#KiwiNRL Nasty NAS (Nelson Asofa-Solomona) In Your Area, About To Cause Mass Hysteria
'Before I blunt, I take out my fronts' ... which song bro?
As Andrew Fifita and his Cronulla Sharks forwards rampaged through a gritty Melbourne Storm forward pack in the NRL Grand Final this year, I wondered if the presence of Nelson Asofa-Solomona would have changed anything in how the GF panned out. I was and still am, adamant the Storm would have benefited greatly from having a 20-year-old who has only played 27 NRL games, who played over 30 minutes just four times in 15 games this year.
A team with Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, the best prop in the game in Jesse Bromwich, one of the hottest youngsters in Cameron Munster, a try-scoring freak in Suliasi Vunivalu and the 2nd-best young Kiwis forward there in Tohu Harris (2nd to Jason Taumalolo), it just felt as though the Storm were missing the x-factor that NAS offers. An elbow injury sustained at training during the Finals ensured that NAS wouldn't be able to offer that x-factor on the biggest stage.
X-factor usually comes in the form of a skillful play-maker who can break a game open with a moment of brilliance, the audacity to try that brilliance. Especially in the current NRL where the interchange has been decreased, meaning more tired big lads and greater opportunity for quick-footed halves, fullbacks, wingers etc to simply have a go. The way NAS runs the footy, you could be mistaken for thinking that he is a livewire back, however he's a 2m-tall beast who came off the bench to average 10.63m per-carry for the Storm this year.
NAS rarely played big minutes, because he didn't need to. Craig Bellamy is a wise ol' chap and having such a big (and young) lad on the field for a few minutes too long, opens up those chances for smaller blokes. Bellamy also knows that NAS is incredibly efficient with his work; he's not on the field for long, but shit mate, he gets through some work.
Not only did NAS steam down the field with every run he made, he offloaded in all but three of the 15 games he played this year, averaging 1.3 offloads a game. Take whatever perception you have of the Storm and chuck it down the toilet; their success this year was based around a bloke like NAS, a freak.
The three games before NAS got injured paint a fairly clear picture of what NAS offered the Storm. Round 24 vs Manly had NAS playing 29 minutes for 136m from 11 carries (12.36m/p-c) with 2 offloads, Round 25 vs Brisbane had NAS playing 28 minutes for 111m from 12 carries (9.25m/p-c) with 4 offloads and against the Cowboys in the first round of the Finals, NAS only played 13 minutes but took 2 carries for 20m.
Surely, if NAS plays 20 minutes in that GF then the Storm have a point of difference that could have at the very least muddled a fantastic Sharks defence.
All of this came as noise around the future of NAS peaked. At one point in the season, NAS was eyeing up a move back to Wellington to play rugby union after the Storm had done exactly what they did with Matt Duffie, Suliasi Vunivalu and Tohu Harris; snap up tremendous rugby union talent and get them flourishing in rugby league.
The Storm had to fight off rugby union as well as pretty much every other NRL club to re-sign NAS, a move which I'd suggest is a bigger deal than the saga involving Kalyn Ponga. NAS re-signed just for one year though and during the 2017 season, NAS' future will once again be a hot-topic as we are probably going to see NAS settle down into the Storm's forward rotation and continue to blossom nicely.
NAS will have big offers to consider, while the Storm will be hoping that the Storm's mana or culture, along with a hefty Kiwi Storm Gang (NAS, Bromwich bros, Harris, Jahrome Hughes, Brandon Smith) is enough to keep NAS in Melbourne.
The one-year deal is an interesting one to ponder. The Storm would have obviously wanted NAS to sign for two or three years, while NAS may have wanted to test the open market after next season. I suspect though that an ever-increasing salary cap and some reshuffling of the Storm's cap - they've got a year to suss that out now - will allow the Storm to make a much bigger offer next year, than they could have now.
NAS is far from perfect as well, with injuries a regular occurrence and his size not really meshing well with Bellamy's mobile, defensively focused pack. NAS still needs time to figure out how he can play 40 minutes a game, while maintaining his attacking impetus; there's only so much money you can pay for a lad who plays less than 30 minutes a game.
The elbow injury NAS suffered had a big impact on the Storm's Premiership hopes, it also ruled NAS out of contention for a Kiwis jersey. Instead, James Fisher-Harris and Joseph Tapine were selected (both are worthy) and we can now look forward to the prospect of NAS having a good season with Melbourne, emerging as a smokey for next year's World Cup.
As the mainstream media rolled through doom and gloom, typical 'culture' concerns and general sillyness after the Kiwis struggled over in England, I kept looking forward. Forward to a World Cup where the Kiwis forward pack features Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor, Kevin Bromwich, Jason Taumalolo, Martin Taupau, James Fisher-Harris, Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Joseph Tapine and nasty NAS himself.