Two teams have been knocked out of the 2018 NRL Finals, with Brisbane Broncos and Aotearoa Warriors losing their Elimination Finals in similar circumstance. Neither the Broncos or Warriors were near their best over the weekend and got taught Finals lessons by St George Illawara Dragons and Penrith Panthers, both of whom went up a level in dominant wins.

As you would expect, I'm all over the Warriors angle with my Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan. All season, when I chuck my #KiwiNRL cap on, I have celebrated how the 2018 Warriors have relied mainly on #KiwiNRL players and the presence of Australians has been minimal. This goes against all the lazy analysis that we have traditionally heard about the Warriors - whether it's their big forward pack which one of the commentators was still talking about in the loss to Penrith even though their forward pack is quite small, or it's the need for some tough, grizzly Australians.

Take a moment, if you read the Niche Cache and our Warriors coverage then you will hopefully understand why 2018 was a great season for the Warriors. Everything off the field is falling into place nicely with experienced people running Mt Smart and the club cracked Finals footy for the first time since 2011. Take a moment and ponder how the Warriors did so, with just Blake Green as the lone Aussie most weeks.

Sometimes Karl Lawton played as well, resulting in a maximum of two Australians in the Warriors team. Most weeks, Green was the only Australian in the top-17 and Lawton was named on the extended bench, giving the Warriors two Australians in their squad of 22 for the majority of their 26 games this season.

I'm not sure historically how much the Warriors have relied on Australians, carrying one Australian in the top-17 feels like it wouldn't have happened too many times before. It also feels like the Warriors as a club are in the strongest position overall, that they have been in for a long time and this coincides with a minimal reliance on Australian players.

Keep in mind that this balance between Australian and #KiwiNRL players should stay this way, or even swing further towards an all #KiwiNRL Warriors team given that we have already seen the Warriors recruitment philosophy in action and heard what their intentions are. Adam Blair, Tohu Harris, Peta Hiku, Gerard Beale, Agnatius Paasi and Leivaha Pulu all joined the Warriors for this season and all six have either represented Aotearoa, or grew up playing their junior footy in Aotearoa.

Next year, the only major recruit is Leeson Ah Mau who is coming home to Auckland. The Warriors also hired Peter O'Sullivan to sort out their recruitment of younger players, with a main objective of snapping up the best talent in Aotearoa.

The Warriors predominantly signed #KiwiNRL players for this season, resulting in their first Finals appearance in yonks. They also signed a bloke who is apparently the best talent-scout in the NRL, specifically to scope out talent in Aotearoa. If you can't see the trend then you're silly.

Solomone Kata is the only Warrior who creeps into #KiwiNRL classification. Kata was born and raised in Tonga, came to Auckland to play 1st XV rugby at Sacred Heart College and then got signed by the Warriors. The rest fall easily into the #KiwiNRL mix, even those who have represented Samoa or Tonga, have played all their junior footy in Aotearoa.

As for Brisbane Broncos, my #KiwiNRL thoughts here keep coming back around to Kodi Nikorima and whether he's the dude to partner Shaun Johnson in the halves for Aotearoa. We saw glimpses of what makes Nikorima so dangerous as a half in the Broncos loss to Dragons, with his swift running game troubling the Dragons.

Nikorima finished with a try, 8runs/111m, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assist, 2 try assists, 6 tackle busts and 2 offloads. All of that came with Nikorima playing second-fiddle to Anthony Milford as Nikorima had 29 touches, while Milford had 43 touches. This was a fantastic effort from Nikorima and his performance here should see him seal that Kiwis halves role, especially considering Te Maire Martin spent much of the season playing fullback and Benji Marshall wasn't named in the wider squad.

What I don't like is that the Nikorima/Milford combination didn't get the Broncos deep into the Finals, which still has me cautious about how effective such a combo can be. Johnson has enjoyed the luxury of Green's arrival at the Warriors and that balance in the halves is best, not only for Johnson and Green, but for the Warriors as well.

Nikorima/Johnson for the Kiwis, feels like the Broncos halves combination and will likely put a fair amount of responsibility on Johnson. We know Johnson needs a helping hand to organise and do much of the mundane work, especially if Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is ruled out of Kiwis footy via that knee injury. Best case scenario is that both Johnson and Nikorima step up, prove my doubts wrong and start to build a combination that can be rolled out most games, breeding greater chemistry between the two.

Remember that the Kiwis of the past two years have always had a different halves combo. That makes it bloody difficult to play top-tier international footy against as you've got minimal time to sort that combination out. Aotearoa needs a halves duo to be set in stone for the coming years and that combo needs time to develop.

Jordan Kahu had a solid season, although he didn't quite do enough to put himself in the top two centres mix (Dean Whare/Esan Marsters) and having played most of the season at centre, he's not in the best winger mix (Jordan Rapana/Dallin Watene-Zelezniak). I expect Kahu to still feature in a touring squad to England as he is good backline cover, with versatility and experience.

The presence of Jamayne Isaako has me super-duper intrigued about that winger mix though. Isaako and Ken Maumalo were the wingers for the Denver Test, yet both sit behind Jordan Rapana and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in my rankings. If Tuivasa-Sheck isn't available, that could open a wing spot up with Watene-Zelezniak a fullback option and then we get into an Isaako vs Maumalo discussion.

Isaako has proven himself to be a gun and has risen through the ranks steadily; 1st XV rugby in Christchurch, Under 20s with Cronulla and Brisbane, two years in Junior Kiwis, NRL with Brisbane and a Kiwis debut. Such a clear pathway is the mark of a classy talent and Isaako has all-round skill which will see him move from wing to fullback when Darius Boyd's time is done.

I'm just not ready to go all in on Isaako being a better winger than Rapana, or Watene-Zelezniak and even Maumalo who has a specific style that might translate well to international footy.

I think I'm ready for some more Kiwis footy.

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Peace and love 27.