He stands 194 centimetres tall, weighs 112 kilograms, runs like Andrew Fifita and has a family connection with the Tongan firebrand.

Josh Finau is only 17 years old and could be the Sharks’ next big thing... big, literally.

It’s somewhat surprising given he was “only average” a couple of years ago and almost walked away from rugby league at age 15.

It was a couple of starring performances for his junior club side and then a standout trial performance that caught the eye of Sharks recruiters.

Round 20

They immediately snapped him up on a junior contract, and that’s since been upgraded to include a full NRL pre-season at the end of this year and a club option for a development deal for 2022.

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“He had a really good game in one of our under 17 development games, I think that was the first time our recruitment guys had a look at him and went ‘geez, where’s he come from?’,” Finau’s SG Ball coach Chris O’Connell told foxsports.com.au.

“He played on the edge that day against Souths and he looked really good. That was the day, I think the next week he sat down with the club and they offered him something small.

“He went back to club footy (last year) and he was the best player in the comp by a mile. I watched him play in the semi and grand final and he pretty much single-handedly won them those games running through teams.

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“Apparently he’s a really late developer... apparently when he was 14 or 15 he was pretty average as a footballer. He’s only really developed in the past 18 months.

“Signing someone in that position who is that big, that fast, and that skilful, it’s pretty hard to get these days.”

Finau lives at home with his parents and two siblings.

The food bill, as you can imagine, isn’t small.

“Mum and Dad take turns cooking but they feed me quite well,” the teenager told foxsports.com.au.

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His daily diet consists of protein, protein, and more protein.

He’s fairly handy in the gym, too, training three times a week with Cronulla’s SG Ball squad.

But he’s conscious of piling on too much weight, because he doesn’t want to lose the agility that makes him such a damaging ball-runner.

“I’m still quick on my feet, so I’m trying to keep the speed there as well while maintaining the mass too,” Finau said.

Josh Finau runs out for the Sharks' SG Ball side. Source: Supplied

O’Connell says Finau is a giant for his age but is surprisingly fleet-footed and athletic.

“He’s in pretty good shape, he doesn’t carry much body fat,” O’Connell said.

“He’s really tall, got a good size, a good frame, trains hard, very athletic for someone so big. He’s pretty quick and agile.”

Finau is a born-and-bred Shire boy but he has roots in Tonga.

His father hails from the same village as Fifita’s father. The teenager has been back there a number of times with his family.

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And he idolises Fifita, too. The pair have never met but Finau is keen to unite with the experienced Sharks prop in pre-season this year.

Although according to O’Connell, there’s parts of Fifita’s game that Finau should steer clear of.

“It’s funny, I did some individual video with Josh yesterday of his game last week and I was a bit critical of how he runs,” O’Connell said.

“He runs a bit sideways and I said it’s actually a bit like Andrew Fifita... I was hoping he might want to run a bit straighter than what Andrew does.

“He’s similar but Andrew is a lot bigger around his hips and the lower part of his body. Josh is quite lean, he’s tall.

“He’s got a bit of (Fifita) in him because he gallops a bit when he runs, runs sideways a bit, he can step.”