Always carry the footy in two hands kids.

News of Jason Taumalolo's 'secret' mission to the ol' United States of America got everyone in a huff and a puff. Taumalolo is spending a bit of time in the USA with NFL teams on the way back from England and all the mayhem surrounding Taumalolo's (and Valentine Holmes) NFL excursion reminded me of everything I disliked about the Jarryd Hayne x NFL saga; thank Jah the Wildcard was here to lay common sense down when writing about Hayne.

Taumalolo will apparently 'trial' with NFL clubs and that's the first problem when pondering this whole situation. The term 'trial' kinda suggests that Taumalolo is looking to seal an NFL contract asap but I don't think that Taumalolo will be doing anything more than 'working out' with NFL clubs, basically running around in pads and doing NFL things to see if it's something that he can see himself doing down the track.

All of this came with the good will of the North Queensland Cowboys who reckon they gave it the 'all good bro' and Taumalolo will likely just pop back into Townsville after this and resume normal service. There's always the possibility that Taumalolo could give the NFL a serious crack in a few years time, but I won't be buying into any sort of hype about Taumalolo's future in the NFL until he actually makes a proper move.

If I was as physically gifted as Taumalolo, I'd be doing the exact same thing.

Of greater interest to me are a few #KiwiNRL player signings led by Elijah Taylor and also featuring Junior Kiwi outside back Greg Leleisiuao.

Taylor has re-signed with Wests Tigers for two more years after making the mid-season switch from Penrith Panthers this season. There was apparent interest from rugby union which was hyped up by mainstream kiwi media, although that fizzled out and for a couple of months it seemed as though Taylor and the Tigers were just sussing out details before making it official.

This is a great move for both parties as Taylor's skill and work rate makes him perfectly suited to the style of footy that the Tigers play. As soon as Taylor arrived at the Tigers, he was used as a ball-playing lock, operating as a link between the ruck and either Mitchell Moses or Luke Brooks with an inside pass from Taylor to Brooks which put Brooks over to score, standing out vividly in my memory. Taylor has the full repertoire of passes to do this job and while he filled in at hooker a few times for the Tigers this year, expect Taylor to wear the No.13 jersey full time next year.

As a tackling machine in the middle of the field, Taylor will help the Tigers bring their defence up to par with their attack. Taylor didn't have an immediate impact in this regard as the Tigers were still pretty stink defensively, however with Taylor training all summer with the Tigers, they can build their defence around his effort and determination through the middle third. Taylor's a far different lock to say, Taumalolo so don't expect him roll up the field with powerful carries or anything like that. Taylor's bread and butter is tackling with some funky ball-playing thrown in.

The Tigers now have a fairly solid gang of middle forwards with Taylor likely to join Aaron Woods, Sauaso Sue, Ava Seumanufagai and Tim Grant in what is shaping up as a low key impressive forward pack. Securing Taylor for two years also gives the Tigers a better idea of how they are going to ensure that Woods, Moses, Brooks and James Tedesco stay with the Tigers, or at least most of those four.

After impressive in the Under-20's competition with Gold Coast Titans, Mangere East junior Leleisiuao has apparently signed with Parramatta Eels in a move that is yet to be made official. Leleisiuao is exactly the type of outside back that NRL coaches love to have on their rosters as he's big enough, powerful and can scoot, so why on Earth would the Titans let him go?

The Titans are currently heading down the path of building their NRL squad with established NRL players, spending more money on players who have proven their worth in the NRL instead of investing in younger players by upgrading their contracts. In recent times the Titans have signed Jarryd Hayne, Kevin Proctor, David Shillington, Dan Sarginson, Nathan Peats, Konrad Hurrell and Chris McQueen, which doesn't leave a whole lot of room for them to spend money on their youngsters.

There's nothing wrong with this as it's just an example of how NRL clubs can go about building their rosters. The Eels could get an outside back - most likely a winger - who will offer depth next year and give the Eels a safety net should anything happen with Semi Radradra.

Leleisiuao will struggle to walk into a starting wing spot with the Eels as they do have Radradra and Bevan French could spend time on the wing as Parramatta continue to groom him for a long-term fullback role, plus there are the likes of Bureta Faraimo, Vai Toutai, John Folau and the recently signed Kirisome Auva'a who will compete for starting spots.

While I'll be keeping a close eye on how Taylor goes in the No.13 jersey for Wests Tigers next season, I'll also be keeping a close eye on where Leleisiuao starts the season assuming he does move to Parramatta. He'll most likely take a wing spot for Wentworthville in reserve grade, but he'll be there waiting to snap up an opportunity to play NRL footy next season.