Roosters vs Dragons

Roosters

Nita Maynard

Dragons

Nada

The Vibe

Nita Maynard is back with the Roosters to play hooker and that's about it.

Broncos vs Warriors

Broncos

Raecene McGregor, Lavinia Gould, Amber Hall.

Warriors

Hilda Peters, Crystal Tamarua, Kanyon Paul, Madison Bartlett, Georgia Hale.

The Vibe

All five Warriors wahine are named to start and this presents a low key Kiwi-NRL battle at hooker between veteran Lavinia Gould and Kanyon Paul. Amber Hall's presence in the Broncos squad is funky as I wasn't quite expecting it with all the pando stuff and this must be because Hall's based herself in Queensland with Gould being based in Queensland for a while now and Kiwi Ferns half Raecene McGregor also based in Australia. With three Kiwi-NRL wahine in their group, the Broncos almost have as many Kiwi-NRL players as the Warriors and by the looks of it, the Broncos and Warriors will hold things down for Aotearoa throughout this NRLW campaign.

Panthers vs Roosters

Panthers

Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Zane Tetevano, Dean Whare.

Roosters

Joseph Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Siosiua Taukeiaho, Sitili Tupouniua, Isaac Liu, Sonny Bill Williams, Poasa Fa'amasuili.

The Vibe

Two of the best Kiwi-NRL Post Contact Metre monsters will go to battle in the middle with Northland's James Fisher-Harris and Otara Scorpions junior Siosiua Taukeiaho taking up their usual residence in their respective teams. Fisher-Harris is 4th in PCM for the NRL, while Taukeiaho is 6th and he has played two games fewer than Fisher-Harris.

Of course, Taukeiaho has the Kiwi-NRL homies alongside him in the hefty Roosters forward pack led by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. Rooster coach Trent Robinson has opted to name Marist Saints junior Sitili Tupouniua starting on an edge and Otahuhu Leopards junior Isaac Liu starting in the middle, while the likes of Nat Butcher and Mitchell Aubusson on the extended bench. That's a lovely boost for the Kiwi-NRL lads and Tupouniua is deserving of a Finals start via his impressive form on the right edge this season, while Liu provides a mobile, agile and powerful middle forward trio.

Raiders vs Sharks

Raiders

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jordan Rapana, Joseph Tapine, Siliva Havili, Iosia Soliola, Corey Harawira-Naera, Matthew Timoko.

Sharks

Brad Hamlin-Uele, Briton Nikora, Siosifa Talakai, Mawene Hiroti, Bryson Goodwin.

The Vibe

Siliva Havili has lost his starting hooker job after he impressed in taking over from Josh Hodgson, although all signs point to coach Ricky Stuart merely opting to use Havili in a different way. Havili played 52 minutes off the bench in last round's win over the Sharks and the Manurewa Marlins junior steamed his way to 160m from 14 runs @ 11.42m/run along with 25 tackles @ 100 percent.

I view this as Havili offering a unique middle forward package and this is nicely suited to the tempo of footy this season, which when combined with the size and mobility of Wellington's Joseph Tapine and Northland's Corey Harawira-Naera gives the Raiders a rather impressive dose of oomph. Even Ponsonby Ponies junior and current veteran Iosia Soliola fits this mould and he's coming off a 47min, 16 runs for 160m effort last week.

This is also another chance to see City Newton junior Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad step up in the Finals and I'm definitely eager to appreciate the swift rise of Nicoll-Klokstad vs taking it for granted. As the Raiders worked their way to the Grand Final last year, Nicoll-Klokstad as a key factor at fullback and that came after Nicoll-Klokstad arrived at the Raiders a few weeks prior to the season getting underway. Nicoll-Klokstad's ability to beat defenders and jack up big run metres is established, now Nicoll-Klokstad will need to flex with subtle touches in attack to help out his halves; Finals footy ramps up the plans on targeting halves etc.

Look out for Nicoll-Klokstad's touches as the Raiders set up near the Sharks try line. Nicoll-Klokstad was awesome last season in popping up everywhere, sniffing out the footy and pouncing on a sloppy defender, which may be the same recipe this season and/or Nicoll-Klokstad may look to do more work distributing out on the edges.

Storm vs Eels

Storm

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

Eels

Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore, Brad Takairangi.

The Vibe

Dylan Brown and Marata Niukore are back! Mangere East junior Niukore has not played since round 17 vs Warriors and while it's hard to pin-point his value, the fact that Niukore is straight back on to the bench for the Finals is testament to how coach Brad Arthur views Niukore. Northland's Brown has been named in the halves after suffering an ankle injury in round 16 and this is my favourite way to lay out what Brown brings to the Eels...

Dylan Brown: 117m per game / 90.9 percent tackle efficiency.

Mitchell Moses: 65m per game / 82.1 percent tackle efficiency.

Jai Field: 74m per game / 84.6 percent tackle efficiency.

The Brown/Moses combo is obviously the best, as Moses does most of the kicking and organising while Brown can play as he sees fit. Without Brown, the Eels lacked a direct half who would engage defenders and open up space elsewhere, so don't be surprised if the Eels look much better with Brown back in action.

Melbourne Storm are still the big donnies though and their Kiwi-NRL crew reflects this. Nelson Asofa-Solomona offers the main bit of selection funk as he's starting in the #13 jersey after playing 11 games off the bench this season and six starting in the middle. Coming into the Finals, Asofa-Solomona has two games with 50+ minutes of game time, three of the last four games are 50+ minute stints for Asofa-Solomona and that's after playing less than 50 minutes in all of the 13 games prior. In the last four games that have seen Asofa-Solomona start, he has 2 tries to go with 19 tackle busts, two games with 70+ PCM and three games with 140+ running metres. That smells like brutal Asofa-Solomona Finals form to me.

Rabbitohs vs Knights

Rabbitohs

Jaxson Paulo, Steven Marsters.

Knights

Mason Lino, Herman Ese'ese.

The Vibe

Jaxson Paulo keeps his spot on the wing, while Steven Marsters drops out of the top-17 with Dane Gagai taking his centre spot. Despite getting smoked by the Titans last week, Mason Lino missed just 1 tackle (26 tackles @ 92.9 percent) and that looks rather nifty compared to Mitchell Pearce's 8 missed tackles (33 tackles @ 78.6 percent), plus Lino took on a decent share of the kicking with 8 kicks to Pearce's 11 kicks. The Rabbitohs under Wayne Bennett will smell the blood in the water with the Knights and expect either Lino or Pearce to have a target on them.

It's probably more beneficial for the Rabbitohs to force Pearce into a high tackle count and with lots of pressure on his kicking game, which could allow scope for Lino to step up in a Finals game. Since coming into the Knights team for round 16, Lino has played five games with 2 forced drop outs, 2 try assists and he's had 30-37 touches of the footy in each game. For the Knights to have a chance and provide a balanced attack with Pearce and Kalyn Ponga, Lino will need to run the footy a bit more; Lino averages 39m per game this season compared to 50m per game last season with the Knights.

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Peace and love.