This week's Monday Morning Dummy Half rolls through a few Kiwi-NRL deep cuts and they don't get much deeper than Canberra Raiders fullback Caleb Aekins finally enjoying a win.

Caleb Aekins

Not much is going right for Canberra Raiders this season and unfortunately for Whangarei's Aekins that coincided with his arrival from Penrith Panthers. Aekins went from back up fullback to Dylan Edwards to backing up Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and he got his first crack to replace Nicoll-Klokstad in round six, playing all five games since. In four straight losses, Aekins averaged 4 tackle busts and 185m per game and he also registered 2 linebreaks and a try assists even though the Raiders were losing.

Then came a niggly wee battle with Bulldogs and Aekins grabbed 3 try assists in a win, along with 165m. The Raiders only scored 3 tries and that means Aekins had his mits all over the Raiders tries, starting with Aekins being heavily involved in the first try after getting the offload from Josh Papalii and then shifting the footy...

The next 2 tries came with Papalii sent off, so the Raiders only had 12 players on the field and Aekins stayed busy. These involve Aekins showcasing perfect draw and pass skills, which is even more impressive when there are more defenders on the field...

Aekins isn't a headline grabber and he's an awesome deep cut because you need to dive deep to suss his skillset. Aekins is always around the footy and has the distribution skills, plus a swift footy brain to be effective. Aekins isn't big, he isn't fast and he doesn't have slick footwork. Aekins stacks up pretty well when compared to Nicoll-Klokstad though and both have played five games at fullback...

Aekins: 180m/game, 2 linebreaks, 4 try assists.

Nicoll-Klokstad: 171m/game, 1 linebreak, 0 try assists.

Isaac Liu

What's the best ability? Availability and after 10 games played this season, Isaac Liu has played 10+ games in all nine years of his career. Even better, Liu has played 20+ games in six of those seasons. Roll into this season and Liu has played 40+ minutes in all but one game and he is averaging a career-best 110m/game while also tackling @ 91.8 percent efficiency.

This is with Sydney Roosters and earlier this season I highlighted the Kiwis leadership in the Roosters forward pack that will help them deal with injuries/retirements. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is doing similar things and he has played 10+ games for 11 straight seasons, also dealing in some of the best form of his career as four of his best 'metres/game' seasons have come in the last three years; his 136m/game is third best.

Doing such mahi for the Roosters is an easy nod that these two are among the best Aotearoa Kiwis in the NRL. Liu is a bit more undercover though and along with Angus Crichton he is one of the most consistent Roosters forwards this season.

Shaun Johnson

This is looking like the first year of Shaun Johnson's NRL career (10 years) in which he won't have more than 10 try assists. Injuries are the major issue here as Johnson has played 3 games this year, after playing 15+ games in every year prior and he has just 1 try assist in his 3 games. Last season Johnson had 23 try assists and this was his highest mark, which build up intrigue as to how Johnson and the Sharks would build upon last year.

This year the Sharks sacked their coach and Chad Townsend opted to leave Sharks at season's end. For Johnson that means a major injury, then his club crumbling and we're now in an enticing window where Johnson needs to command a contract. Whether that is with the Sharks and Craig Fitzgibbon, or elsewhere will be interesting and Johnson has to prove that he can stay on the field then showcase his value.

James Fisher-Harris

Northland' finest now has four consecutive games with over 190m. In these four games, Fisher-Harris has missed 4 tackles, had 5 offloads, 13 tackle busts and scored 2 tries. Fisher-Harris is tackling @ 93.5 percent while also being among the busiest middle forwards in the NRL...

Run Metres: 6th.

Post Contact Metres: 7th.

All Runs: 8th.

Morgan Harper/Joseph Manu

Update from last weekend’s look at Aotearoa Kiwis; Waikato’s centre dup are still the best…

Morgan Harper has 1 try, 2 try assists, 3 linebreaks, 21 tackle busts and 7 offloads in 6 games.

Joseph Manu has 4 try assists, 35 tackle busts and 13 offloads in his 10 games.

Peace and love.