Reserve Grade Kiwis #3
Picaso
Reserve Grade Kiwis this week takes a wee looksie at some outside backs and we've got a fair collection of outside backs doing their thing in either reserve grade competition. Taane Milne, Tony Tumusa and Ken Tofilau have all played for the Junior Kiwis while also being rather comfy with their current NRL clubs, which bodes well for their chances of progressing through the ranks.
Taane Milne
21yrs | Auckland |Clovelly Crocodiles
Born in Auckland, Milne had previously lined up for the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team in 2013, forming a pretty damn ruthless midfield combo with Tepai Moeroa who now plays with the Eels. Milne had worked his way through the Roosters set up and played for the Junior Kiwis during his time with the Roosters Under-20s team, before moving down to the Dragons in the off-season.
Milne has had a taste of NRL footy this season and played against his former club, but the Dragons have opted to use Josh Dugan at centre instead of promoting Milne for more game time. Interestingly, Milne starts at centre for Illawara this weekend to face Newtown and he'll line up alongside Kurt Mann, who has enjoyed game time on the wing for the Dragons after being a centre at Melbourne.
I reckon we'll see more of Milne in the NRL this year, he'll just need to be patient and wait for his opportunity as the Dragons have Euan Aitken and Tim Lafai doing a nice job at the moment. Mann has the ability to play fullback and wing in his favour, which leaves Milne in reserve grade where he can stack up powerful performances and demand selection.
Newtown Jets vs Illawara Cutters | Henson Park | 3pm Saturday (Aus)
Ken Tofilau
20yrs | Auckland | Halswell Hornets
When this year's Junior Kiwis side was named, I celebrated Tofilau and Jamayne Isaako's selections as both hail from Canterbury and it's good to see rugby league players out of Canterbury playing at a high level with NRL clubs. Tofilau joined Newcastle after starring in domestic kiwi rugby league and last year he was named Newcastle's Under-20s player of the year.
Unfortunately for Tofilau, the Knights have outside backs coming out of their ears, as seen in Akuila Uate being dropped down to reserve grade. Tofilau has been named to start on the wing for the Knights against Manly-Waringah and he'll need to rely on some good luck if he's to get a run in the NRL as there's four or five blokes ahead of him. That's cool though, it just gives Tofilau more time to iron out any chinks in his armour and to really establish himself as one of the better wingers in reserve grade.
Manly-Warringah vs Newcastle Knights | Brookvale Oval | 3pm Saturday (Aus)
Tony Tumusa
20yrs | Auckland | Bay Roskill Vikings/Pt Chev Pirates.
After leaving Kelston Boys to head to Melbourne, Tumusa is one of the few Storm juniors who then graduates to earn an NRL contract as his contract was upgraded late last year. Tumusa recently came back from injury and was part of the Storm's outside back injury crisis, if he wasn't injured he could have been in with a sniff of an NRL debut by now.
Capable of playing most of the outside back positions, Tumusa will start on the wing against Peter Gubb's Wynnum and could line up directly opposite Gubb. Tumusa was influential in Sunshine Coast's draw with Souths Logan last weekend in his return from injury, he scored a try and coach Craig Ingebrigsten said..
“He scored a really good try, his carries out of dummy half were good and made metres for us,”
“He will get better for that run which is a good thing. He scored a really important try towards the end of the game, he is a really good finisher Tony and he has done a really good job for us when he has played for us during the year.”
Like Milne and Tofilau, Tumusa will have to patiently wait for his opportunity as the Storm have a long list of outside backs (Tunivalu, Koroibete, Kennar, Morgan, Blair, Scott, Hawkins, Tonumaipea, Chambers) in their roster. A few of these lads are injured though and I suspect that if Tumusa can stay healthy, he'll be in the mix later in the season.
Wynnum Manly Seagulls vs Sunshine Coast Falcons |BMD Kougari Oval | 6pm Saturday (Aus)