Introducing The Niche Cache Kiwi Rugby League Camp (The Backs)
The Niche Cache has decided to do their bit for Aotearoa rugby league as well as Pacific Islands rugby league. During State of Origin, we'll grab a group of players and take them up to a little patch of turf near Whangarei where we will spin some yarns, work on some footy-related stuff and generally do some kiwi bonding; hunting, fishing, living off the land etc.
We're trying to grow international rugby league and in keeping with the eligibility rules that allow players to represent Pacific Island teams, without ruling them out of representing Aotearoa or Australia, we're happy to select players who have recently represented Samoa, Fiji or Tonga. It's a fact of life that many of these players were either born in Aotearoa, or moved here at a young age and so they are genuinely eligible to represent their homeland or the place where they grew up and got an opportunity.
The idea here is not to sway these players into choosing to represent Aotearoa and given Aotearoa's rugby league depth, there is no real need to go out of our way to get players on board. We simply want players who can also represent Samoa, Fiji or Tonga at the upcoming World Cup, to use this camp to develop as individuals and then take those developments to their respective teams at a later date.
That's just the Niche Cache vibe and it's how us youngins' do it. We spread the knowledge and love, instead of following what old people do as they let greed for money, information and power rule their decision making.
What has become blatantly clear, is that NZ Rugby League, like many other sporting organisations in Aotearoa and Australia, are rather silly. Or simply incapable of making smart, logical and holistic decisions. That's where we step in and bring a different vibe to the table.
The first selection is grabbing a mentor to lead us. Jason Nightingale fits the bill perfectly as he's not only a veteran who epitomises the values that we preach in always putting the team first (whether playing prop or taking less money to help his club juggle their salary cap) and he's also got plenty of wisdom away from rugby league. Nightingale is also known as 'Gypsy' and that's pretty damn cool, so he's the perfect bloke to lead this camp and dictate how it will all go down.
Through Gypsy, we'll spend a lot of time discussing matters that don't involve footy. Gypsy knows that players need to have something away from footy to sink their teeth into, as well as building values and morals that can set these young men up as leaders.
We'll start with the backs, before moving on to the forwards tomorrow.
Joseph Manu
Straight out of Tokoroa, Joseph Manu has steadily improved with the Roosters and has jumped at any opportunity. Manu started his NRL career on the wing, but his best spot is centre where he's got footwork to rival Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and as a centre, Manu has been a stand out performer at every level he's played.
I'm intrigued by Manu's journey from a small town in Aotearoa to Sydney and how he adjusted to that, while maintaining the values that make him who he is. Manu has blossomed with that move, so his story is crucial for this camp and we can all then share that to a far broader audience as more and more kiwis are getting picked up by NRL clubs straight from their home towns.
Konrad Hurrell
Following Konrad Hurrell's journey has been a pleasure and I've always been of the opinion that Hurrell should never represent Aotearoa, instead becoming somewhat of a Tongan deity.
Expect Hurrell to be a focal point of Tonga's World Cup team at centre and having already played numerous Tests for Tonga, Hurrell is the type of player that Tonga can build not only their team around, but also Tongan rugby league in general. Obviously it'll be a hoot to have him in this group and his lovely, caring vibe will be crucial to this camp.
Hurrell has settled on the Gold Coast after getting out of Auckland's terrible fish bowl and I'm keen to get his view on how toxic Auckland can be in the development of young men (and women). Everything changed for Hurrell when he left Auckland for the glitz and glam of Gold Coast, yet it was Auckland that created the problems and not Gold Coast.
Solomone Kata
I can't have Hurrell and not have Solomone Kata involved as they share the same pathway; from Tonga to schoolboy rugby in Auckland to the NRL. Kata doesn't quite have the same outgoing personality as Hurrell, so he's kept quiet in Auckland, allowing him to avoid that Auckland's fish-bowl nature, although other than that he's about as identical to Hurrell as anyone else in the NRL. Kata has been through playing consistent NRL footy to stumbling after opposition teams put a greater focus on him and we're now at a point where we know what he's capable of, Kata just needs to adjust and continue to get better.
1,644 Likes, 28 Comments - SolomoneKata (@solomone03) on Instagram: "Ouaaaa #coconut #beautiful#vavaulahi#withthefam"
A fine 2016 NRL season saw Kata get selected for the Kiwis, but there's still a high chance that Kata runs out for Tonga at the World Cup. Let me make this absolutely clear: nothing will get me as excited as Tonga playing with Hurrell and Kata as their starting centres. Not only because they ooze power and are legit weapons, but there is great potential for Kata and Hurrell to be role models and leaders for their people.
David Fusitua
Sleep on David Fusitua at your peril because I've seen Fusitua do the same thing at every level he's played and he's consistently looking like a beast amongst boys. When Fusitua gets the footy 10m-out from the try line, it's going to be a try and his work through the middle of the field continues to impress. He'll jump over you or run through you and I've never heard a bad word about him, so jump on board Fus.
Te Maire Martin
The former Hamilton Boys High School student was always going to selected for such a camp, however there's an added layer to this selection now as Te Maire Martin has experienced the highs and lows in little over 12 months. Martin looked at home in the NRL when he made his debut, then much of last season was scratched through injury only for him to return to play a few rounds of footy, earning selection for the Kiwis Four Nations squad. Martin is now chillin' on the fringe of the NRL with Bryce Cartwright taking his No.6 jersey at Penrith and you can't really as for much more to assist the growth of a young man.
437 Likes, 18 Comments - Te Maire Martin 🐠🐟🎣 (@t_m4rtin) on Instagram: "Knew I had a twin out there somewhere 🐗"
Plain-sailing sucks and there is development is absent without hardship, so I'm happy that Martin is rolling through this adversity. Perhaps he'll be able to talk to the group about how he's dealing with it and we can all come together in discussion about the rollercoaster of a professional sporting career.
Ata Hingano
Funnily enough, Martin's future could impact that of Ata Hingano. Both are classy operators and where they end up playing their footy won't really matter as class always shines through. Hingano showed a level of toughness with his defence that caught my earlier this season and while we didn't really see his full arsenal on attack, he certainly hasn't looked like a fish out of water in the NRL.
I'm eager to work with Hingano becasue he's going to be crucial to Tonga at the World Cup and possibly beyond. Hingano has all the skills to steer Tonga around the park and to get the best out of the many weapons in that squad, how he goes about his leadership in a group that will feature many players who are older than him will be an interesting starting point in terms of a group discussion.
Fa'amanu Brown
You can copy and paste Hingano's yarn here as Christchurch's Fa'amanu Brown has a similar job lined up for him at the World Cup, only for Tonga's fierce rival, Samoa. Like Hingano, Brown is stuck behind two quality, established NRL halves and has to patiently battle away in reserve grade but when he's been called upon to do a job in the halves or at hooker, Brown has shown that there's a bright future ahead.
Martin, Hingano and Brown have something super duper important in common, aside from Hingano and Brown's parallel paths with Tonga and Samoa; they are battlin' adversity. As I alluded to before, this is great and we should celebrate the fact that we not only have three young halves of a high quality, but nothing is coming easy to them. This will only bring the best out of them as Martin, Brown and Hingano all have to work their way through this adversity and once they come out on the other side, they will be better blokes and better footy players.
We want adversity in this camp as that creates the individuals we want representing Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands. Their stories will help their homies out and they'll be better off for all of this.
Sosaia Feki
As a centre for the Junior Warriors, no one could have really predicted that Sosaia Feki would be an unsung hero for the NRL Premership winning Cronulla Sharks within a few years of leaving Aotearoa. Feki about as close as it gets to the perfect winger as he's strong, agile, rugged, rarely makes a mistake on defence or attack and goes about his business with no fuss at all.
Feki should be a representative player and I'm sure we'll see him line up on the wing for Tonga at the World Cup, otherwise I'd be more than happy to welcome Feki on to the Kiwis wing. I reckon that Feki's unsung nature doesn't grab the attention that other wingers get, which could work against him. He's a model citizen though and I'm desperate to spend time with Feki in camp, where he can offer some 'winning' insight along with what it really means to just do your job.
Taane Milne
After struggling for game time this season behind Euan Aitken and Tim Lafai at the Dragons, Taane Milne did manage to represent Fiji recently and he's still offering the Dragons plenty of depth. Wests Tigers were apparently interested in luring Milne away from that depth role and
I'm not sure where Milne's future lies. Regardless, Milne is a gun centre and as his Fijian heritage is now known he should squeeze his way into that Fijian backline for the World Cup.
From what I've seen of Milne, he's an attacking power-house and he'll have an interesting perspective from his time at the Dragons as he endured the low of the Dragons being shit to now experiencing a shift that has seen the Dragons emerge as a decent footy team. There's also value in Milne's view of what he must do to really establish himself in the NRL and we'll do our best to facilitate that during camp.
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