By MARK CASHMAN

There’s a lot more to Northern Suburbs’ impressive backrower Brad Hemopo than meets the eye – just Google him up and you will see that his life on and off the field has been one hell of a ride.

The 26-year-old, one of the Shoremen’s “go to men” over the past two seasons and a vital part of their charge to the 2021 Shute Shield playoffs, has played First XV rugby with Anton Lienert-Brown at Christchurch Boys High, been in the fabled Crusaders system and trialled for the NZ Under 20 side, had two seasons of Shute Shield with Manly and then had a COVID-aborted crack in the MLR with the New England Free Jacks.

Throw in a starring role in the New Zealand version of Dancing With The Stars where he helped raise $120,000 for charity and a tackle as a security guard on a streaker at Forsythe Barr Stadium during the All Blacks’ 2014 Test series against England that some thought had too much sting in it and you’d have to agree that he’s lived in interesting times.

It doesn’t end there though – away from teaching PE and Science at Redlands Grammar on the lower north shore, Hemopo works for NASA delivering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education programs as part of their international unit.

“Yeah I can talk all day about space and deal with black holes and anything about intergalactic travel,” Hemopo told Rugby News.

“It’s all pretty interesting stuff and I do the talks at a range of primary and secondary schools and it’s something that I really enjoy.

“But I don’t think that you will get in a rocket any time soon.

“That said I’m really interested in the next movements in space travel. I guess if you think about it it’s not unalike this part of the world being colonised by the British 200 years ago.

“People are always looking for the next best thing and that’s what space is.”

The next frontier on the Shute Shield horizon is the restart of the competition in the wake of the Sydney lockdown and the 193cm tall and 115kg Hemopo believes Norths are in good shape to hit the ground running.

“I think this break will show just who is committed to win,” Hempopo added.

“One of our mantras at Norths is that we play for premierships and at the moment we are all training on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in accordance with all the Public Health Orders.

“But if we came out of this lockdown next week I’d say that we would be one of the top three teams fitness wise.”

Norths coach Zak Beer believes that Hemopo’s best footy is ahead of him.

“Brad is a true professional. It’s funny you forget how young he is, he’s still only 26 and probably has his best footy ahead of him,” Beer said.

“I think it’s important to coach to the profile of your team and your players’ strengths, to bring out their best game – and there’s fantastic alignment to the game we play and Brad’s strengths as a player.

“He’s a powerful and skilful runner of the ball, can break tackles and offload like an outside back; but is also a set-piece specialist, currently in the top two in lineout steals in the comp.

“I’ve known Brad since he came over from NZ in 2018 (at Manly when Beer coached there) and whilst he was mature then, it’s been a pleasure to see him evolve and grow as a player and person.

“He’s a key member of our leadership team and was due to captain our side (with Harry Burey and Angus Sinclair out) the week we went into lockdown.

“He wants to get his hands on a Shute Shield premiership this year, as all of our group do, and is a real driving force in the standards and rituals we’ve established.”

Hemopo came to Norths after Beer contacted him after his stint in the MLR.

He was originally heading back to the Marlins but close links with Beer saw him head over the Spit Bridge.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Norths – it’s a very player driven and quite welcoming,” he said.

“If you’re a new guy turning up on a Tuesday night you’ll have 40 guys introduce themselves to you and it just goes from there.

“It’s a program that has people committed to be there, not just be involved and that’s been great.

“It goes beyond the footy and we have guys volunteering helping out in the community as well as making sure that the guys in colts are coming through and learning what they need to know to play at the next level.”

The next, perhaps not final, frontier for the Hemopo is the leap into a full-time or Super Rugby program.

“I really enjoyed having a crack in a full-time program with the (New England) Free Jacks and I’d absolutely love to do it here,” Hemopo said.

“I kinda focussed on my education (he has a teaching degree from the University of Canterbury and several post graduate achievements) while I was in New Zealand but that’s all done now and I just feel that I am ready to go into a full time program if it came along.”

IMAGE: KAREN WATSON