Aaron Aspin Heremaia[3] (born 19 September 1982[4]) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a goal-kicking hooker or halfback for the Widnes Vikings in the Super League.
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| Full name | Aaron Aspin Heremaia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 September 1982 Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker, Halfback, Five-eighth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editPlaying career
editEducated at Tangaroa College and a Manurewa Marlins junior, Heremaia started his career in 2001 playing for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders in the Bartercard Cup whilst on a New Zealand Warriors development contract.[5] where he played under successful coaches Tony Benson and Brian McClennan. Heremaia however failed to be picked up by the Warriors.[5] In 2004 Heremaia moved to Australia to play in the NSWRL Premier League, where he represented the Western Suburbs Magpies and North Sydney Bears in successive years.[citation needed]
In 2006 he moved to England to play for the Leigh Centurions in the National League One, again linking up with Tony Benson. That year Heremaia was part of the team that won the Northern Rail Cup. He has also conditionally signed but never played for the Widnes Vikings in 2007 and Halifax in 2008.[6]
Returning to New Zealand and the Manurewa Marlins, Heremaia was able to make the Auckland Vulcans team for 2008, playing in the NSW Cup. From here he was able to impress the New Zealand Warriors and was signed to a contract for the 2009 season. He made his first grade début in Round Twelve against the Wests Tigers.[7] He was re-signed by the Warriors until the end of the 2011 season.[8] Heremaia joined Hull F.C. in 2012 on a two-year deal with an option for a third.[9]
On 8 May 2014, Hull F.C. announced that they would release Heremaia at the end of the 2014 season.[10]
One day after Hull announced Aaron would leave at the end of the season, the Widnes Vikings announced he will arrive at the club at the end of the 2014 season to play in 2015.[11][12]
Representative career
editHeremaia played for the Junior Kiwis in 2001. He made his début for the New Zealand Māori side in 2002.[13] He regularly appeared for the side while based in New Zealand and captained New Zealand Māori on several occasions.
For the 2010 Anzac Test, Heremaia was selected to play for New Zealand from the interchange bench in their loss against Australia.
References
edit- ^ Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (19 October 2015). "Aaron Heremaia". rugbyleagueproject.org.
- ^ "Aaron Heremaia". loverugbyleague.com.
- ^ Coffey, John; Wood, Bernie (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Wellington, New Zealand: Huia Publishers. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.
- ^ a b "Official website of Hull FC: Profile of Aaron Heremaia". Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- ^ a b Jessup, Peter (18 April 2009). "NRL: Heremaia back in the fold". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "League: Ex-Junior Kiwi walks out on UK club". New Zealand Herald. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ^ Locke and Heremaia to make NRL debuts Archived 2009-05-29 at the Wayback Machine Warriors.co.nz, 26 May 2009
- ^ Patrick Ah Van, Aaron Heremaia and Isaac John have re-signed with the warriors until the end of the 2011 season www.rugbyleague.co.nz, 10 May 2009
- ^ Hull FC sign New Zealand Warrior Aaron Heremaia Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine code13rugbyleague.com, 2 June 2011
- ^ "Super League: Hull hooker Aaron Heremaia not offered new deal". Sky Sports.
- ^ "Super League: Widnes Vikings sign Aaron Heremaia after Hull release". Sky Sports.
- ^ "Heremaia to join the Vikings for 2015". 2013.superleague.co.uk.
- ^ Coffey, John; Wood, Bernie (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Wellington, New Zealand: Huia Publishers. p. 326. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.