#KiwiNRL Encylopedia: Finals Footy (Toru)
All power due to the most high.
Storm vs Broncos
The 13
Storm: Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris.
Broncos: Jordan Kahu, Kodi Nikorima, Adam Blair, Alex Glenn.
Bench
Storm: Kenny Bromwich, Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Jahrome Hughes).
Broncos: Benji Marshall, Herman Ese'ese (Jamayne Isaako).
Doc's Word
The return of Darius Boyd won't have any major #KiwiNRL impact as Kodi Nikorima slots into halfback and Benji Marshall slides back to the bench. I'm actually more interested in Benji on the bench than I was for Benji as a half because Wayne Bennett can use Benji as a wildcard, injecting him into the action at a crucial stage of the game. Think about how good Melbourne's defence is and the play-makers opposition teams need to score more points than the Storm; Brisbane could have Boyd, Nikorima, Marshall, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt on the field at the same time.
Craig Bellamy has his own wildcard to unleash off the bench in Nelson Asofa-Solomona. NAS won't play huge minutes and I can almost guarantee that he won't play more than 30 minutes as Melbourne have eased Tim Glasby back late in the season, giving Melbourne four middle forwards on their bench. During Origin NAS enjoyed a few 40+ minute games and late-season games against Rosoters and Rabbitohs also saw NAS play 40+ minutes. With Glasby back on the bench though, NAS only got 26 minutes (vs Glasby's 34 mintues) last week and while NAS is capable of much more, this suits what the Storm require at this stage of the season.
The best teams often mention 'just do your job' and NAS' job is to play 25 minutes of rare footy. The Storm have no issues with go-forward as they've got Jesse Bromwich and Jordan McLean rollin' down-field, their outside backs are busy and then you have Kenny Bromwich's power and Maroons forward Glasby adding his efforts into the mix. NAS gives them a boost in oomph, as well as consistently getting quick play-the-balls and offloading. This can instantly speed up Melbourne's tempo as Cameron Smith can work his magic, or the Storm can shift the footy from an offload.
NAS is 3rd in offloads for Melbourne (21) this season, despite only playing 798 minutes. Billy Slater (38), Cameron Munster (28) and Felise Kaufusi (20) are the only other Melbourne players with 20+ offloads, yet they have played over 1,400 minutes. NAS is also 5th in tackle busts (29) for Melbourne and it's the same story as the four jokers ahead of him (Addo-Carr - 117, Vunivalu - 94, Slater - 89, Munster - 47), have all played more than 1,400 minutes.
Jesse Bromwich vs Adam Blair; former Kiwis captain vs current Kiwis captain. The captain who got his job snatched away from him for some silly stuff in Canberra and the bloke who will lead the Kiwis at the World Cup. No stats required here, just two fabulous #KiwiNRL middle forwards who are crucial to the control of their respective teams in the middle of the park.
Roosters vs Cowboys
The 13
Roosters: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Isaac Liu.
Cowboys: Antonio Winterstein, Te Maire Martin, Jason Taumalolo.
Bench
Roosters: Sio Siua Taukeiaho (Joseph Manu).
Cowboys: (Braden Uele).
Doc's Word
Through two Finals games, Jason Taumalolo has run for 501m from 43 carries and he has saved his two best performances in the second half of this season (since his 300m effort vs Melbourne Storm in round 15, for the first two weeks of the Finals. Taumalolo backed up his monumental game in week one of the Finals with 242m from 21 carries in 58 minutes against Parramatta Eels, averaging 11.52m/carry.
The 58 minutes is crucial here as Taumalolo rolled through a similar work rate (22 carries vs 21, 37 tackles vs 35) in less game time than the previous week. While he averaged slightly less than his 11.77m/carry vs Cronulla, you could say that Taumalolo somehow managed to improve because he was a tad busier vs Parramatta, while maintaining his freakish metres/carry efficiency.
What intrigues me about Taumalolo's match up against the Roosters are the middle forwards for the Chooks. The Roosters have a bit more depth in their middle forwards than Cronulla and the quality is higher than Parramatta, plus they are bigger, are more dynamic and offer greater mobility than the Sharks and Eels middle forwards. Funnily enough, three of them are #KiwiNRL hombres; Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Isaac Liu and Sio Siua Taukeiaho.
Liu and Taumalolo were both Otahuhu Leopards juniors, while Otara's Taukeiaho is nearly as dynamic as Taumalolo. Taumalolo gets all the props and deservedly so, however the Liu/Taukeiaho combination has been crucial for the Roosters and they'll be eager to hold their own agains the NRL's best forward. Look for Liu's late footwork at the line, while Taukeiaho runs like an outside back and the Roosters will send him on the same rampaging runs behind the ruck that Taumalolo consistently makes.
Te Maire Martin was relatively quiet in North Queensland's win over Parramatta last week, however the quality of his touches helped the Cowboys get the win. After week one I highlighted the lack of touches Martin got compared to Michael Morgan and Lachlan Coote, who are NQ's dominant play-makers. Last weekend, Martin had 21 touches while Morgan had 66 touches and Coote had 36 touches from fullback. Martin also only had a single kick, while Coote had 3 kicks and Morgan had 18 kicks, even hooker Jake Granville (2) had more kicks, Taumalolo also had a cheeky nudge.
Parramatta, for example split their halves touches far more evenly; Corey Norman had 51 touches and 9 kicks, while Mitchell Moses had 45 touches and 9 kicks. Usually it's not all that beneficial to have such a difference in responsibility between halves, yet the presence of Coote helps immensely and when Martin did get the footy against Parramatta, he was effective. Martin slid a gorgeous inside ball to Coen Hess to score and although he only ran twice, he made 21m from 2 runs with 3 tackle busts.
The Chooks will look to put Morgan under great pressure and they are sure to note Coote's kicking game and slight of hand in attack. This will then mean that Martin has to step up somehow and as we all know that Martin oozes potential and has showcased his class previously, this is the perfect platform for Martin to announce his legit arrival as a top-tier NRL half. Up to this point it has been all Morgan and people criminally sleep on Coote, the Roosters won't though and how Martin deals with this will be crucial to any Cowboys success.
Bit stink for Joseph Manu that he's not named in the Roosters 17 and will likely watch on from the sidelines, of course things can change very late in the piece though. Manu is a low key #KiwiNRL Youngster of the Year having played 16 games for the Roosters, 14 of which were at centre. Roosters coach Trent Robinson has instead gone with Mitchell Aubusson at centre, which is understandable given Aubusson's more experienced and has a better defensive understanding than Manu.
Peace and love 27.
Enjoy the read? Hit an ad to show your support to the Niche Cache, you'll be making a donation, without really actually donating.
Or jump on Patreon and support the movement.