Kiwi NRL Stocks Round 24
Certified OG status
Stocks Up
Jordan Kahu: Back in the Broncos starting line up, Kahu was at it again showing off classy touches despite plenty of pressure from the Doggies. Kahu was put on the wing by Wayne Bennett and had 14 carries for 111m with 2 tackle busts and 2 offloads and while the Broncos have good outside back depth, Kahu's presence in their starting line up is perfect with the Finals just around the corner. Kahu's battled injuries all season and a strong end of season run will see him seal a Kiwis Four Nations spot.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: You could argue that Penrith have two of the best running wingers in the NRL with Watene-Zelezniak and Josh Mansour, both of whom put their talents on full display in a big win over Wests Tigers. DWZ had 13 carries for 156m with 6 tackle busts and a try assist which came from a beauty of a one-handed pass into Waqa Blake's bread-basket as well.
Suaia Matagi: I'm not convinced that there are too many NRL forwards who have the same impact in carting the footy up than Matagi. Someone like Sam Kasiano has huge impact in limited minutes but that's thanks to his all-round razzle dazzle ability, whereas Matagi just hits it straight up the guts. Matagi only played 37 minutes against the Tigers but had 13 carries (off 13 touches, meaning he only ran the footy) and 107m ... 107m in 37 minutes? Shit the bed.
Storm Kiwi Gang: We haven't heard so much from the Storm Kiwi Gang in recent weeks as they've struggled to collectively perform as we've come to expect, with Nelson Asofa-Solomona back on the bench though the gang was lit against Manly. Jesse Bromwich was coming off a quiet game and was back at his solid best with 14 carries for 125m with 2 offloads in 52 minutes of action, while younger bro Kenny stepped in for Kevin Proctor out on the edge and showed what a versatile footy player he is. Kenny has been playing mainly through the middle but slid out to the edge with ease, running for 92m off 10 carries with 2 tackle busts and an offload in 58 minutes.
Tohu Harris wasn't too shabby either and he's been holding it down for the gang for the past month. Harris had 119m off 14 carries in 66m with an offload and a line break assist out on the Storm's left edge and Asofa-Solomona continued the trend of efficiency with plenty of impact in limited minutes. NAS only played 28 minutes but had 118m off just 10 carries and he put up 2 tackle busts and 2 offloads in that short stint.
Jason Taumalolo: Without Matt Scott, Taumalolo and Aussie Jim led the Cowboys through the middle and dragged Scott Bolton with them along for the ride. Taumalolo was nothing short of amazing, rampaging through a fairly soft Warriors middle and in 57 minutes the Auckland-born bulldozer had 21 carries for 215m with 3 tackle busts and a line break. This is how Taumalolo has been playing all season and with his speed around the ruck area, the Cowboys feel as though they have an infinite supply of go-forward.
Jared Waera-Hargreaves: Shaun Kenny-Dowall dropped Waerea-Hargreaves' name into the Kiwis Four Nations conversation and as long as JWH is putting up 17 carries for 173m in 48 minutes as he did against the Dragons then he should be there. The Roosters already have a ruthless middle presence without JWH, but with his frequency of carries and the metres he gets with those carries, the Roosters look like a different team when he's firing.
Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Another beastly performance from Taukeiaho who has established himself as the Roosters lock this season and with the Roosters rolling out a full-strength forward pack, Taukeiaho can settle into that job. In 48 minutes, Taukeiaho had 16 carries for 167m with 2 tackle busts and I'd go as far as saying that Taukeiaho exists only a notch or two below Taumalolo in terms of the power he offers through the middle.
Stocks Down
Elijah Taylor: On the hunt for a contract, Taylor has come out and said not to rule out rugby union as a future option ... perhaps Taylor's mind is elsewhere? It wasn't a good look as Taylor missed 6 tackles in the middle of the park for the Tigers along with an error and a penalty against him and although Taylor did make 67 tackles, it appeared as though this was because no other Tigers player really wanted to.
Agnatius Paasi: 89m off 8 carries is nothing to be sad about, especially not in only 22 minutes and that's probably a better effort than Matgai's efficiency. Paasi's stocks are taking a dip because he's playing limited minutes with coach Neil Henry not giving him an extended stint on the field as we saw earlier in the year. With Ryan James, Greg Bird, Luke Douglas and David Shillington all wanting game time and deserving plenty of minutes, Paasi's the bloke who is making way and I'm gonna be interested to see how much time he spends on the field in the next few weeks which are must-win games and then the Finals.
Shaun Johnson: Unfortunately for SJ7 and the Warriors, Johnson was well and truly put in the shade by Jonathan Thurston. Thurston was aided by a dominant forward pack that allowed him more time and space to thread the needle and do as he pleased, but as Johnson's x-factor is his running game, it's borderline embarrassing that he only had 2 runs for 16m in 45 touches of the footy ... throw in 3 errors for a laugh as well. Thurston ran the footy 4 times and had 2 tackle busts, Johnson had none and Thurston looked more athletic, more dangerous, more exciting than Johnson in merely running the footy.
Ben Matulino: For much of the season, Matulino has led that Warriors forward pack admirably but for whatever reason he only played 30 minutes and didn't do a whole lot besides running 8 times for 69m. Without Matulino's ability to poke through tackles, the Warriors lacked any form of power through the middle and we need to put Matulino's 30-minute effort into context, comparing it to the work of Matagi and Asofa-Solomona who were both far more dangerous in less game time.
Jordan Rapana: Terrible game from Rapana - no tries, only 10 carries, only 60m (somehow he had 6 tackle busts). Horrible, so shit Jordan, step it up. Just joking folks, Rapana was chillin' ahead of the Finals with the Raiders soaring.
Russell Packer: People want to rip into Benji Marshall, making him a scapegoat for all the Dragons problems but they tend to completely ignore a forward pack that simply can't compete in NRL which is all about power. You'll never win, or look any good when your starting prop is taking 5 carries for 36m in 39 minutes as Packer did. That's reasonably mediocre.