawha is part of the Brisbane Broncos NRL squad. Pictures: Adam HeadSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n \u201cWe had this thing where when people come over for the first year they get a bit crazy with drinking and partying and with him, when it came to drinking as well, he was also the most intense in the room,\u201d Roberts laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would drink on the weekends and then show up to our gym sessions on Monday and Tuesdays and literally out-train everyone. He\u2019d smoke two packs of cigarettes in a weekend and then win every fitness test, and we had some pretty insanely fit guys in our team.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d win everything, it was insane.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts said Tawha was \u201ceasily\u201d the hardest worker in the team, and that wasn\u2019t just restricted to the field. He had gone to the Netherlands with his partner, who was able to study part of her law degree abroad. She wasn\u2019t working and instead focusing on her studies, which meant it was on Tawha to support both of them.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was working as a gardener 50 hours a week,\u201d Roberts recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cStill winning fitness tests, dominating at training.\u201d<\/p>\n Even after all those long hours at work and despite having already proven himself by making all the representative squads, Tawha was still offering to play on both Saturday and Sunday if needed to help the team out.<\/p>\n He was also speaking up during training, not to tell the rest of his teammates how it was done, but to single out the \u201csmallest guys in the team\u201d for whenever they put on a hit in defence.<\/p>\n Anderson ready to fight for Broncos role | 02:43<\/p>\n \u201cEven if you played a s*** game,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cif you had tackled someone as hard as you could or flew into tackles he would notice it and he would always bring it up.\u201d<\/p>\n There was one other topic that Tawha would often bring up: the NRL.<\/p>\n It was \u201calways an open subject\u201d, according to Roberts, even if Tawha had somewhat closed the door on it before he left for the Netherlands.<\/p>\n But after returning to New Zealand from Amsterdam, now having twice represented the Netherlands national rugby union team on the world stage?<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a completely different player,\u201d Chatfield said. \u201cHe was just hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n And when Tawha got a phone call from Adam Kyle, his former Raiders SG Ball coach, giving him one \u201clast chance\u201d at that NRL lifeline had always dreamt of, it only took one training session to prove just how hungry he was.<\/p>\n HIS \u2018LAST CHANCE\u2019: THE FACEBOOK MESSAGE BEHIND NRL LIFELINE<\/p>\n Tawha had just landed at Sydney Airport, and it was around two o\u2019clock when he boarded the bus to go to Canberra.<\/p>\n He\u2019d already flown around three hours from New Zealand and by the time he made it to the nation\u2019s capital, it was another 45 minutes to Yass, the regional town in country NSW which could be his ticket to the NRL.<\/p>\n He was picked up by Kyle, who was coach of the Yass Magpies and still connected to the Raiders.<\/p>\n Aublix Tawha brings the ball up for the Magpies.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n \u201cLook, mate, you\u2019ve been at the Raiders before. I know what you\u2019re like as a player, and I know what I guess Ricky and the coaching staff look for within players,\u201d Kyle recalled telling Tawha.<\/p>\n \u201cMate, if you come over here and you\u2019re ripping and tearing and killing it, there\u2019s a huge chance you\u2019re going to get picked up by the Raiders here.\u201d<\/p>\n At that time, Canberra were pulling players out of the first-grade competition in and around Yass to suit up in NSW Cup, so there was an opportunity there that Tawha was desperate to take.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I just want a chance,\u201d Kyle recalled Tawha telling him.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my last chance. I\u2019ve come back from the Netherlands\u2026 I\u2019m not going to get another crack. So I\u2019ve got to give it everything I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n That started from the moment he arrived in Yass.<\/p>\n Kyle had picked Tawha up from Canberra and told him on the way there not to worry about training that night. After all, he\u2019d spent around seven hours on a plane and bus, while he hadn\u2019t even seen the place he was staying in yet.<\/p>\n Can the Broncos go back-to-back? | 04:53<\/p>\n But Tawha insisted: \u201cNo, no, no, I want to train tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n So, that was that. Tawha would go along to training.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s just go easy mate,\u201d Kyle replied, knowing they were having a really tough conditioning session, \u201cyou\u2019ve only just got off the plane and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Tawha went on to win every single drill.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I mean every single drill,\u201d Kyle said.<\/p>\n \u201cBy a considerable margin too. We then got into full contact in a really tight corridor, like basically a smash and bash drill, and Aublix was just absolutely ruining players.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the session I had the other coaching staff and Tim the Yass president come up and go, \u2018Oh my god, this guy is elite\u2019\u2026 considering he\u2019s just got off the plane, that\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just shows the character of him. He knew he was a big signing for us and he didn\u2019t want to turn up and just rest on his laurels and be like, \u2018Oh, you guys should know who I am and what I\u2019m about\u2019. He absolutely ripped in straight away and all the boys were just in love with him.\u201d<\/p>\n And if they hadn\u2019t already fallen in love with him, how about after Tawha played with two broken hands?<\/p>\n Aublix Tawha in action for the Magpies.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n When he broke the first one, the team told him to get scans. But \u201cAublix being Aublix\u201d, as Kyle put it, told them he got scans and was given the all clear.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came to training and his hand was the size of a balloon,\u201d Kyle said.<\/p>\n He went on to win man of the match in their next game, where he broke his other hand \u2026 and this was while working on the tools all day as a landscape gardener.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he was basically, with two broken hands, lumping soil and carrying a wheelbarrow around all day\u2026 just ridiculous,\u201d Kyle recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cBut again, he\u2019s a grafter mate. He needed money. He needed to work.\u201d<\/p>\n He needed this last chance. Yet when a shot at the NRL finally came calling, that character Kyle referenced earlier once again shone through.<\/p>\n Tawha already had a relationship going back a few years with then Redcliffe Dolphins coach Ben Te\u2019o, who liked that the Turangawaewae junior reminded him of himself as a player.<\/p>\n So, when Tawha was playing for Yass, the team started putting together highlights packages of him and posting them on Facebook. They got a few bites early on, but nothing concrete \u2013 until Te\u2019o reached out to Tawha directly, asking if he was back in Australia.<\/p>\n Suddenly, that path to the NRL \u2013 the one Tawha wasn\u2019t even sure was there anymore when he left for the Netherlands \u2013 had opened up again.<\/p>\n He had a Queensland Cup deal. The NRL was closer than ever before.<\/p>\n But he had one final game to play for the Magpies.<\/p>\n