NRL footy is back and as funky as the footy was via the rule changes, we can't pretend like the big boppers didn't have any fun. As long as I've got time and space, I'll pop up on Tuesday mornings with some thoughts and analysis on the NRL, primarily through my #KiwiNRL goggles. Today, my focus is on some whopping numbers for the middle forwards, the work of Benji Marshall and Dylan Brown in the halves, as well as breaking down some #KiwiNRL team situations.

The middle forward stuff came to me a I kept hearing about the rule changes, fast footy and bringing back the little blokes to dominate. Then I'd check the stats and see that many of the top-tier middle forwards were absolutely fantastic in rolling down field; the rule changes did help smaller play-makers, you still need to win the middle first and foremost.

Most of these middle forwards are of the #KiwiNRL variety, as always. I've split them by reputation or standing in the NRL and obviously, with the rule changes, these lads are all mobile middle forwards who have footwork and skill. That's because over the past five-seven years or so, it's been all about the Jason Taumalolo style and this has led me to believe that the move towards powerful, mobile middle forwards has prepared these lads perfectly for the current NRL landscape.

Big Donnies

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: 51min - 16 runs - 130m @ 8.12m/run - 3pcm/run.

Jason Taumalolo: 60min - 23 runs - 290m @ 12.6m/run - 5.47pcm/run.

Jesse Bromwich: 53min - 18 runs - 178m @ 9.8m/run - 3.38pcm/run.

Settled Bros

Nelson Asofa-Solomona: 30mins - 8 runs - 95m @ 11.87m/run - 5.25pcm/run.

James Fisher-Harris: 67min - 21 runs - 195m @ 9.28m/run - 3.04pcm/run.

Braden Hamlin-Uele: 28mins - 11 runs - 114m @ 10.36m/run - 4pcm/run.

Zane Tetevano: 46mins - 15 runs - 153m @ 10.2m/run - 2.8pcm/run.

Youngins On The Rise

Marata Niukore: 51mins - 14 run - 176m @ 12.57m/run - 4.5pcm/run.

Josh Aloiai: 46mins - 15 run - 149m @ 9.93m/run - 2.26pcm/run.

Moeaki Fotuaika: 56mins - 11 runs - 156m @ 14m/run - 4.9pcm/run.

All these efforts came in conjunction with plenty of Aussie forwards averaging around that 10m/run mark and those listed above, came in a variety of different game situations. The battle between Jason Taumalolo and young toko Moeaki Fotuaika in Cowboys vs Titans reflected this perfectly as Taumalolo could channel his energy into running the footy given that he only had to make 16 total tackles.

Opposition teams, the better teams will be eager to force Taumalolo into 30+ tackles to put a dent into his running efficiency. The Titans were never going to do that and on the flip-side, Fotuaika had to make 43 tackles. Compare these defensive numbers for the two Tongan internationals...

Taumalolo: 16 tackles, 1 miss, 2 ineffective @ 84.2%.

Fotuaika: 43 tackles, 2 ineffective @ 95.6%.

More than the Titans offering no challenge to the Cowboys and thus allowing Taumalolo immense freedom, this highlights how good Fotuaika is. Averaging 14m/run and 4.9pcm/run while also making 43 tackles @ 95.6%? That's epic and for context, Fotuaika had the highest tackle efficiency of all Titans starting forwards and put Origin forward Jai Aarrow in his shadow; Arrow had 10 runs, 94m @ 9.4m/run.

Jesse Bromwich and Nelson Asofa-Solomona were still able to put up nice numbers in a tough loss to Canberra Raiders, leading me into the Storm's #KiwiNRL situation. Their first loss of the season hasn't changed my view of the Storm (2-1) being the best #KiwiNRL situation, especially as the Roosters are 1-2. Along with the Raiders, these three teams are the premier #KiwiNRL teams at the moment and obviously this is fluid; Storm and Roosters have earned time and space to suss things out.

There was talk of the Storm playing the wrong style, but those nice numbers from Bromwich and Asofa-Solomona came alongside a quiet game for Kenny Bromwich and a decent performance from Brandon Smith: 46mins, 11 runs, 102m @ 9.27m/run. That's because the Storm had 55 percent of the footy, despite completing at 68 percent and with that extra footy, the Storm had more tackle breaks (36-26) and more offloads (12-9).

An area of improvement could be Wellington's Jahrome Hughes being more active in the halves, especially as the Storm were still able to maintain parity through the middle with the Raiders. Here is the split in usage for Hughes and Cameron Munster...

Munster: 14 runs, 45 touches, 25 passes, 8 kicks.

Hughes: 4 runs, 35 touches, 25 passes 6 kicks.

Despite 10 less touches than Munster, Hughes had the same number of passes and I don't view that as Hughes' strength. Hughes can play a basic half role, my belief though is that his best work comes in handling those basic duties with an extra splash of class through his running and while Munster grabbed 9 tackle busts from his 14 runs, Hughes barely ran and had no tackle busts. Chuck in Ryan Papenhuyzen who was also lively with 7 tackle busts and big running numbers like Munster and all this spine needs is a couple more runs from Hughes to balance things out.

As much as I like Hughes and think he should be in any Kiwis squad selected soon, I don't think Hughes is a better halves prospect than Whangarei's Dylan Brown. I won't go too deep into Brown's performance vs Broncos as it was as hiding, yet Brown showed his running ability with 17 runs for 150m and 4 tackle busts, along with more touches than Mitchell Moses (68-55) and Brown didn't miss any tackles while Moses missed 6.

What I liked about Brown's game was a bit of variety in shapes used down his left edge. First we have Brown (yellow dot) getting the ball from Moses to suss out a play down the left - Maika Sivo scores...

Then we have Brown getting the ball from dummy half with a big left side open, only Brown moves the ball quickly to Junior Paulo who sets up Clint Gutherson...

Two minor differences in shape for Brown to work with and a further difference is that the first shape allowed more space for Brown to glide across field, the second saw him set up a Paulo/Gutherson move.

And Benji Marshall. Matua Benji basically won the Tigers the game in the last 10-15mins, setting up a try and forcing a drop-out that saw David Nofoaluma slice through to score. Marshall only had 6 runs, but grabbed 61m @ 10.16m/run and also had 2 dummy half runs for 21m @ 10.5m/run; when Marshall made a move he was effective.

First, I found this early in the game and it’s an example of the space Marshall is in as he is boosting up on the inside of Luke Brooks in support. Remember that Marshall tends to operate down the right edge and Brooks on the left, so Marshall’s (yellow dot) made a decent effort to be present in support…

The biggest area of change appears to be the space behind the ruck and I highlighted that with Kodi Nikorima's line break for the Warriors yesterday. Here, Benji is gifted similar space and he engages four defenders down a short-side, then he takes the long skip pass to hit Nofoaluma who breaks down the side line...

That only stems from a big bopper though and in this example it is Thomas Mikaele who plays the ball for Marshall and guess what? Like Aloiai and the forwads I listed, Mikaele was also efficient; 10 runs, 105m @ 10.5m/run. The play-makers definitely benefit from the rule changes, although this is still rugby league and the lads up the guts need to win their battle.

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Peace and love.