Whether it's folks in Aotearoa who view Aotearoa Warriors as their only entry point into NRL footy, or Australians who think that Aotearoa Warriors are the only kiwi thing in the NRL; the #KiwiNRL Encyclopedia is always here to showcase the hefty presence of kiwis in the NRL across the ditch. Regular readers know all about the #KiwiNRL funk and I'm equally as invested in #KiwiNRL matters as I am in Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan antics, all of which needs to be said as much of the attention is centred around the Warriors.

Today, I'm zoning in on Sydney Roosters and their #KiwiNRL forwards. The Roosters look fabulous this season, well kinda only after the NRL swung back into action and they were too classy for the rising Parramatta Eels. Despite being 1st on the NRL ladder, the Eels feel like the Canberra Raiders in recent years as they've laid decent foundations and are now working towards busting into the NRL's upper echelon. Newcastle Knights fit that mould, although I'd suggest they're a step or two behind the Eels in their respective journeys to the top-tier.

The Roosters won 24-10 over the Eels and it's rather easy to be fascinated by the Chooks, given all the intricacies of their play and Trent Robinson's coaching. Let's start with some stats for the four #KiwiNRL forwards who played through the middle vs Eels...

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Rotorua - starting):

52mins, 18 runs for 157m @ 8.72m/run, 59pcm @ 3.27pcm/run, 1tb, 1off, 32 tackles @ 100%.

Siosiua Taukeiaho (Otara Scorpions - starting):

57mins, 21 runs for 223m @ 10.61m/run, 75pcm @ 3.57pcm/run, 1off, 24 tackles @ 88.9%

Isaac Liu (Otahuhu Leopards - bench):

39mins, 11 runs for 117m @ 10.63m/run, 47pcm @ 4.27pcm/run, 2tb, 20 tackles @ 87%.

Sitili Tupouniua (Marist Saints - bench):

26mins, 6 runs for 73m @ 12.16m/run, 23pcm @ 3.83pcm/run, 1tb, 22 tackles @ 88%.

Waerea-Hargreaves was the least efficient of these four middle forwards, although that's all good when the likes of Taukeiaho is low key the best middle forward in the NRL, while Liu and Tupouniua are coming off the bench and averaging over 10m/run. All four averaged over 3 post-contact-metres and all four tackled at over 80 percent efficiency.

There's immense reliability in Waerea-Hargreaves' work at the moment and along with his rugged work up the guts, Waerea-Hargreaves leads the Roosters in decoy runs (only Chook in top-50) which must be part of his role. Considering that, Waerea-Hargreaves also has a nifty passing game that he showed off in helping set up a try to Brett Morris on the weekend.

Waerea-Hargreaves received the footy from Kyle Flanagan, getting the footy two passes wide from the ruck which puts us out on the Roosters right edge. The snap below shows that Luke Keary (bottom left) isn't involved and with Flanagan at first-receiver while Keary's down the left edge, this shape is niggly to try suss out - plus it's on the third play of the set; Eels can't load up on a play-maker as they are spread across the field and not many teams are firing these kinda shots early in the set.

If Keary's on the left, Flanagan in the middle and James Tedesco working out on the right - no opposition can genuinely suss out where the threat is. Waerea-Hargreaves has Angus Crichton as a short-ball decoy to lure Dylan Brown in, then sliding a perfect pass to Tedesco who basically sets up a three vs two situation.

Good touch with the pass, in the bread-basket and lovely timing from Waerea-Hargreaves.

I'm also interested in how Robinson is rotating his forwards. Vs Eels, Lindsay Collins didn't play after a strong few weeks, while Waerea-Hargreaves didn't play the week prior and Tupouniua has been in and out to allow such rotations. Liu is the only one of these #KiwiNRL forwards who has played all six games this season - Taukeiaho missed the round three game.

Taukeiaho averages 45mins per game and Waerea-Hargreaves averages 45mins, both primarily operating as starting big boppers. There isn't anything fresh there initially, however looking around other notable middle forwards, the Roosters are graced with the luxury of depth and a willingness to rotate such depth to ensure everyone is ready for game time. Here are all the middle forwards who average over 53mins per game...

Payne Haas - 73mins.

Josh McGuire - 67mins.

Alex Twal - 64mins.

James Fisher-Harris - 63mins.

Aiden Tolman - 62mins.

Adam Blair - 57mins.

Moeaki Fotuaika - 57mins.

Addin Fonua-Blake - 54mins.

Dylan Napa - 53mins.

Junior Paulo - 53mins.

Paul Vaughan - 53mins.

Josh Papali'i - 53mins.

If you reckon the Roosters are the best team, you are likely to think that Waerea-Hargreaves and Taukeiaho are among, if not the best starting middle forward duo (trio with Victor Radley) in the NRL. Despite that, the Roosters don't need to over work them as other teams rely heavily on big minutes from their best forwards.

This flows into the impacts of Liu and Tupouniua, who aren't required for big minutes but are required for their efficiency in running the footy. Liu averages 31mins per game and hasn't played over 40mins this season, while Tupouniua's averaged is 39mins but that's rather high because of circumstance; 74mins starting on an edge in round one, 41mins in the big win over Bulldogs in round five giving him some extra minutes.

Regardless, as bench forwards, Liu averages 9.3m/run and Tupouniua averages 10.66m/run. Other forward packs are more trendy, yet the Roosters have two excellent starting props and then their #KiwiNRL homies come off the bench to sniff around that 10m/run mark. Obviously, this is only looking at the #KiwiNRL forwards and along with lads like Radley, Collins, Crichton, Nat Butcher and Boyd Cordner also present - bonkers.

Keep in mind that the Roosters have loaned out Poasa Fa'amausili (Glenora Bears) to the Warriors and he is providing similar contributions to the likes of Liu and Tupouniua coming off the Warriors bench. In just 31mins per game, Fa'amausili averages 6.5 runs @ 10.26m/run and he has missed just 3 tackles in four games.

Other than Agnatius Paasi who has played just two games, Fa'amausili is the only Warriors forward averaging over 10m/run this season. The loss to the Rabbitohs last weekend saw Fa'amausili play 50 minutes and that's the busiest he has been for the Warriors so far (11mins, 32mins, 33mins) and as he came from the Roosters, he has kinda settled into the same role as Liu and Tupouniua, only with a team that's no where near as good as the Roosters.

Dylan Brown was reasonably good himself vs Roosters:

9 runs for 90m @ 10m/run, 39pcm @ 4.33pcm/run, 1 try assist, 1 tb, 20 tackles @ 80%.

Brown had 44 touches while Mitchell Moses had 47 and this still feels like a great situation for Brown as Moses handles most of the kicking as well; Brown had 3 kicks, Moses had 10. Here is Brown's try assist and I love this because it's an exceptional pass, showcasing the skill of Brown as he not only throws a skip pass - the pass also helps Michael Jennings slide to the outside of Tokoroa’s Joseph Manu:

Hence, I'm super intrigued about Brown being in the Aotearoa Kiwis halves alongside Shaun Johnson. Things have hit a fresh level for Kiwis halves recently as Benji Marshall got dropped and Jahrome Hughes is out injured, leaving Brown and Johnson as the best available, then Kieran Foran and a chasing pack led by Kodi Nikorima. With Brown and Johnson at the top though, anyone below Foran is going to struggled to be a factor.

I haven't done an SJ6 (formerly SJ7) deep dive yet, just some frisky surface-level vibes. The Sharks aren't at their best and an interesting thought here is gauging Johnson's impact on winning, whether Johnson can lead a team to consistent wins alongside Chad Townsend. That's especially important in a Sharks team that now skews younger.

Johnson's doing a solid job for the Sharks, perhaps some of his best work although the Sharks need their strongest team around Johnson and Townsend to be a finals factor. This season Johnson is averaging 90.35 running metres per game, which isn't the best gauge of a running threat but things change slightly when put into context; this is the first time Johnson has averaged over 80m per game in 10 seasons.

Eight seasons with the Warriors and less than 80m per game. Last season at the Sharks, Johnson averaged 70.51m per game and now that's jumped up to 90m.

There is a clear connection between run metres and 'line engaged' so it's not surprising that in his best year in terms of running metres, Johnson currently leads the whole NRL for line engagements. Townsend's second behind Johnson, making this a Sharks stylistic thing, but for someone with Johnson's footwork and skill to lead the NRL in line engagements is definitely useful.

Try assists? Johnson leads the NRL in try assists as well and he is the only player with 8 try assists right now.

Six games and Johnson has not missed more than 2 tackles a game this season.

All up, Johnson has made 105 tackles and missed 7 tackles, defending @ 93 percent tackles/missed.

Johnson also handles most of the kicking for the Sharks, with 58 kicks this season to Townsend's 30 kicks.

There's also a wee trend in Johnson's last two games of improvement for Johnson, especially as Townsend returned to the halves for these last two rounds. Johnson has forced drop-outs in his each of his last two games, try assists in each of his last three games and offloads in each of his last game games after struggling in those areas prior to round five.

Low key, we may be seeing Johnson start to suss out his game and mature with his all-round contributions. The running magic will be there when required, but the Sharks need Johnson and Townsend to lead them around the park as they have a young hooker in Blayke Braiey and their fullback changes week to week. I'm interested in how this pans out moving forward, especially against Manly Sea Eagles this weekend.

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Peace and love.