Rated as a future State of Origin player, Gold Coast Titans' young gun Arama Hau has made the surprise call to link up with the Featherstone Rovers until the end of the 2023 season.
The second tier English club are pushing for promotion to the English Super League at the end of the current campaign, with the club sitting at the top of the table and undefeated in their nine games.
Incredibly, the Rovers have already racked up a for and against of 318, scoring 400 points at an average of 44.4 points per game, and conceding 82 at an average of only 9.1 points per game.
It's believed the deal, which will see Hau link up with the Rovers until the end of 2023, will then see him head back to the Gold Coast in 2024.
โ๏ธ Locked In - Highly rated young @Kangaroos and @GCTitans forward Arama Hau commits to the Rovers until the end of the 2023 Season.
The 19 year old is tipped as a future star for the Titans and Queensland Maroons.
Welcome to Featherstone, Arama Hau ๐น๐ด#UTR | #BlueWall pic.twitter.com/8DHH3CxQTD
— Featherstone Rovers (@FevRoversRLFC) May 6, 2023
A big part of the future plans at Parkwood, Hau is a talented back-rower who has been selected to both the under-18 Queensland emerging Origin squad and Australian Schoolboys over the last 12 months.
It's anticipated the damaging back-rower will feature in the top grade for Featherstone as they push for promotion.
โI'm very keen to get over to Featherstone, to mature myself both as a man and as a footy player," Hau said in a club statement.
โI'm going to be there to play my part in getting Featherstone to the Grand Final.
โThe fans can expect an aggressive Tongan kid from Australia who's keen to get stuck inโ
He was selected to the Schoolboys team at the end of last year alongside Titans' teammates Keano Kini, who debuts in the NRL against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday evening, and damaging prop Josiah Pahulu.
Out of the incredible rugby league nursery that is Keebra Park, Hau has been earmarked for big things, and is earmarked as a star of the future for the Queensland Maroons with his talent on the edge.
It could bring the question of whether more Australian youngsters will spend short periods in England, should the stint work for Hau.
The idea of playing senior rugby league in a professional environment is a foreign idea to rugby league, but not to other sports, with more and more NBA players out of the United States of America relishing the opportunity to play professional basketball in Australia and other countries instead of attending college.
The argument is a different one in Australia, however, the experience Hau gains playing abroad will undoubtedly help shape his future when he returns to Australia ahead of the 2024 campaign where he will undoubtedly push for an NRL debut.
Hau may take to the field for Featherstone as soon as next Sunday (Monday morning AEST) when Featherstone travel to play the Widnes Vikings, although coach Sean Long may elect to hold him back until the game on May 27 against the York City Knights.
Featherstone's closest adversities on the ladder, Toulouse, have won seven from ten to start the season, while Hau will link up with the likes of Elijah Taylor, Joseph Leilua, Caleb Aekins and Cook Islands representative half Johnathon Ford at the club.
