Stocks Up

Steve Matai: The angriest NRL player in the league continues with his strong start to the 2016 season after running for 115m off 13 carries with 3 tackle busts. Matai has always played his footy in an aggressive manner, this season though I'm seeing Matai much busier with more tough carries and greater intent when running the footy. When you consider that Martin Taupau is inside Matai and Jorge Taufua is outside him on the wing, Manly boast a pretty damn powerful left edge.

Jordan Kahu: You've got to love it when our kiwi lads bounce back strongly from a few quiet games and that's exactly what Kahu did for the Broncos against Gold Coast. Kahu moved to the wing to make way for Jack Reed at centre and while Kahu's centre James Roberts enjoyed a fantastic night, Kahu also scored a try and ran for 100m thanks to a tackle bust and a line-break. With Reed and Roberts healthy, Kahu can settle down on the wing and gain some consistency.

Kodi Nikorima: The livewire bench player showed what a dangerous weapon he is off the bench in only 23 minutes of action. Nikorima had the most tackle busts of anyone not named James Roberts with 5 and scored a try, adding some funk to the Broncos' attack.

Storm Kiwis (Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor, Kenny Bromwich and Nelson Asofa-Solomona): In a tough win over Newcastle, our kiwi Storm gang all put in strong shifts led by the best prop in the NRL Jesse Bromwich who ran for 146m, broke 3 tackles and led all offloaders in this game with 4. When Jesse is in that sort of mood, popping out offloads and using his late footwork at the line, the Storm are always going to be tough to beat.

Harris was also strong, playing 80 minutes and running for 127m with a try assist, 2 tackle busts and 2 offloads. Proctor ran off Cooper Cronk all game, running for 78m and making 35 tackles with no errors while the younger Bromwich was also solid in 51 minutes off the bench, he didn't make many metres (34m) but he did break 2 tackles and made 30. The most intriguing performance though was Nelson Asofa-Solomona's return to the Storm's NRL side and the big lump of a lad provided plenty of impact in 49 minutes off the bench as he ran for 57m off 7 carries with 2 tackle busts and an offload in a little glimpse of what he's capable of.

We're still waiting to hear whether Asofa-Solomona will return to rugby union in Aotearoa or stick with the Storm, however it does sound like he will stick with the Storm which is very exciting.

Dene Halatau: The OG of the Tigers pack and a bloke who does whatever is required of him in whatever position, Halatau enjoyed his best game of the season against Cronulla. Halatau ran for 101m and had 2 tackle busts, plus a line-break in 70 minutes on the edge.

Sosaia Feki: An unsung hero of the Sharks, Feki scored a try and also had a try assist for Cronulla in a solid night's work which also saw him run for 74m and break 2 tackles.

Jason Taumalolo: I reckon Cowboys coach Paul Green would have loved the Cowboys' big win over St George, not only because it was a big win but because he could give his star forwards a bit of a break. Jason Taumalolo only played 40 minutes which is a little less than usual, however he still got through 127m, averaging 12.7m per-carry with 3 tackle busts in what can be considered a quiet night for Taumalolo.

Antonio Winterstein: I completely slept on the most slept on winger in the NRL in my look at possible Kiwis wing options, sorry. Winterstein rarely puts a foot wrong and enjoyed a great night against St George as he ran for 159m, almost 10m per-carry with 6 tackle busts and an offload.

Jason Nightingale: From a Samoan/Kiwi winger who is the most slept on to Nightingale who breathes rare-air. Nightingale ran for more metres than any Dragons' forward, one of only four Dragons to run for 100m or more with 149m and how Nightingale breaks 4 tackles, I'll never know. 

Siliva Havili: Low key solid game for Havili off the bench for the Dragons with 24 minutes, 30m off 3 carries and an offload. Not amazing but we just want to see Havili getting more game time and settling into the Dragons set up.

Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Up against his former club, Taukeiaho scored a try that only he or Taumalolo or Martin Taupau could score. There were also 113m, 4 tackle busts and a line-break, perhaps the most impressive aspect of Taukeiaho's performance was that he played the whole game, all 81 minutes of it. That's Manu Ma'u-like.

Issac Luke: Bully ran the footy! And the Warriors won. When Luke runs the footy (112m) he's always going to pose a threat as he's got nice footwork and is a powerful little fella, which leads to 6 tackle busts. Just like with Taukeiaho, Luke played the whole game and showed what he's capable of.

Ben Matulino: A standard night for the second best kiwi prop in the NRL, as Matulino ran for 120m with a tackle bust and an offload. What we've seen from Matulino to start the 2016 season has been a level of consistency that ensures that the Warriors always have a threat through the middle of the field whether it be through offloads, tackle busts or just metres and quick play-the-balls.

Tuimoala Lolohea: We all know what Lolohea can do on the footy field, it smacks you in the face how slick this kid is and he enjoyed a 2016 breakout game against the Chooks. Lolohea was highly involved, getting off his wing to go hunting for the footy and his 11 carries were more than any Roosters outside back. Lolohea stacked the stats with 152m, 2 try assists, 4 tackle busts, an offload and 2 line-breaks, that's what Tui can do.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: I'm not happy with putting Mr 200 in Stocks Up, not when he didn't run for 200m (he was still good, really good with 179m, 2 try assists, 4 tackle busts, an offload and 3 line-break assists). What caught my eye about Tuivasa-Sheck's game agaisnt his former club were his try assists and Warriors fans better get used to. Tuivasa-Sheck showed great composure to catch, step and then throw a long cut-out pass to Manu Vatuvei  and then carried the footy all the way to the Roosters' line in a perfect draw and pass to set up Solomone Kata.

Manu Ma'u: 'Manu Ma'u-like' because Manu Ma'u plays 80 minutes, he runs for 104m, he makes 2 tackle busts, he makes 35 tackles and gets an offload out all in a day's work.

Te Maire Martin vs Shaun Johnson

Every few weeks, maybe every week I'll take a look at Martin and Johnson's stats as they are two kiwi halves who ooze rugby league ability. Martin didn't have a single kick for the Panthers while Johnson had 6, taking control of the Warriors kicking as he usually does and personally I reckon these numbers should flip some time soon as Martin gains more NRL experience and will only do more kicking while the Warriors will be a lot better with Jeff Robson lending a greater hand/boot, freeing up Johnson.

Both are runners of the footy, that's their bread and butter. Martin had 6 runs for 54m while Johnson had 8 runs for 36m, Martin had 2 tackle busts and Johnson had 1 and Martin had a offload while Johnson had 2. The only take-away from these numbers for me is that Martin has more success running the footy because that's all that he does, that's his job in this Penrith team while Johnson is tasked with doing pretty much everything. 

Jordan Rapana: Another fantastic game for the Canberra winger who seems to always be impossible to tackle. Rapana ran for 136m and had 7 tackle busts which was the highest of any player in this game and with Joey Leilua the next best on 5 tackle busts, Canberra had a very dangerous right edge against the Doggies which will only get better with more game time together.

Joseph Tapine: In only 34 minutes, Tapine had plenty of impact with 112m with a tackle bust as well. Tapine has been playing through the middle since his move to Canberra and he's shown that he's just as dangerous there as he was out on the edge, keep an eye on Tapine as he's getting more game time and will only be better for it.

Stocks Down

Agnatius Paasi: No Gold Coast forward ran for 100m in a tough night for the Titans, a tough night for Paasi who only ran for 65m and missed 4 tackles through the middle as the Broncos did a great job in laying the foundations up the guts for guys like Roberts out wide.

Leeson Ah Mau & Russell Packer: Now, both Ah Mau and Packer almost averaged 10m per-carry which is fantastic returns for starting props, the Dragons need more though. The Dragons need offloads, they need over 100m and they need tackle busts from these two and they combined for a single tackle bust and offload against the Cowboys. With my kiwi bias in my backpack, I don't think it's a coincidence that the Dragons aren't looking too good while Ah Mau and Packer aren't asserting any sort of dominance through the middle. I will guarantee you that when Ah Mau and Packer are both up around 100m, with a few tackle busts and offloads, the Dragons will be winning.

Manaia Cherrington: Not many minutes for Cherrington against Cronulla and the young kiwi hooker has been named to start for the Tigers reserve grade side. This looked like it was going to be the case when Robbie Farah was going to stay and even with the Tigers signing Matt Ballin, Cherrington was likely to make way. Now it looks like it's happening and it sucks, I don't want to see Cherrington battling away in reserve grade.

Curtis Rona: Try-scoring ain't so easy for Rona nowadays as last year's gun try-scorer doesn't even feature in the top 20 this season.