NRL Offseason Octopus - Pauli Pauli On The Move
They call me Pauli, Pauli Pauli
Dramas have been front and centre in the past week, it must be almost time to start the NRL season huh? Meh, we've got business to attend to, like Pauli Pauli being released from Parramatta and signed by Newcastle, now that perks my NRL antenna up.
Pauli Pauli is name everyone mentions when they talk about the size of NRL players these days, most frequently coming from former players in commentary; 'I'm glad I retired, look a the size of Pauli Pauli'. Pauli hasn't really done too much in his brief NRL career besides being freakishly big and athletic, which isn't a bad thing as he's still finding his feet in the NRL and his development should be sped up by a move to the Knights.
But I shall start with the Eels, where Pauli was simply surplus to requirements. Coach Brad Arthur has brought in Anthony Watmough and Beau Scott in each of his two seasons in charge, two State Of Origin back-rowers who ooze toughness and mobility, which is the direction I see Arthur's Eels heading. The Eels also boast Manu Ma'u and Tepai Moeroa, two of the low key beasts who sit on either edge and turn an NRL game into a nightmare for their opponent, plus the Eels have signed Kelepi Tanginoa who left the Eels for North Queensland and has returned after one season, a Premiership winning season.
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It's safe to say that Pauli was going to struggle for game time with the Eels, which when combined with my belief that Pauli didn't quite fit the Eels' style of play means he was allowed to head north to Newcastle. How Pauli fits into the Knights though is a little tricky and he'll probably have to work his way into contention for a bench spot behind Tariq Sims, Joseph Tapine and Robbie Rochow. The Knights are rebuilding and have flipped their retirement village of a squad into a young emerging squad that should give Pauli the opportunity to stake his claim for consistent game time.
Part of the Knights' rebuilding involves the signings of David Bhana and Sam Cook from the Warriors, who join former Junior Warrior James Taylor. It's hard to see Cook getting much game time and he will most likely feature in NSW Cup as a half, however Bhana and Taylor are both very interesting young kiwis who like Pauli will be hoping for a sniff of NRL game time.
Bhana left the Warriors as the sort of player that the Warriors have always struggled to develop from within their ranks. Bhana is effectively a 'middle forward' and played mostly at lock or hooker during his time in the Junior Warriors and NSW Cup, he's got a high work rate and is the gritty type who wasn't given an opportunity with the Warriors. Now Bhana has joined the Knights and he's got a wise head in Jeremy Smith to teach him all the tricks in the book.
Taylor has been with the Knights for a few seasons now and he's fairly similar to Paul Gallen in stature and style of play. Taylor hasn't tasted NRL footy and could be competing with Bhana for a middle forward spot on the bench at some stage, I'd keep an eye on Taylor this year if I were you as I reckon he could bounce back from a injury-ridden 2015 strongly and push for a run in the NRL.
I stumbled across this the other day...
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Sione Mata'utia, Euan Aitken, Jackson Hastings, Willis Meeham and Lamar Manuel-Liolevave have already tasted NRL footy while we can expect Jayden Nikorima, Marion Seve, Vincent Leuluai and Joey Lussick to taste NRL footy some time soon. Seve has huge raps on him and was recently poached by Brisbane, away from the Tigers.
For the record, Watene-Zelezniak is now a Kiwi and Liolevave has represented the Junior Kiwis.
I'll leave you with this, the 2013 schoolboys final between Keebra Park and Illawara State High.