We knew that Ben Matulino would miss the opening stanza of the NRL season and that this would provide opportunities to the likes of Albert Vete and Sam Lisone, perhaps even Charlie Gubb. News that Matulino could be out for a bit longer thanks has now come on the back of some hype surrounding a young bloke named Isaiah Papalii who is demanding all sorts of attention and understandably so.

Papalii's swift rise could see him become an intriguing option on the bench and given what he has done in his short career with Aotearoa Warriors, it's not silly to think of Papalii as a bench possibility. In May last year, Papalii was named in the Junior Kiwis squad while still playing 1st XV rugby for Mount Albert Grammar School and Papalii would have been a certainty for the Aotearoa Schoolboys rugby union team if his path in rugby league wasn't already carved out; Papalii was a star for MAGS, who finished 2016 as national champions.

That Papalii earned selection for the Junior Kiwis despite switching between Junior Warriors and 1st XV rugby union, is reasonably crazy. This is the sort of talent that the Warriors are working with and as Papalii can now solely focus his energies on rugby league, there is every chance that we see Papalii make his NRL debut this season.

Papalii is the sort of prototype forward that NRL clubs crave as he's mobile enough to play on the edge, then that mobility can be an asset when combined with size through the middle.

Anyone who has done any sort of research on Papalii knows that he's got straight-up power and power in the NRL is valuable, on the edge or through the middle. This makes Papalii the perfect bloke to carry on a bench.

The possible rise of Papalii could shake up the cluster of Warriors forwards who are all of a similar age and offer a similar package. Depth is crucial in the NRL and we are going to see the Warriors' depth tested at the start of the season with Matulino on the sidelines, plus everyone is starting on a fresh page with the new coach Stephen Kearney so we may not see the same rankings/rotation as we did last year.

When they are healthy and available, expect Matulino, Vete, Lisone and Jacob Lillyman to be in the top-17. Two of them will come off the bench and one bench spot will likely be used for a utility option - I love Jazz Tevaga in that spot - which leaves one spot up for grabs and that one spot will come from this group: Charlie Gubb, Toafofoa Sipley, Isaiah Papalii, Bunty Afoa, Patrick Sipley, James Gavet, Ligi Sao, Ofahiki Ogden.

Some of that group will be keen to put pressure on Vete and Lisone, let alone fight for a bench spot. How Kearney is thinking here is where the anticipation sits and with Kearney laying some fresh eyes on this cluster of young forwards, it'll be interesting to see how he moves the pieces around in Matulino's absence; which blokes will get a chance to impress before Matulino returns (I mean, if he does return)?

Papalii is putting his best foot forward in that regard and he's got a point of difference in that he's a freakish athlete. Whether that translates to Kearney being willing to give him a chance early on, or making him pay his dues in reserve grade is the question. An off-shoot of all this though is that the Warriors reserve grade side will be fun to watch as their forward pack should be dominant.