Valynce Te Whare had to learn who this Wayne Bennett character was.
Mal Meninga too when fans started comparing him to the Immortal centre and, as Bennett says, who wears the same size shorts as the Dolphins new cult hero.
When Bennett and recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan did get hold of him, recruited from New Zealand rugby on a cut-price deal, the 22-year-old was set to work as an assistant groundsman at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium, studying the NRL rulebook all the while.
Te Whare had never played a game of rugby league in his life after all. He didn’t dream of cracking the NRL while driving the ride-on lawnmower around the club’s grounds, because the assistant groundsman doesn’t get to use the heaviest machinery.
And earlier this year when his weight began to blow out a bit, Te Whare learned to add breakfast to his diet again, one of Bennett’s more helpful lessons to date.
With two tries on debut, a cracking moustache and a moving haka in front of his emotional parents, Te Whare has stolen the show at Magic Round.
His eye-catching debut in the Dolphins’ 36-16 upset of Cronulla was made even more special given it came less than two years after jumping on a Zoom with Bennett and O’Sullivan still clad in his everyday hi-vis, only vaguely aware of the identity of the seven-time premiership-winner down the line.
“100 per cent, whatever you’ve heard about me, it’s all true,” Te Whare laughed after full-time.
“I’m still to this day trying to figure out what the rules are and what to do.
“A couple of years ago I had nothing. I was playing club footy, just having a chilled time, a bit of alone time to myself to get myself right mentally. Mentally I wasn’t there.
Valynce Te Whare made an unforgettable debut for the Dolphins.Credit: Getty
“So I had a year off playing club footy and the dream was to play All Blacks and Super Rugby. After that Wayne and Pete O’Sullivan hit me up and I took it with two hands.”
O’Sullivan first spied Te Whare at a Kiwi schoolboy rugby tournament and he was quickly catapulted into the Waikato Chiefs juniors ranks, playing alongside future All Blacks Josh Lord, Tupou Vai’l and Quinn Tupaea.
Since arriving at the Dolphins, only Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow has him covered for speed over short-range. The set of numbers Te Whare rattled off next is proof enough of why O’Sullivan went after him as one of his first signings to the Dolphins inaugural roster.
“I was a 100-metre sprinter,” Te Whare said. “At school I ran 11 flat and I was pretty heavy, I was like 115 [kilograms].”
A badly broken wrist has left an impressive zipper down his right arm, the guard he wears lending yet another element to the ‘Val Meninga’ nickname bestowed by the Dolphins faithful.
“I have a rough idea now,” Te Whare grins when asked if he’s studied up on Meninga’s achievements.
“But I still haven’t met him. Everyone says I play like him, have an armguard like him, so there must be some good comparisons. I just go out there and have fun. Run hard, tackle hard and have fun.”
