Monday Morning Dummy Half: Rugby League's Future in Aotearoa and Pacific Islands
Recent Aotearoa Warriors news, specifically Phil Gould's appointment with the club should have rugby league fans around Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands rather excited. I'll dive into that, as well as Warriors footballin' matters after their win over Manly Sea Eagles, then I'll see how Otara Scorpions junior Siosiua Taukeiaho stacks up against the South Auckland Rhino Jason Taumalolo, plus a wee exploration into Dylan Brown's efforts in Parramatta Eels win over Cronulla Sharks.
Whether you are a Warriors fan or not, Gould aligning himself is likely to boost rugby league throughout Aotearoa and while I wouldn't say it's needed right now, it's definitely helpful. As far as the bigger picture in Aotearoa goes, Aotearoa Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has already executed a change in vibe for the Kiwis and there have been signs of nifty development work since Maguire started the gig; small details like bringing Starford To'a into Kiwis camp last year.
I have appreciated Maguire's work for Aotearoa Kiwis and NZRL, although it also felt like a slow burn process. Maguire was on track and he had already flipped the Kiwis into an excited team to engage with, fans around Aotearoa have been graced with seeing the Kiwis play numerous games in Aotearoa and Maguire - through various NZRL staff - would have implemented different ideas to keep building.
The truth is, rugby league in Aotearoa is a niggly beast. As I touched on in yesterday's wrap up of the Nathan Brown and Gould appointments for NZ Warriors, there has been a rather steady disconnect between the likes of NZRL, NZ Warriors and local governing bodies like Auckland Rugby League. Whether major or minor, these entities lack full alignment towards a common goal and fairly, they focus on their own primary interests.
Maguire couldn't change that with a wave of his wand. Now though, Maguire can roll forward on his path and everything feels like it's going to be enhanced dramatically by Gould's presence on the Warriors end. However you want to slice it, the people involved in the Aotearoa rugby league landscape are now led by wise, experienced footy folks who simply want the best for rugby league in Aotearoa ... and the Pacific Islands.
A few years ago, as I absorbed content about Canberra Raiders setting up an recruitment academy thing in Fiji, I became fairly confident that rugby league would take over the islands. The Raiders set this up to connect with local talent and obviously bring the best through to their NRL system, yet this goes beyond the Raiders for example getting talent; what t-shirts and shorts are all the kids in that area of Fiji going to be rocking? Canberra Raiders gears.
Note of advice: if you whole-heartedly invest in the Pacific Islands and connect with communities, the love and mana is reciprocated two-fold.
Whether it's the above example, or the Tonga's players making an effort to visit their homeland and connect with their people; it's all compounding. How do you think the perception of rugby league has changed in Tonga over the past five years? Who do you think Tongan kids are fizzing to see play, or look up to as their leaders?
We've seen the impact of this in the polynesian capital of the world that is Auckland and it's awesome for that support and connection to be present when Tonga play in Aotearoa. The great thing that Tonga's players have don though, is go back to Tonga and connect hand to hand with their folks. That's where the investment is, that's where you start to build.
Part of Gould's role is to invest time and effort for rugby league with the Pacific Islands. Now, I don't know what ol' mate is going to do in this role but it simply doesn't matter and this is as much about what rugby league is doing in this space as it's about what rugby union is not doing. While rugby league is making moves, minor moves compounded on top of each other to generate momentum, rugby union is literally doing the opposite.
Rugby union had a couple Super Rugby games in the islands and what not. No investment of time and effort, building connection though. Rugby union and Super Rugby can barely figure out their own competition and the financials involved there, meanwhile polynesian rugby union players are often exploited by European clubs who have no interest in supporting rugby union in the islands.
Ideas get thrown up about a Pacific Islands team and those things, none of which will make a dent. What rugby league has done is take small steps towards this moment, over time they've made the investments in communities and established connections/relationships. Rugby union seems as though it is trying to skip those steps and jump in at the professional level, which may work wonders but nothing's actually happened yet so meh.
In writing the Brown/Gould Warriors thing yesterday, I highlighted some of the junior talent coming through the Warriors that Gould's going to work with. In the tinge of today's Monday Morning Dummy Half, there is an immense amount of young talent from Aotearoa doing NRL things this year and I highlight that every week.
This round of footy saw two more youngins make their #KiwiNRL debuts...
Asu Kepaoa - Auckland
Emry Pere - Waikato
Loss vs Titans: 10mins, 3 runs for 30m @ 10m/run.
Hereβs Pere leading the 2018 Junior Kiwis hakaβ¦
Kepaoa and Pere join the following as 2020 #KiwiNRL debutants.
Connelly Lemuelu - Auckland/Cowboys.
Daejarn Asi - Christchurch/Cowboys.
Eliesa Katoa - Tonga/Auckland/Warriors.
Jaxson Paulo - Auckland/Rabbitohs.
Jackson Ferris - Manawatu/Sharks
Take that and ponder the young #KiwiNRL talent that I cover every week. This is the most bountiful #KiwiNRL period I've experienced and I find it interesting that Aotearoa now has Maguire and Gould to take things further. This isn't merely a case of two smart footy operators helping rugby league in Aotearoa, it's two smart footy operators who have an abundance of talent to work with - perhaps the most talent that's come out of Aotearoa ever.
In defeating Manly, the Warriors showed signs of a pivot, or a few pivots in different areas. The first was a visible jump in intensity, the speed of everything went up a gear or two and this was in stark contrast to the first two games of the season when the Warriors looked slow, sluggish and yucky. An element of that may have been an increase in their 'ballers'.
It's difficult to pin-point how the change of rules has impact style of footy, one aspect that I've been thinking about is the importance of natural ballers. The tempo's quicker and players need to be more skillful, so I don't think it's a surprise that someone like Jazz Tevaga has impacted the Warriors since returning. Tevaga's the definition of natural baller - someone designed for footy.
Peta Hiku's a similar type of player and Todd Payten told Triple M that most of the player's families have joined the Warriors in Australia and that Hiku's form has changed dramatically since his whanau arrived. In a better space, Hiku scored two tries vs Tigers with 8 tackle busts and 2 offloads, then he backed that up with a try, a try assist and 2 more offloads vs Sea Eagles. Hereβs some snaps of Hiku that also show him playing left centre vs Tigers, then right centre vs Sea Eagles and peep how much needs to be done for a try to be scored in either instance:
Low key, Hiku's defence has improved.
First six games: 24 missed tackles @ 4 per game.
Last five games: 14 missed tackles @ 2.8 per game.
Chanel Harris-Tavita falls into the baller category and to be honest, most of the Warriors players do. With more natural skill in this Warriors outfit, things like the variety of kicks on show gets more funky and the Warriors scored of a Kodi Nikorima dime kicked 13m out from the try-line that curled away from Patrick Herbert, a Harris-Tavita lefty grubber and then another Nikorima kick that was plugged into the hole above legs of opposition players:
Another minor pivot is faster wingers. David Fusitu'a and Ken Maumalo are great at what they do, although their style may not be best suited to the current style. The Warriors have enjoyed the services of George Jennings who had 16 runs for 174m @ 11.18m/run vs Sea Eagles and Patrick Herbert (another baller) continues to offer a level of footy funk; 19 runs for 171m @ 9m/run vs Sea Eagles.
Those are similar numbers to what Fusitu'a and Maumalo serve up, just in a very different way. Leg-speed is crucial, footwork and agility also help and I think this helps the overall look of the Warriors as I'm now seeing more quick blokes as opposed to more run it straight styles. With everything moving faster, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is more effective at dummy half: 4 DHR for 52m @ 13m/DHR vs Sea Eagles. Tempo and ballers.
Let's check in with Siosiua Taukeiaho vs Jason Taumalolo...
Taukeiaho: 210 runs, 2,196m (16th), 981pcm (3rd), tackling @ 91.6%.
Taumalolo: 242 runs, 2,680m (1st), 1,151pcm (1st), tackling @ 90.8%.
Averages
Taukeiaho: 10.45m/run, 4.67pcm/run.
Taumalolo: 11.07m/run, 4.75pcm/run.
Yesterday's game between Eels and Sharks saw the Eels grab a win via a great game from Dylan Brown, while the Sharks were in this contest (12-14) thanks to Shaun Johnson. The Sharks couldn't quite get the job done and Johnson's goal-kicking was a factor as he couldn't nail any of his three conversions, yet Johnson grabbed 2 try assists, kicked a 40/20, got repeat sets and generally controlled things for Cronulla plus an epic chase down tackle.
Further to that point: Johnson had 67 touches and 17 kicks, while Matt Moylan had 49 touches and 2 kicks. The Sharks lost, I felt as though I'd see Johnson near his best in prickly conditions and remember that the Sharks are without Chad Townsend who usually opens things up for Johnson.
Johnson is still 1st in try assists with 18, next best is Luke Keary on 13.
This is the third season in which Johnson has cracked 18 try assists (2011, 20016) and Johnson's got plenty time left in this season to go beyond 20 try assists.
As for Dylan Brown...
1 try, 10 runs for 97m @ 9.7m/run, 2 linebreaks, 1 try assist, 9 tackle busts, 1 offload and 32 tackles @ 94.1%.
Brown is doing the most, while Mitchell Moses is more of the organiser taking care of leading the Eels around. Here are how their involvement numbers compare...
Brown: 10 runs, 29 touches, 2 kicks.
Moses: 3 runs, 44 touches, 16 kicks.
Brown's efficiency is nek level and my #KiwiNRL bias aside, it's clear that Brown and Moses need each other.
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