Hi Chris,
I don't know the rod, how much are you going to splash for it? If you are going to buy one Chris, it's not going to be cheap and I'd buy something you can get fixed if you break it. Break the Hardy (which may be a dog anyway) and will be cash down the drain, cash which would be better put towards something decent.
Have you ever built a rod? May be worth trying to get a blank, this will cut cost down a bit.
18' rods do come up occasionally on Ebay.
Rods I am familiar with that are worth a punt are
Daiwa Signature
DTX
Norway
B&W Tournament
Zpey (this was a while ago and I think it has changed a bit since then)
Partridge MF or F, former would be my preference.
Don't buy something because it's cheap, you'll only regret it.
Cheers
Ben