#KiwiNRL Encyclopedia: Round Whetu
Northland providing the goods for Penrith.
Bulldogs vs Roosters
Bulldogs
Starters: Jeremy Marshall-King, Kieran Foran, Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Bench/Extended Bench: Greg Eastwood/Renouf To'omaga.
Roosters
Starters: Joseph Manu, Isaac Liu.
Bench/Extended Bench: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank-Paul Nuuausala/Sitili Tupouniua, Sio Siua Taukeiaho.
Doc's Word
Just prior to the season starting, the Roosters signed Frank-Paul Nuuausala and with Greg Eastwood returning to action for the Bulldogs, we are going to have a battle of the #KiwiNRL veterans. Both are South Aucklanders as well, with Eastwood reppin' Manurewa and Nuuausala reppin' Otara; it's the probable absence of another Otara toko Sio Siua Taukeiaho that has opened a space on the bench for Nuuausala.
Should they both get minutes off the bench, they will play very different roles even though they are both likely to play through the middle. Eastwood offers plenty of footwork and passing which was on display last week as he laid on a beautiful try assist pass for Raymond Faitala-Mariner, while Nuuausala will take up the work-horse duties.
The Chooks have also named Marist junior (Auckland) Sitili Tupouniua on their extended bench. Tupouniua came off the bench for the Junior Kiwis last year and is an edge forward who has been a regular for Wyong Roos in reserve grade. There doesn't seem to be much need for him right now and that he is on the extended bench shows that he's close to getting an NRL debut, which could come during Origin when Boyd Cordner is unavailable.
242 Likes, 26 Comments - Sitili Tupouniua (@sitilitupouniua) on Instagram: "Preseason in one photo 😭😅"
Warriors vs Dragons
Warriors
Starters: All but Blake Green
Bench/Extended Bench: All the boys.
Dragons
Starters: Jason Nightingale.
Bench/Extended Bench: Leeson Ah Mau.
Doc's Word
Weekly Dragons praise for Leeson Ah Mau who continues to have fabulous impact off the bench, after James Graham and Paul Vaughan have laid the foundations to start the game. Ah Mau only had 32 minutes last week and rolled out a super-efficient 9runs/90m effort, the type of performance that he'll be looking to improve on as he returns to Mt Smart where his rugby league journey began.
Broncos vs Storm
Broncos
Starters: Jamayne Isaako, Alex Glenn.
Bench/Extended Bench: Kodi Nikorima/Sam Tagataese.
Storm
Starters: Jesse Bromwich, Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Bench/Extended Bench: Brandon Smith, Kenny Bromwich, Sam Kasiano.
Doc's Word
Melbourne Storm are always going to be difficult to beat when their #KiwiNRL forwards are putting up the type of numbers that they had against Newcastle. Sure, these are boosted by the weight of possession, however the efficiency of their work is more important.
Jesse Bromwich: 13runs/152m (try assist as well, flexing his ball-playing).
Nelson Asofa-Solomona: 16runs/149m, 1 offload.
Kenny Bromwich: 9runs/103m, 1 offload.
Sam Kasiano: 8runs/91m.
Brandon Smith: 5runs/62m.
All but NAS averaged over 10m/carry and Smith didn't even have a dummy half run - he was playing as a middle forward.
Also keep a close eye on Kodi Nikorima coming off the bench for the Broncos. I'll keep repeating myself as I believe Nikorima's speed, footwork and skill is an asset coming off the bench and this could add another dimension to the Broncos attack.
2,126 Likes, 38 Comments - Sam Kasiano (@sammyboii21) on Instagram: "Back in the winners circle👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽 #ytbs #purplepride #1stmeatpie #💜💜💜"
Rabbitohs vs Raiders
Rabbitohs
Starters: Haters.
Bench/Extended Bench: Haters.
Raiders
Starters: Jordan Rapana, Iosia Soliola, Siliva Havili, Joseph Tapine.
Bench/Extended Bench: Ata Hingano/Brad Abbey.
Doc's Word
With consistent game time on an edge, Joseph Tapine is heating up for the Raiders and he's likely to match up against Angus Crichton which will be an almighty clash of two dynamic edge forwards. Ata Hingano also got a nice 11 minute stint off the bench last week for Canberra and ideally he'll get another 10-15 minute shift, allowing him to stack up minutes at dummy half. Siliva Havili has been excellent in the Raiders mini-streak and he had 8 dummy half runs for 96m in the win over Parramatta.
1,885 Likes, 19 Comments - Ata Hingano (@atahingano) on Instagram: "Yeeew 🐎 Loves a win!"
Tigers vs Knights
Tigers
Starters: Esan Marsters, Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Benji Marshall, Ben Matulino, Josh Aloiai, Elijah Taylor.
Bench/Extended Bench: Pita Godinet, Michael Chee Kam/Tuimoala Lolohea.
Knights
Starters: Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Herman Ese'ese, Slade Griffin.
Bench/Extended Bench: Danny Levi.
Doc's Word
Great news for Tigers fans as Esan Marsters has been re-signed.
The Tigers are again forced to shuffle their team list with Elijah Taylor back from injury and starting in the middle, Josh Aloiai earning a starting edge spot with Chris Lawrence out injured and Pita Godinet coming on to the bench for Josh Reynolds. The Tigers were excellent in attack last week and now with Taylor's ball-playing in the middle, it's going to be fun to watch how their attacking scheme changes.
They smoked the Sea Eagles last week so all the numbers are a bit inflated, I can't overlook Marsters having 10runs/156m or Ben Matulino's 15runs/171m. Matulino is playing at a high level with Russell Packer out injured and is leading the Tigers forward pack, as is Benji Marshall who is sharing a fairly even split of work with Luke Brooks; Benji had 51 touches vs Brooks' 59 and Benji had 11 kicks to Brooks' 9 kicks.
Cowboys vs Titans
Cowboys
Starters: Antonio Winterstein, Jason Taumalolo.
Bench/Extended Bench: Te Maire Martin.
Titans
Starters: Kevin Proctor.
Bench/Extended Bench: Haters
Doc's Word
Jason Taumalolo had 19runs/204m and the Cowboys still looked pretty damn average. That may be because Te Maire Martin had no dummy half runs when injected into the game and Jake Granville only had 2 dummy half runs.
Eels vs Sea Eagles
Eels
Starters: Brad Takairangi, Manu Ma'u, Peni Terepo.
Bench/Extended Bench: Kenny Edwards/Josh Hoffman, Suaia Matagi.
Sea Eagles
Starters: Addin Fonua-Blake, Martin Taupau.
Bench/Extended Bench: /Lewis Brown, Toafofoa Sipley.
Doc's Word
Hello, World!
Parramatta welcome back Brad Takairangi at centre and although I don't think Takairangi is an Eels saviour, the bit of funk he will offer out on the right edge could spark the Eels into scoring points. Takairangi always looks likely to offload given his long arms and has great footwork to go with that, so don't be surprised to see Takairangi play a low key important role in their attack.
You'd have to expect that Martin Taupau and Addin Fonua-Blake will be eager to dominate the Eels through the middle and this sets up an enticing battle between them and Peni Terepo. I've highlighted the recent rise of Terepo a lot and while it has coincided with Parramatta wins, I'm exciting to see how much of an impact he can have after he also had a quiet outing in a mediocre Eels performance last week.
Sharks vs Panthers
Sharks
Starters: Haters.
Bench/Extended Bench: Ava Seumanufagai/Braden Uele.
Panthers
Starters: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Corey Harawira-Naera, Dean Whare, James Fisher-Harris.
Bench/Extended Bench: Sione Katoa/Nick Lui-Toso.
Doc's Word
Corey Harawira-Naera is named to start in the centres after playing right centre in Penrith's win over Gold Coast Titans. This was a super funky little move from Panthers coach Anthony Griffin as Isaah Yeo was named to start there and Harawira-Naera looked impressive at centre; he's a nightmare for opposition centres because of his size and he's mobile enough to not be a liability. This is in keeping with Harawira-Naera's NRL career thus far as he slotted into NRL footy seamlessly last year and simply looks like a quality baller.
752 Likes, 21 Comments - Corey Harawira-Naera 🇳🇿 (@horitecorey) on Instagram: "Solid win in front of a packed home crowd that brought us home 👌 Congrats to @kaide.ellis on the..."
Wellington's Sione Katoa also earned a bunch of minutes off the bench and another selection for this week. Katoa played left edge when Josh Mansour left the field injured, with Viliame Kikau moving to left centre and that sort of versatility is why Katoa is a fine bench utility.
Wayde Egan got a sniff ahead of Katoa a few weeks ago, but I'd hope that Katoa's versatility in the forwards could see him continue to fight off the challenge from Egan for that bench spot. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is back, just in time to replace Mansour. Watene-Zelezniak and Takairangi are both returning from broken jaws, while Jordan Kahu is still recovering from his broken jaw.
800 Likes, 8 Comments - James Fisher-Harris (@fisherhizzle) on Instagram: "🐳 + 🐟 #mambafish #babyfish"
You know the deal; every few weeks I drop my strongest possible Kiwis squad as if there was a Kiwis international fixture this weekend. This differs from my Jahtearoa Premiers squads as they are more funky and the squad below is about as realistic as I can get in picking the strongest Kiwis team.
Fullback: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Wings: David Fusitu'a (if playing for Tonga, Jason Nightingale comes in), Jordan Rapana.
Centres: Dean Whare, Peta Hiku.
Halves: Shaun Johnson, Kieran Foran.
Middles: Jesse Bromwich, Adam Blair, Jason Taumalolo (if Tonga, Ben Matulino), Issac Luke.
Edges: Simon Mannering, Tohu Harris.
Bench: Kodi Nikorima, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Martin Taupau, Ben Matulino (/James Fisher-Harris).
Three extra squad members: Corey Harawira-Naera, Slade Griffin, Benji Marshall.
Simon Mannering has returned from injury and he replaces Alex Glenn on the left edge. Glenn has been in great form, Mannering is ahead of him though and if there's an edge injury I'd be keen to roll with Glenn again. I've given that extra squad spot to Corey Harawira-Naera (not Glenn) as Glenn has been in the Kiwis many times before and I want to get Harawira-Naera around the camp, give him a taste of Kiwis footy; Glenn is still next best.
Ben Matulino is rewarded for his strong form with a Kiwis return and if Jason Taumalolo stays with Tonga, Matulino starts in my team. Otherwise Matulino replaces James Fisher-Harris on the bench, which was a tough decision given Fisher-Harris' form in recent weeks. With both players in great form, I've gone with the veteran and I've switched things up in those extra squad spots as Fisher-Harris and Isaac Liu were squad members for game one, now I've got Slade Griffin and Harawira-Naera coming in. They are joined by Benji Marshall who I need in my Kiwis squad to lead the fresh vibes.
Hit an ad to support the #KiwiNRL Encyclopedia.
Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache directly. I drop some bonus content there and we look after the homies.
Peace and love 27.