Try tackle NAS? I'd rather try tackle Koni ... keyword 'try'.

Before the start of this NRL season, a matter of months ago, I had Nelson Asofa-Solomona as one of my kiwis to watch out for this season. NAS as I affectionately call him (one time for Nasty Nas) had been snapped up by the Melbourne Storm as a schoolboy rugby star in Wellington and last year we saw NAS gain frequent game time in the NRL with the Storm, showing enough to get me extremely excited about his prospects as an up and coming kiwi star.

NAS is huge. A quick look at Wikipedia has him at 2m tall and 115kgs, which enables NAS to not only make easy metres through the middle but also means he's able to offload thanks to a vast wingspan. With Jesse Bromwich offering metres, late footwork and a love for an offload, I was dreaming of a Storm team that had Bromwich, NAS, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor and Kenny Bromwich, a forward pack full with kiwis who all offer something different and in rather freakish doses.

This season, with two rounds in the history books, NAS is yet to be sighted in the NRL and has instead been battling away in reserve grade. Despite my dreams, or excitement of NAS' presence in an excellent Storm/kiwi forward pack, the Storm have done rather nicely without NAS and have impressed me immensely in their opening two games.

Forwards like Tim Glasby, Felise Kaufusi and the younger Bromwich (Kenny) have held down bench spots instead of NAS. I don't think it's any coincidence that this has been the case with the new interchange rules coming into effect along with the general speed of the NRL increasing each year, to near ridiculous levels.

While the Bulldogs for example have two excessively beastly beings in their ranks with Sam Kasiano and David Klemmer both holding down spots in a full-strength Bulldogs 17, the Storm are a different team and Craig Bellamy is a different coach. The Doggies have the luxury of props like Aiden Tolman and James Graham, both of whom can easily get through 80 minutes. The Storm on the other hand need all their forwards to pull their weight as they opt for a more mobile forward pack, at least that's how it looks after two rounds.

This is why I'm not surprised that a move back to Wellington, back to rugby union now looks very likely for NAS. Apparently he's homesick and my observations lead me to believe that he may be surplus to requirements with the Storm, which makes me sad although thinking of what NAS could do back in rugby union only leaves me excited.

I'd love to see NAS remain with the Storm and become a focal point of their forward pack alongside Jesse Bromwich, it simply might not work though, especially if the Hurricanes and NZRU make NAS an offer he can't refuse. The reality is that with NAS playing in reserve grade, it won't take too much to lure him back to rugby union and there's a two trends emerging here that I find interesting.

The first is very much just a theory, that could be a trend. Remember Sam Lousi? He used to play for the Warriors and was a gun in the Under-20s thanks to his ridiculous size. Lousi is now playing lock with the NSW Waratahs after he couldn't quite find a niche in the NRL, with my theory being that Lousi and NAS be too big for the NRL(?). Of course, there's a fair few very big lads in the NRL that counter my theory.

The second idea/trend and far more interesting is the move from rugby league back to rugby union. As I've written before, the Under-20s competition brought with it a massive push from NRL clubs to poach schoolboy rugby union talent as schoolboy rugby was front and centre, on the telly and basically became a talent show. As schoolboy rugby league competitions start to gain more notoriety, this is reaching a plateau and guys like Ngani Laumape, Dylan Collier, Ngataua Hukatai and Glen Fisi'ahii have all moved back to union after stints in the Junior Warriors and Warriors. NAS could be following this path.

Any sort of bias aside, this just shows the ease at which young footy players can chop and change between both codes. While I'd be a bit gutted if NAS went back to union, I have moved beyond a league vs union mentality as more players switch between the two and I simply want to see the athlete go well.

In the case of NAS, he's a freak and freak athletes deserve all the success that their hard work offers. Whether NAS is playing for the All Blacks or Kiwis doesn't bother me, he'd be an asset in either code and I just want the best for the kid.