Kiwi NRL Stocks - Round Two
Stocks Up
Adam Blair - The Broncos win against the Sharks was nothing more than an absolute grind and Blair was all up in it. Blair's game isn't flashy, despite showcasing his skills with the ball in hand, his game is all grit and niggle. Plenty of tackles, hit ups and general pissing off the opposition.
Kodi Nikorima - Got a run off the bench to give Andrew McCullough a spell and looked good despite not quite being as solid on defence as McCullough. Not sure how much footy Nikorima has played at hooker, he's usually a fullback or half but it was a decent start to his NRL career.
Curtis Rona - Corey Thompson was the winger for the Bulldogs last season and impressed everyone in his first NRL season, but Rona has moved down from the Cowboys and is doing the same. A couple tries and general good play for a winger - taking hit ups and good defensive reads will ensure that Rona has a long NRL career.
Manu Ma'u - Two tries for the most ruthless looking NRL player and he along with a few other Eels' forwards stood up to the challenge laid down by the Bulldogs. Peep the Ma'u also played 80 minutes and does that regularly as well as spending most of the game at centre! Which when combined with six tackle bust's, two offloads a line break and a line break assist is bloody good ... and no errors.
Jordan Kahu - The halves for the Sharks tested Kahu with a few bombs but Kahu was up to the challenge and after last week his stocks have definitely risen a wee bit. Kahu has a pretty sweet deal, he's at fullback in defence and then slides up to centre in attack with Justin Hodges taken the play making duties.
Ligi Sao - Finally we got to see the former Junior Warrior get a run for the Sea Eagles off the bench and Sao was pretty solid. Stocks up given that he looked comfortable in the NRL and hopefully we'll continue to see him get a chance as Manly need that impact.
Steve Matai - Back from injury and you could easily notice what a difference he makes to the Sea Eagles. He went toe-to-toe with Will Chambers and despite Chambers getting the edge, Matai's stocks got the nod with a solid re-entry to the NRL.
Jesse Bromwich - 21 carries, 28 tackles, three tackle breaks and three off loads, what more do you want from a prop? I'm not sure if Bromwich's stocks can rise much further but as long as he keeps doing what he does, I can't leave him off this list.
Panthers Contingent (Sika Manu, Lewis Brown, Dean Whare, Elijah Taylor, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Sam McKendry) - The Panthers look awesome and so do their kiwi crew who are at the core of their variety in attack, power through the middle and all round skill. If the Panthers continue to impress, it's going to be a great sign for kiwi rugby league.
Iosia Soliola - Coming back to the NRL with the Raiders, Soliola was a workhorse against the Warriors making 42 tackles (two less than Shaun Fensom) and ran for 172 metres off 18 carries plus two tackle breaks. Soliola is great buy for the Raiders offering leadership and effort, despite the Raiders not quite being a top eight side.
Sauaso Sue - Marty Taupau is the beast that we all notice, but Sue is proving to be someone to note out on the edge as well. Sue came off the bench last season, often through the middle but against the Dragons, Sue was all power, enthusiasm and effort (31 tackles) on the right edge for the Tigers.
Stocks Down
Gerrard Beale - I'm not sure if Beale is much of a centre, in fact I'm not really sure where Beale's best position is. Against the Broncos, Beale either didn't let the final pass go early enough or he was easily tackled and offered limited impact. The Sharks had some good punch down the other edge with Ricky Leutele, but Beale couldn't replicate that.
Sam Kasiano - Des Hasler is always hard to read, so I'm not sure if he's slowly building Kasiano's minutes or what but Kasiano only logged 20 minutes, six carries and 41 metres. Reasonably poo for a lad of his size and skill. Stocks down, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that they'll rise pretty soon.
Josh Hoffman - Same story as Beale here, I'm not sure that Hoffman is a centre. Five missed tackles as the Titans were rolled by the Panthers and Hoffman couldn't quite nail that final pass option. If Hoffman can't show why the Titans recruited him, then it's going to be a long year.
Mathew Wright - Beale, Hoffman and now Wright, all playing centre despite earning their stripes on the wing or fullback. I love Wright, but as the Cowboys go 0-2 Wright's struggled at centre and after an awesome season on the wing last year, his stocks are sliding.
Benji Marshall - The Dragons were very average against the the Tigers with the whole team making plenty of mistakes, but Benji touched the ball 53 times (Widdop touched it 40 times) and only ran the ball five times. Widdop ran four times, so the Dragons halves ran the ball for a combined nine times! That's poor and it makes it very easy for opponents to decipher what's going to go down.
Matt McIllwrick - Bro, never ever try tackle high on Greg Inglis.