Kiwi NRL Stocks Round 6
I'd listen to arguments about Steve Matai being the best centre in the NRL right now, I'd counter with Will Chambers, but Stevie's going well.
Stocks Up
Jordan Kahu: After a few quiet weeks, Jordan Kahu was back on the wing against St George and delivered the sort of numbers that he had been dishing up on weekly basis. Kahu made the most metres of any Broncos player with 167m and had the most carries of any outside back with 15, throw in a try and a line break and it's good to have the Petone Prince back at his best.
Jason Nightingale: Regardless of how his Dragons perform, Jason Nightingale has consistently been one of their best which has me smiling from ear to ear. Only Josh Dugan had more carries than Nightingale's 16, which gave Nightingale 114m thanks to 5 tackle busts ... the same as Dugan.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall: If it weren't for Dylan Napa, Kenny-Dowell would have once again been the Roosters' best player. He did manage a few errors through speculative passes, however he led the Roosters in tackle busts with 6 and averaged over 10m per-carry through 15 carries.
Sam Moa & Issac Liu: His front-row partner Napa was the star of the show, yet Moa had his best game of the season in conjunction with Napa's efforts. Moa started and played 46 minutes, running for 129m off 16 carries while Liu was also low key impressive in 58 minutes of action as he ran for 128m from 15 carries. It's clear that the Roosters knew what had to be done through the middle of the field against the Bunnies, whether Moa and Liu can churn out these sorts of numbers consistently over the next few weeks will be the key.
Abraham Papalii: We got our first look at former Junior Warrior Abraham Papalii with the Roosters after he had been on the cusp of an NRL debut for a few weeks. He only played 10 minutes but it was probably the best 10 minutes that we could have hoped for with Papalii running for 64m from only 4 carries with a tackle bust, offload and line break. Papalii fits the Roosters big forward mould (190cm and 115kgs) and with fellow kiwi Sio Siua Taukeiaho having to shift to the edge to accommodate injuries etc and now out for a few weeks with a knee injury, Papalii will see greater opportunities to provide power and offloads through the middle.
Kieran Foran: In a big win over a decent Raiders side, Kieran Foran showed his class alongside Corey Norman. Foran scored a try and recorded a try assist along with 3 tackle busts while also not missing a single tackle. What I liked about Foran's combination with Norman was how they shared the workload with Foran getting 53 touches to Norman's 46 touches as well as both kicking 7 times, this is the sort of balance between the halves that the best NRL teams have.
Manu Ma'u: A steady game for my favourite edge forward, steady without being spectaclular which is more of a nod to Ma'u's lofty standards. In 68 minutes Ma'u ran for 107m from 12 carries with an offload and tackle bust thrown in for shits and giggles.
Peni Terepo: It looks as though Peni Terepo has established some trust between he and coach Brad Arthur as he's slowly been getting more game time which has resulted in greater productivity from the Mangere East junior. In only 39 minutes, Terepo had 13 carries (more than Josh Papalii had in 80 minutes) and 120m which gave the Eels plenty of oomph off the bench.
Jordan Rapana: Nightingale is the best kiwi winger at consistently making big metres regardless of how his team performs and Jordan Rapana isn't too far behind. 13 carries, 135m, a try assist, 4 tackle busts, 2 offloads and a line break is business as usual for the best low key kiwi in the NRL.
Joe Tapine: I continue to like this move to the middle for Joe Tapine and even though he was part of a Raiders pack that was over-run by their Parramatta opposition, Tapine still managed 4 tackle busts in only 41 minutes which was the most of any Raiders forward.
Steve Matai: Returning home to Auckland, Richmond's finest Steve Matai put on a show for his friends in family as he ran rampant at Mt Smart. This sort of performance had been brewing for Matai, I noted how he was running with more intent and seemed refreshed under new coach Trent Barrett and he exploded against the Warriors; 2 tries, 102m, 5 tackle busts, 2 offloads and a line break. What really impressed me was his second try, where he hung around in the middle of the field after a hit up and burst on to an inside ball. This could have been a set-play which is awesome as it shows Manly want Matai heavily involved, or it could have been all instinct with Matai sniffing an opportunity, sticking around in the middle which is just as cool. And bit shout to Matai for choosing to represent Toa Samoa at the next World Cup.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: Rejoice, celebrate the number of kiwi wingers who are doing great things in the NRL. Watene-Zelezniak is just another kiwi winger doing his thing and against the Cowboys he scored 2 tries, ran for 213m off only 17 carries with 5 tackle busts and 2 offloads. Only one other bloke in this game ran for more metres than DWZ (see below) and what continues to impress me about DWZ's play is how physical he is, even if he's running into three forwards, those forwards won't have an easy job in putting DWZ to groun.d
James Fisher-Harris: After debuting earlier in the season, James Fisher-Harris continues to see more game time and he's responding exactly how we'd like our young kiwis to. He had 97m from 10 carries with a tackle busts and an offload, giving the Panthers a much needed physical presence off the bench.
Jason Taumalolo: Of course, it had to be Jason Taumalolo who ran for more metres than DWZ. Taumalolo is a freak, let's get that clear as he ran for 222m from 20 carries, that's 11.1m per-carry. There aren't many forwards taking 20 carries a game, let alone doing so with such impact and power as Taumalolo could be the quickest big fella in the game, especially when changing direction.
Sosaia Feki: More kiwi wingers!? Feki scored a try for the Sharks, to go with 114m from 10 carries and 5 tackle busts in yet another solid game from the Bay Roskill junior.
Ava Seumanufagai: After a number of strong performances off the bench, Ava Seumanufagai has been rewarded with Aaron Woods' starting spot for this week. The Wainuiomata junior was one of the Tigers' best forwards in their loss to the Knights as he played 47 minutes with 15 carries for 138m.
Jesse Bromwich: Another standard effort from Bromwich aka the best prop in the NRL, with the Manurewa Marlin running for 153m off 17 carries. That's above-average, but there's a few NRL forwards who can do that right? Yeah, but with 2 tackle busts, 39 tackles and 4 offloads as well? Maybe not, oh and for the record; Bromwich leads all offloads with 20 this season, 7 more offloads than the pack chasing him.
Tohu Harris: With a try in which he wriggled free of a few defenders close to the line, Harris showed what a threat he is out on the edge. Harris was busy all night against the Bulldogs as he got through 80 minutes with 80m from 11 carries, 3 tackle busts, 44 tackles, an offload and a line break.
Stocks Down
Leeson Ah Mau & Russell Packer: I feel mean as I've had these two in Stocks Down for a number of weeks now but I'm still of the opinion that some portion of the Dragons' struggles can be put down to the lack of dominance gained up front. Ah Mau played 35 minutes and Packer played 31 minutes while Josh McGuire had a chill night at the office with 56 minutes and Adam Blair got through 44 minutes. Both Ah Mau and Packer averaged less than 10m per-carry and were unable to provide much more funk than an offload each. The proof will be in the pudding; once these two start laying a ruthless platform up front, the Dragons will creep closer to a win.
Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Before suffering that knee injury, Taukeiaho was on track for another excellent performance as he ran for 53 from 5 carries in 26 minutes with a tackle bust and offload. Ponder to yourself how that would have looked after 80 minutes. Unfortunately though, Taukeiaho did injure his knee and will be about for a while, a setback for a lad who quickly established himself as one of the most dangerous forwards in the NRL.
Shaun Johnson: We all want Shaun Johnson to run the footy, it's what he does best but for what we can only assume to be obvious reasons (his leg) he doesn't want to. Johnson ran 5 times for 22m, which was flung into the shade by the Manly halves with Dylan Walker running 13 times for 95m and Apisai Koroisau running 5 times for 40m.
Issac Luke: Bully ran the footy and did so pretty well with 61m off 6 runs with 3 tackle busts, he was also the only player from either the Warriors or Manly who conceded 3 penalties.
Martin Taupau: You might have thought that Marty Taupau would put on a similar show to Matai, however Taupau was eerily quiet against the Warriors. Despite playing 80 minutes, Taupau only had 9 carries for 66m with no tackle busts or offloads which is pretty odd for a player like him who's bread and butter is running hard.
Sam Tagataese: There was a stage last season, when the Sharks beat the Cowboys up in Townsville when Sam Tagataese looked like one of the most dangerous prosp in the NRL. This season though, Tagataese hasn't quite kicked on and had a shocker against the Titans with 3 errors to go with only 20m from 3 carries.
Curtis Rona: The lack of tries is a worry, so is the lack of work Rona got through against the Storm with only 8 carries for 59m which was the least carries/metres combo of any outside back in the Bulldogs vs Storm game. More of a worry though are whispers of rugby union clubs chasing Rona, who had played union in Perth before trying his hand at league. Then again, if Rona isn't living up to last season's hype, the Doggies could be better off without him.