Roosters vs Storm

Roosters

Joseph Manu, Siosiua Taukeiaho, Sitili Tupouniua, Isaac Liu, Poasa Fa'amausili, Christian Tuipulotu.

Storm

Jahrome Hughes, Jesse Bromwich, Brandon Smith, Kenny Bromwich, Albert Vete, Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

Doc's Word

As I'll touch on below, one of the positions of note from an Aotearoa Kiwis perspective is edge forward. Kenny Bromwich has steadily reinforced his case as being a top-tier #KiwiNRL edge forward, largely thanks to consistently playing and doing his job in a winning Storm outfit. The last few weeks though have seen Bromwich jack up a few intriguing stats that I view as a minor level up for Bromwich and while it's hard to pinpoint a dramatic level-up for Kenny, these are some funky notes...

After registering no tries or try assists, Bromwich has 2 try assists and 3 tries in his last trio of games. That's a cheeky three-game stretch involving at least a try or try assist, along with a linebreak in each of these last three games Granted, those three games involve big wins over Broncos and Bulldogs, so I'm interested in how Bromwich's involvements look moving forward. Keep an eye on the Kenny/Jesse combo as well, usually involving the two linking up via short passes.

This game, is an almighty battle of #KiwiNRL forwards. Even without Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, the Roosters still have Siosiua Taukeiaho, Sitili Tupouniua, Isaac Liu and Poasa Fa'amausili. This is mandatory viewing on Thursday night for #KiwiNRL folks and I'm going to pay close attention to Liu as he has played 50+ minutes for three games in a row after playing less than 40mins in all but one of his eight prior games.

Warriors vs Panthers

Warriors

All but George Jennings, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Karl Lawton, Lachlan Burr, Wayde Egan, Daniel Alvaro, Jack Murchie, Adam Keighran, Josh Curran.

Panthers

Caleb Aekins, Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Zane Tetevano.

Doc's Word

Dylan Edwards is lurking on the extended bench for Penrith Panthers to take back his fullback spot from Whangarei's Caleb Aekins and this is low key fascinating given that Edwards won all five of his games at fullback this season, while Aekins has six wins, one loss and a draw in his eight games. Aekins is very different to Edwards, despite their similar size with Edwards scoring more tries with more tackle busts and Aekins leans more into post-contact-metres, offloads and while Edwards has no games with 40+ touches, one game with 30+ touches, Aekins has three games with 40+ touches and one game with 30+ touches.

Two fullbacks, similar size/stature and two different ways of operating. Neither of which has impacted the form of the Panthers.

Reminder for Warriors fans: Phil Gould oversaw the recruitments of Aekins and James Fisher-Harris from Northland to the Panthers.

Eels vs Dragons

Eels

Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore, Haze Dunster.

Dragons

Jordan Pereira.

Doc's Word

The funk here is with Haze Dunster's inclusion on the Eels' extended bench. Dunster's from Rotorua initially and played in the same Eels junior teams as Dylan Brown, yet Dunster's Aotearoa eligibility is clouded; Dunster played for the Australian Schoolboys in 2017 and flirted with NZRL's Taurahere group in 2016. Who knows what route Dunster will take, he's a decorated junior with the Eels, for now he's covering backline positions and grabbed a Canterbury Cup game earlier this year starting on the wing.

I'm still amazed by Dylan Brown's defence. The basic nugget is that Brown's tackling at 91.6 percent efficiency from 346 tackles. Let's dig a bit deeper though...

Brown has played all 13 games this season and has just two games with 3 missed tackles (nothing more than that). Brown also has three games with no missed tackles and per Fox Sports Lab, Brown's 20 missed tackles is kind of amazing considering that he is one of four 'halves' who has registered 300+ tackles; Brown's the only joker in this group of Cameron Smith, Ben Hunt and Kurt Mann who hasn't played dummy half.

That means that Brown has the most tackles playing solely as a half with 326 tackles. The closest to Brown for those strictly playing as halves, is Mitchell Pearce's 296 tackles and Pearce has also missed 51 tackles vs Brown's 20. On top of all his attacking prowess, evident in Brown being 10th in total tackle busts and 11th in linebreaks in a winning team, Brown's also casually the best defensive half in his second season of NRL footy.

Sharks vs Titans

Sharks

Sione Katoa, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Shaun Johnson, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Siosifa Talakai, Briton Nikora, Bryson Goodwin.

Titans

Moeaki Fotuaika, Kevin Proctor, Sam Lisone.

Doc's Word

Briton Nikora has missed the last two games for Cronulla Sharks and this is notable because Nikora was the starting right edge forward for Aotearoa Kiwis late last year. This doesn't appear to be injury related and may stem from Nikora's 15 missed tackles in his last four games (3.75 per game), coinciding with a drop in his running production. Former Junior Kiwi Siosifa Talakai (2016 and 2017) has snapped up that right edge spot after impressing in a middle forward role off the bench and while Talakai seems more dynamic than Nikora, Talakai's also missed 9 tackles in his past two games.

I'm not sure what's cracking here and if Nikora's not starting for the Sharks, his Kiwis chances decrease. Talakai's Kiwis chances increase somewhat, although Talakai's got to put himself forward for the wider Kiwis mix first of all - Nikora set himself up as Shaun Johnson's edge forward for Aotearoa last year. I view the Kiwis edge forward contenders as Kenny Bromwich, Tohu Harris and Nikora, while Joseph Tapine and Corey Harawira-Naera aslo options and Marata Niukore a sniff as a bolter.

Nikora's not playing now, while Harris, Tapine and Harawira-Naera are playing as middle forwards most weeks in the NRL. Niukore's primarily playing middle, dabbling in edge when required. Hence, edge forward is the most interesting Kiwis thingy right now.

Moeaki Fotuaika update...

Win vs Cowboys: 43mins, 17 runs for 181m @ 10.64m/run, 92pcm @ 5.41pcm/run, 3 tackle busts, 1 offload, 19 tackles @ 95 percent.

Post Contact Metres: 29th.

All Runs: 41st. Run Metres: 38th.

Tackles: 34th (91.4 percent).

Decoy Runs: 5th - he's always doing something.

Moeaki Fotuaika is a low key young monster.

Cowboys vs Rabbitohs

Cowboys

Connelly Lemuelu, Jason Taumalolo, Emry Pere, Esan Marsters.

Rabbitohs

Jaxson Paulo.

Doc's Word

Another Aotearoa Kiwis matter is the absence of Esan Marsters after Marsters left Wests Tigers, under Kiwis coach Michael Maguire and joined the Cowboys where he has not played since round 10. That's not good for Marsters, for Aotearoa Kiwis it's all good though as Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played centre for Aotearoa last year and with Joseph Manu locked in at centre for Aotearoa, Peta Hiku's commanding attention with good form for the Warriors.

The Cowboys do have a #KiwiNRL centre in Connelly Lemuelu to keep things funky, although Lemuelu has played five games and lost all five. It's niggly to try and assess Lemuelu at this stage given the re-building nature of the Cowboys, yet a minor note is that he isn't doing anything that Marsters didn't.

Raiders vs Broncos

Raiders

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jordan Rapana, Siliva Havili, Joseph Tapine, Corey Harawira-Naera.

Broncos

Jordan Riki, Issac Luke, Jesse Arthars.

Doc's Word

A massive highlight of this weekend's footy is the debut of Jordak Riki. To best lay down Riki's hype, he was a Junior Kiwi in 2018 (Under 20) and then was Junior Kiwis captain in 2019 even though the Junior Kiwis shifted to Under 19s. Riki was joined in the 2018 Junior Kiwis by Hayze Perham, Morgan Harper, Jackson Ferris, Mawene Hiroti, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Emry Pere, Isaiah Papali'i, Joseph Vuna and Peter Hola - all of whom have played NRL.

Hailing from Christchurch where he was a Hornby Panthers junior, Riki was a star at St Thomas of Canterbury and his list of NZRL honours is too extensive to dive into. Brisbane Broncos eventually snared Riki despite immense competition in recruiting Riki and after finishing school in 2017, Riki played a game of Intrust Super Cup for Norths Devils in 2018 before playing 15 games in 2019. Riki started at lock for the Devils in their only game this year, after a rather crazy call up to the Aotearoa Maori team.

On a field jam-packed with NRL talent, Riki played 34mins off the bench with 6 runs for 56m @ 9.33m/run and 20 tackles @ 90.9 percent. Now Riki is set to join a Broncos pack that has plenty of talent but among all their woes, can't lead their team to wins and not only am I frothing for Riki to get his debut, I'm intrigued as to whether Riki can have an impact. His pedigree suggests that Riki will be a factor and I wouldn't be surprised if Riki does influence his comrades.

Sidenote: this is an amazing time for Aotearoa rugby league. Riki joins Daejan Asi, Emry Pere, Asu Kepaoa, Connelly Lemuelu, Eliesa Katoa, Jaxson Paulo and Jackson Ferris as #KiwiNRL debutants this season. That debutant group is compounded with #KiwiNRL youngsters Starford To'a, Moeaki Fotuaik Chanel Harris-Tavita, Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Josh Aloiai, Ofahiki Ogden and others all being factors in the NRL as youngins - let alone the #KiwiNRL top-tier of established weaponry.

There is plenty more talent in the pipeline as well, keep this in mind as you ponder Phil Gould's wider role with rugby league in Aotearoa.

Knights vs Sea Eagles

Knights

Starford To'a, Herman Ese'ese, Mason Lino.

Sea Eagles

Danny Levi, Martin Taupau.

Doc's Word

A try, a linebreak and 3 tackle busts for Knights winger Starford To'a and he's named for his second game of the season. Danny Levi was also fairly solid, despite Manly losing to the Warriors and more games like this will have Levi in the mix to cover Brandon Smith for Aotearoa; 51mins, 9DHR runs for 90m @ 10m/DHR, 25 tackles @ 96.2 percent. Semi-related note: easy on the Blake Green hype stemming from his first game for the Knights. This was the Tigers third loss in a row and Green steered the Warriors to a win over the Tigers, then bounced back to repeat the dose on the weekend against the same opposition. Green's out of the #KiwiNRL bucket, but for kiwi rugby league minds I reckon you pay attention to Green over the nek few weeks, starting with this game vs Sea Eagles, then games against Cowboys, Warriors and Sharks.

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Tigers

Benji Marshall, Josh Aloiai, Russell Packer, Asu Kepaoa, Elijah Taylor.

Bulldogs

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Kieran Foran, Ofahiki Ogden, Sione Katoa, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Jeremy Marshall-King, Reimis Smith, Renouf To'omaga.

Doc's Word

Two not-so-good teams with hefty #KiwiNRL numbers to offer the funk. While Reimis Smith has slipped out of the starting team for the Bulldogs, Ofahiki Ogden started his first game of the season in the big loss to Melbourne Storm and played 49mins. That's the first time Ogden has played more than 30 minutes this season and while it didn't amount to much, lads like Ogden, Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Sione Katoa are enjoying decent opportunities heading into the final stanza of the season.

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