#KiwiNRL Stocks: Round Three
Mandatory hat to the back.
Stocks Up
Jesse Bromwich
The Kiwis captain returned nice and early from his thumb injury, giving Melbourne a timely dose of grunt through the middle against Brisbane. Bromwich only played 50 minutes and that'll rise back up beyond 60 minutes soon enough, yet he still managed 12 carries for 104m, with an offload and tackle bust in there as well. For some context on his influence, compare Jesse's stats to those of Korbin Sims (47 minutes, 8 carries for 44m) and Adam Blair (53 minutes, 8 carries for 55m).
Kenny Bromwich
No Tohu Harris, no worries for Melbourne. Kenny Bromwich (and Felise Kaufusi) played all 80 minutes against Brisbane and Kenny is doing a fine job in holding down the left edge spot, vacated by Harris. Kenny kept Queensland forward Matt Gillett quiet for much of this game and put up a highly respectable stat-line of 15 carries for 112m, a tackle bust, 28 tackles and 2 offloads.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona
If we keep seeing such performances from the Storm's kiwi contingent then I'll have to lump them all together as I did last season and with Nelson Asofa-Solomona settling back into his bench role, I reckon we'll see the Kiwi Storm Gang back at the top. Asofa-Solomona played the least minutes of Melbourne's bench (27 minutes) and had the same number of carries (9) as Tim Glasby and Christian Welch, however he had 81m from those 9 carries with 5 tackle busts and 2 offloads. Keep a close eye on this beast as the return of Jesse Bromwich allows the Storm to get back into their standard rotation and ahead of Harris' return, Asofa-Solomona will be keen to show coach Craig Bellamy that he offers more impact off the bench than Glasby and Welch.
Benji Marshall
Welcome back sir.
Agnatius Paasi
Standard business for Agnatius Paasi in what I consider to be his strongest position. Paasi will probably want a bit more game time than 46 minutes, however he was the only Gold Coast forward to run over 100m (11 carries for 107m). That includes Jarrod Wallace and Ryan James who both had more carries than Paasi, just not the same oomph.
Nathaniel Peteru
I've admired Asofa-Solomona's efficiency off the bench for Melbourne and Nathaniel Peteru's 16-minute-stint off the bench for the Titans was similar. In those 16 minutes, Peter had 11 carries for 88m and a tackle bust, which is the definition of impact and this comes with Peteru nailing a consistent bench spot so far this season.
Kiwi Eels
Parramatta suffered a cheeky upset loss, however the Kiwi Eels did us proud and while the Eels have some legit weapons, the Kiwi Eels are forming a crucial foundation to this Eels team. That starts with former Auckland Vulcans brothers Suaia Matagi and Manu Ma'u, with Matagi rolling through 107m from 14 carries with an offload and a tackle bust while Ma'u was typically solid with 109m from 13 carries, a tackle bust in another 80-minute effort. Don't sleep on Brad Takairangi out in the centres either as he's putting himself in the mix for a Kiwis centre spot; 109m from 9 carries, 5 tackle busts, an offload, 2 line breaks.
Peta Hiku
Peta Hiku didn't put up big numbers, but he did spend much of his 27 minutes of game time as an edge forward and did a fine job of it. As you'll read in today's #KiwiNRL Encyclopedia, Hiku is proving to be an asset for Penrith with his versatility and after showing that he can kick it as a 'forward' he is low key establishing himself as the prototype utility.
Jordan Rapana
Any game in which Canberra are putting over 30 points on their opposition, is going to be a great game for Jordan Rapana. A contender for a Kiwis wing spot, Rapana had 209m from 14 carries with 2 try assists, 4 tackle busts, 2 offloads and 3 line breaks. The dude had more tackle busts than the 3 tackles he made.
Russell Packer
Oh look, Russell Packer ran for 100m and the Dragons won. Funny that.
Stocks Down
Brad Abbey
Rough debut for the former Junior Warrior Brad Abbey. Stepping in at fullback for Will Hopoate, Abbey did make his debut so that's cause for celebration however he never really looked comfortable in his key fullback duties which perhaps impacted his confidence and willingness to get his mits on the footy. 87m off 12 carries isn't close to par for fullbacks, although I've got a vivid memory of Abbey scooting out of dummy half in the second half with a strong carry so the kid certainly has something to offer.
Issac Luke
The Warriors simply need Issac Luke to have at least 10 dummy half runs, not 4. I refuse to be overly dramatic about Luke's fairly stagnant play as the blokes playing the footy for him resemble tranquilized snails and there is no intent from the Warriors to get up swiftly and earn a quick play-the-ball. Luke had 125 touches though and given that his strongest attribute is his running ability, 4 carries just ain't enough.
Manu Vatuvei
Another injury for the veteran Warriors winger ruined what was a low key solid return to the NRL. Funnily enough, Luke's most dangerous scoot came on the back of a quick play-the-ball from Vatuvei as he has a habit of landing on his belly but right now it just feels like Vatuvei is an injury-prone old bloke. I love him so it's hard to say that but he's only valuable if he's on the park.
Te Maire Martin
The poor cuzzy had Roosters' edge forward Boyd Cordner running at him all game and as Cordner tends to do, he ran rampant. Cordner had 136m from 17 carries with 3 tackle busts, giving Martin 34 tackles while his halves partner on the other side of the field only had to make 15 tackles. Hence it's understandable that Martin had 4 missed tackles and didn't run the footy as effectively as Cleary; 5 carries for 32m vs 6 carries for 63m.