T'was a few years ago when I read about Phil Gould's journey to Whangarei where he ran a bit of a coaching session for local footy players. This wasn't just a case of Gould keeping himself busy and spreading the rugby league vibes throughout Northland, this was part of a wise move from Gould to set up a connection between Penrith Panthers and Northland Rugby League.

On Friday night Corey Harawira-Naera and James Fisher-Harris enjoyed a moment of #KiwiNRL bliss as they took the field together, on Aotearoa's soil. Harawira-Naera and Fisher-Harris both ventured over to Australia from the naughty North to join Penrith and came up through Penrith's Under 20s team, their careers were obviously linked from that point on and Harawira-Naera's opportunity in the NRL came thanks to an injury to Fisher-Harris.

Fisher-Harris enjoyed a block-busting start to his career, playing mainly on the right edge where his size and mobility made him a weapon last season. He then had to battle a few injuries, allowing Harawira-Naera to take his spot and as Fisher-Harris has worked his way back into Penrith's team, he's slid back into the mdidle of the field with Harawira-Naera playing 80 minutes. 

This is probably better suited to their respective styles and offers great intrigue moving forward. Harawira-Naera has shown that he can run strong lines, running off the hip of Nathan Cleary and he's always looking to squeeze and offload out. Fisher-Harris is a bit bigger and more aggressive, while he's also better moving sideways than Harawira-Naera which is better used in the middle. Harawira-Naera's an up and down edge forward, Fisher-Harris is a robust middle forward.

These two are part of a strong Penrith forward pack that will offer some stability over the next few years along with James Tamou, Trent Merrin, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Isaah Yeo. These two aren't the only Northlanders to watch out for with Penrith either, as Caleb Aekins was playing at fullback for their Juniors and he's another to have benefited from Penrith's wise recruitment strategy.

Penrith identified Northland as an area that had talent first and foremost, combined with a slight lack in pathways and being largely un-charted territory for other NRL teams. Young rugby players for example aren't going to be super visible in Northland and their best hope is to either be recruited by a Super Rugby franchise on the back of excellent 1st XV stuff, or work their way through Northland's rugby system. Step in Penrith, who set up a relationship with NRL and suddenly there is a clear pathway towards a professional rugby league career. It doesn't really matter whether these players are coming from rugby union or rugby league, it's just a case of spotting a gap and offering a service.

Other NRL teams are quick to pounce on talent around Aotearoa and this market is saturated - with talent and NRL scouts. Whangarei isn't exactly a place where NRL scouts are going to go as it's never mentioned as having a plethora of talent, so Penrith stepped in and said thank you very much.

Penrith also had Sione Katoa and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak returning to Aotearoa on Friday night, neither of them are from Auckland. I wrote about Katoa earlier this week and he left Wellington to head to Penrith, while Watene-Zelezniak wasn't recruited out of Aotearoa but spent much of his younger years in the Waikato before moving to Sydney's west.

And then we had Jamayne Isaako making his #KiwiNRL debut against Newcastle. Isaako was named to start on the wing but enjoyed a late move to fullback and that's why kiwis should love State of Origin as it's our #KiwiNRL players who benefit the most during the Origin period. Making your debut at fullback for Brisbane Broncos ain't nothing to be scoffed at, not when Wayne Bennett's giving you the seal of approval.

Isaako had 15 carries and 156m, showcasing a glorious running style and ability. Listed at 180cm and 97kgs on the Broncos' website, Isaako looked a lot bigger than that and the way he glided across the turf, then bumped into defenders reminded me of Greg Inglis. 

It's important to note that Isaako literally only ran the footy. With Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt back in the halves and Isaako making his debut, he was given a simple role that stopped Isaako over-playing his hand and then Benji Marshall came on in the last 14 minutes, meaning even less opportunities for Isaako to showcase his skill. That's exactly what you'd want, don't get it twisted and Isaako looked glorious in that limited role of snuffing kicks and running the footy. 15 runs on debut is a fair effort, to average over 10m/carry isn't too shabby either.

In 2015, Isaako was the Junior Kiwis fullback and 2016 saw Isaako play in the No.6 jersey alongside Ata Hingano. Isaako kicks goals as well, which when put into a #KiwiNRL pot of boil-up with Isaako playing as a half for the Junior Kiwis and playing in the midfield for St Bedes College, has me frothing at Isaako's potential. Isaako (second-five) was ranked 80th in the 2013 High School Top 200 1st XV as a year 12, in the same year that Nelson Asofa-Solomona was ranked 1st, Suliasi Vunivalu 43rd and Dragons prospect Patrick Herbert was 130th. 

While I'm eager to see Isaako develop, this will be a juicy boil-up as it's gotta be cooked slow and steady. Isaako is holding Darius Boyd's spot and once Boyd is back, Isaako will have to chill, especially as Brisbane are nicely stocked with wingers (Jordan Kahu, Corey Oates, David Mean, Jonus Pearson). So expect Isaako to do the fullback job until Boyd is back and with Ben Hunt moving to the Dragons, shifting Isaako or Boyd into the halves could be a low key possibility to watch out for.

Whether that means Isaako plays fullback and Boyd moves, or Isaako moves to the halves, it'll be funky. Obviously Kodi Nikorima's there as well and he's my favourite to partner Milford next season, so it's #KiwiNRL glory either way.

With Isaako at fullback, only one of Brisbane's five #KiwiNRL cuzzies to take the field against Newcastle is from Auckland, chuck in Nikorima (who got cut) and it's one of seven. Alex Glenn moved from Auckland to Gold Coast, while Isaako (Christchurch), Marshall (Whakatane), Kahu (Wellington) and Adam Blair (Whangarei) bolster the Broncs' #KiwiNRL stocks. 

Penrith and Brisbane combined to roll out just one Aucklander of their nine #KiwiNRL players. Excluding the Warriors and the remaining Sunday games, we've been treated to a #KiwiNRL smorgasboard; Isaako and Fa'amanu Brown rep Christchurch, Jordan Rapana, Joseph Tapine, Danny Levi, Sione Katoa and Russell Packer rep the Wellington area, while we had Blair as the Northland OG leading his two Northland prospects in Harawira-Naera and Fisher-Harris.

May the #KiwiNRL takeover continue.

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