Regardless of whether Hohepa Puru’s Canberra Raiders or Niwhai Puru’s Newtown Jets win in tomorrow’s The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Preliminary Final at Leichhardt Oval, the brothers will find their mum in the stands for a family kiss and a hug.
“We did that last time (Qualifying Final two weeks ago) because after all it is just a game of football,” Hohepa (pictured above) told nswrl.com.au.
It’s also becoming a habit this year for the twins to play each other. It will be the fourth time in 2024 - something that’s still not easy to do after they won the 2022 Jersey Flegg Cup Premiership together with the Penrith Panthers before parting ways to different clubs.
“Honestly it does get a bit easier each time but we haven’t really spoken about it. We come to the ground with the thought of trying to look after each other but we do what we have to do to win,” said Hohepa, who is lock and captain of the Raiders.
“It doesn’t help when we do game previews because he’s the halfback so he’s one of our targets. They don’t call him Niwhai they just say ‘Puru’ so I’ve been hearing my last name all week.”
As well as his brother, Hohepa also has plenty of respect for Raiders halfback and The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Player of the Year, Adam Cook.
“Cookie is awesome. He brings such a lot to the table and you know you’ll get a really good performance out of him every week.
“Cookie and I have a good relationship and he says to me, ‘Niwhai does this and that really well’ so it’s good to see the respect he has for my brother. But at the end of the day our goal is to be better than our opposite player and win the game.”
It’s hard to gauge which club has the upper hand. It was a 28-all draw in Round Four, then a comfortable Raiders 42-12 win in Round Eight before the Jets turned the tables two weeks ago with a 38-16 victory in the Qualifying Final.
“Niwhai had an outstanding day off the foot, kicking the ball around and stepping defenders. I know Adam took that a little personally so he’s out to prove something tomorrow.
“At this time of the year it comes down to who wants it more and who takes their opportunities.
“The motto for this week for us has been, ‘Remember the feeling’ (Qualifying Final loss) and use that as motivation.”
The brothers have been talking to each other each day but avoiding the topic of Saturday’s final.
“We don’t have the conversation but on the day he and I will say, ‘Good luck; love ya’.
“And when it’s all over, we’ll go back to our family in the stands who love and support both of us. Mum will give us a hug and a kiss and that’ll be all she wrote no matter what the result.”
