Dragons vs Roosters

Dragons

Jordan Pereira.

Roosters

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

Doc's Word

After stepping in at centre last week, Marist Saints junior Sitili Tupouniua is back as an edge forward and continues to be a lovely example of Roosters development. Tupouniua has come off the bench to play through the middle in seven straight games, playing less than 40mins in six of those games (41mins in one game) and now he has two back to back games with 80mins - in two different positions. I'm also following Otahuhu Leopards junior Isaac Liu closely as he has started the last two games and played 52mins, then 53mins.

These are the only games in which Liu has played 50+ minutes this season and while the Roosters haven't been quite able to steam-roll the Warriors and Titans in their last two games, they done well to grind out wins and not slip up in those games. Playing the Dragons is similar and four of the five starting Roosters forwards are #KiwiNRL troopers, so any solid work in the forwards is likely to stem from these lads.

Sea Eagles vs Warriors

Sea Eagles

Danny Levi, Martin Taupau, Taniela Paseka.

Warriors

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

Doc's Word

I'm still kicking back on NZ Warriors matters as the fog needs to clear, decisions need to be made and executed before assessing where the club is at. Next step is finding a coach and all of that, while the release of Blake Green actually feels like a nice move - I can't go all in on that idea without knowing what the next steps are for the club - and my gut's telling me that the general premise of keeping a lid player agent Isaac Moses' Warriors influence isn't the worst thing right now; Green joins Knights coach Adam O'Brien who is also apparently a Moses client.

The Knights can have all that smoke if they want. Now the Warriors can move forward with a younger halves combination and provide the Kodi Nikorima/Chanel Harris-Tavita combo with time to develop. Previously, Nikorima has been operating on the left edge, Green in the middle and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been glued to the right edge. I reckon that limits how effective Tuivasa-Sheck can be, although I'm not sure if that will change now that Harris-Tavita's in the mix.

Harris-Tavita has tended to operate on the left, so the Warriors will now have two halves who have been playing on the left and their fullback who plays as a right-sided half. My ideal scenario is Tuivasa-Sheck swoop either side, with either Nikorima or Harris-Tavita sticking to the right edge. As for what the Knights get with Green; Fox Sports Lab has Green ranked in at 3rd for missed tackles, 2nd in penalties conceded and 7th in errors among the Knights squad.

With Green at the Warriors, the Warriors were/are 14th in tries scored, 14th in linebreaks, 15th in try assists and 14th in points scored. I'll let you be the judge of how how much responsibility for the lacklustre Warriors attack falls with Green, I'm intrigued to see which whether things stay the same or get better with the Warriors attack from this point.

Rabbitohs vs Broncos

Rabbitohs

Jaxson Paulo.

Broncos

Issac Luke, Jesse Arthars.

Doc's Word

Not much doing here.

Storm vs Bulldogs

Storm

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

Bulldogs

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

Doc's Word

Jesse Bromwich wasn't overly impactful on his return, playing 36mins vs Knights with 5 runs for 40m and making 24 tackles @ 96 percent. Right now, Bromwich doesn't have to jack up powerful numbers as Tino Fa'asuamleaui is on fire through the middle along with the rest of the Storm's forward pack and I expect Bromwich to slowly build into his work. Brandon Smith is starting at hooker in the absence of Cameron Smith and Aotearoa Kiwis fans should have this as mandatory viewing considering Brandon is the best dummy half for Aotearoa at the moment.

Mangere East Hawks junior Ofahiki Ogden is named to start for the first time this season after six games coming of the bench for the Bulldogs. Ogden earned this promotion thanks to a super efficient effort in the close loss vs Eels, playing just 27mins with 8 runs for 97m @ 12.12m/run, 1 tackle bust and 1 offload. It's an almighty battle for Ogden and Raymond Faitala-Mariner on the edge, coming up against a Storm forward pack that offers a different angle to their work every season.

Knights vs Tigers

Knights

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

Tigers

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

Doc's Word

Starford To'a gets his first start of 2020, named on the wing for the Knights and with the Tigers handing a debut to Asu Kepaoa, the two 2019 Junior Kiwis will do battle. To'a is a Mt Wellington/St Pauls College junior, while Kepaoa is an Ellerslie Eagles/Sacred Heart College junior and both came through the Auckland rugby league system together. They also played for Aotearoa Under 16s together in 2016 and then they were in the 2017 Aoteaora Residents Under 18 squad together.

Panthers vs Raiders

Panthers

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

Raiders

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

Doc's Word

An almighty battle of the #KiwiNRL fullbacks here with Caleb Aekins holding things down for the Panthers, winning his last two appearances in the absence of Dylan Edwards and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad returning from injury. Aekins hasn't done too much in those wins, registering 1 tackle bust in his last two starts, with an offload in both games and that's all good considering the work of Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary in the halves.

We will hopefully be graced with an epic battle through the middle as James Fisher-Harris could come up against his Hokianga homie Corey Harawira-Naera, as well as Joseph Tapine. Fisher-Harris is among the best middle forwards in the NRL, top-five for sure and whether it's those funky #KiwiNRL battles or coming up against Josh Papali'i; Fisher-Harris could hit a nek level with the quality of the Raiders middle forward crew.

Titans vs Cowboys

Titans

Moeaki Fotuaika, Kevin Proctor, Sam Lisone, Erin Clark.

Cowboys

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

Doc's Word

And another #KiwiNRL debut! 2017 and 2018 Junior Kiwi forward Emry Pere named on the bench and the Taniwharau (Huntly) junior has showing delightful growth in reserve grade prior to getting this opportunity. Pere has played two big seasons of reserve grade, first in 2018 with Northern Pride when he played 24 games and then 22 games last year with Mackay Cutters. Despite playing less games in 2019, Pere improved on his stats with his tackle busts jumping from 46 to 64, post-contact-metres going from 615 to 715 and offloads doubling as well from 8 to 16.

That growth and consistency is crucial and Pere has seen his 2017 Junior Kiwi comrade Moeaki Fotuaika explode, as well as watching 2018 Junior Kiwi partner Peter Hola graduate to the NRL with the Cowboys. Now it's Pere's turn and after seeing Daejarn Asi get a crack earlier this year, the Cowboys are slowly flexing with their junior development; especially their junior recruitment out of Aotearoa.

Sharks vs Eels

Sharks

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

Eels

Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore, Brad Takairangi.

Doc's Word

No Briton Nikora in the Sharks top-17 this week, although the Eels have given Marata Niukore a chance to start on the edge and I reckon Niukore will line up on the Eels' right edge against Wade Graham. Niukore is tackling at 94.3 percent this season, although much of that is through the middle and I'm eager to see if Niukore can help lock down that right edge. With Dylan Brown tackling at 91.4 percent on the left edge and Mitchell Moses tackling at 79.6 percent on the right, Niukore will have to do a massive job in helping Moses.

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