Perhaps the easiest sporting past-times in Aotearoa is New Zealand Warriors bashing and one of the most frequent bashing techniques revolves around the idea that the Warriors can't keep their talent. Of course that is quickly met with a 'can't keep 'em all' narrative, which is then countered by just how well blokes like Sio Siua Taukeiaho have developed since leaving Mt Smart.

It's a complicated matter and one that'll form part of a massive piece of summer reading in the coming weeks. One of the more intriguing players to leave the Warriors in recent years has been Siliva Havili, who came up through the grades at the Warriors and represented Aotearoa during his time at the Warriors but was viewed as surplus to requirements. Havili then move to St. George Illawara Dragons where he hasn't quite been able to flourish as well as his South Auckland toko Taukeiaho has.

Havili is a hooker who has a solid foundation of all the key skills required to go alright in that position. Given the dramas that unfolded throughout the season A) with the Dragons in general and B) neglecting any sort of attacking impetus via Mitch Rein, Havili kinda ended up being left merely as a headline for a scuffle one night. He played in 10 games this season, coming off the bench in all but one of them (against the Warriors in round 9) and him being stuck behind Rein along with his off-field dramas meant that Havili wasn't sighted in the NRL after round 14.

Instead of playing anywhere between 5-25 minutes off the bench in the NRL, Havili was left to take up a different role with the Illawara Cutters. As a stocky lad who has defended in the middle of the park most of his career as a hooker, Havili was then used at lock where he settled into a nice niche that ended up being incredibly successful for Havili and the Cutters.

Along with fellow #KiwiNRL players Taane Milne and Kalifa Faifai Loa, Havili won the Intrust Super Premiership title with the Cutters. Havili lined up against Mounties tackling machine Shaun Fensom in that game and he was then required to back that up with another starting slot in the No.13 jersey on Grand Final Sunday. The Cutters took on Burleigh Bears (NSW vs QLD) and Havili scored a try as the Cutters went on to do the double in winning the New South Wales reserve grade and national reserve grade titles.

That's a fairly impressive way to wrap up a season in which Havili stuttered with his opportunities in the NRL - opportunities that weren't overly forthcoming - and had Havili caught up in off-field drama. After moving from the Warriors as a hooker, Havili started and won two reserve grade Grand Finals and is now set up for a big summer with the Dragons where he'll look to make an impression on Dragons coach Paul McGregor.

Rein is now a Penrith Panther and Havili will be competing with new recruit Cameron McInnes for game time at hooker. You'd have to assume that McInnes has the inside running here and Havili will likely once again get opportunities off the bench, while Josh McCrone - who started at hooker for the Cutters - is also in the Dragons squad. It's hard not to be excited by this as everything is now up to Havili and how he trains over summer as he could leap-frog McInnes and secure a starting spot if he has a tremendous summer on the training park.

Standing in Havili's way on the path to creative freedom is coach McGreogr. Rein didn't take too much poking before he unleashed on the restrictions placed on him as the Dragons dummy half and if McGregor still wants a pass-first dummy half who can't do much else, it's not going to allow Havili to flourish. McGregor may have learned his lesson though and with pressure building, he could opt to bring in a more expansive style that would suit Havili.

Alternatively, Havili could continue his career at lock where his size and skill could be useful for a Dragons team that kinda sucked with the footy this year. As a lock, I've got Havili being fairly similar to Elijah Taylor (Tigers) as Havili can run the footy like a forward and tackle his heart out, as well as playing at first-receiver and pushing the halves out one-pass further.

The Dragons aren't exactly blessed with depth at lock and even though someone like Jack de Belin did the job there this season, he doesn't have the skill or speed of Havili. All of that makes Havili the perfect bloke to carry on the bench and if used correctly, there's no reason to think that Havili can't offer some x-factor at the end of either half.

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