Monday Morning Dummy Half: Simi Sasagi Debut and Newcastle Knights Kiwi-NRL Recruitment
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Newcastle Knights are in the midst of a wee NRL slump and with plenty of Kiwi-NRL talent recruited from Aotearoa waiting for a crack, this isn't the worst case scenario. In their loss to North Queensland Cowboys to start round 11, the Knights handed a debut to Simi Sasagi at centre and the Ellerslie Eagles junior became the fourth Kiwi-NRL debutant after Wiremu Greig, Rocco Berry and Edward Kosi slid into the NRL. Big picture, this is funky because I counted 13 Kiwi-NRL debuts last year and 11 rounds in to this season we already have four.
All four are true Kiwi-NRL debutants and I don't have to stretch to put these lads in this bucket. Greig left Whangarai to join the Cowboys before making his debut with Parramatta Eels, while Berry and Kosi have both come through the NZ Warriors system to debut. The emergence of Sasagi has been brewing for a while as he featured in game day squads for the Knights this season and we are now seeing the Knights' recruitment mahi flow into their NRL squad, which could be amplified if the Knights woes continue.
Sasagi played right centre for the Knights with Starford To'a outside him and while To'a hopped around a few Auckland clubs before moving to Newcastle, he also spent time with Ellerslie Eagles (via Mt Wellington Warriors). So it was only right that Sasagi grabbed a try assist and To'a scored the try...
Having played in the halves for Knights' NSW Cup, Sasagi has also done centre duties and will likely forecast forward as an NRL centre. I don't believe Blake Green is helping an NRL team win games right now and the Kiwi-NRL upside would be that Sasagi could partner young halfback Phoenix Crossland if some stars align while Mitchell Pearce is out injured. Sasagi finished with 11 runs for 115m @ 10.45m/run with that try assist, 3 tackle busts, 3 offloads and 18 tackles @ 90 percent. Meanwhile To’a has played nine games on the wing this season with 4 tries and 6 linebreaks.
This is the tip of the Knights' Kiwi-NRL iceberg as they have been busy sneaking Auckland talent into their system and while the Knights definitely aren't as active in Aotearoa as Sydney Roosters, I'd chuck the Knights up along with the Cowboys and now the Titans as the low key recruiters out of Aotearoa. Wests Tigers have plenty of Kiwi-NRL talent coming through their reserve grade and lower ranks, but unlike the three teams named above, the Tigers are signing their Kiwi-NRL talent from other clubs.
The Knights have built a direct pipeline to Auckland. That has resulted in To'a and Sasagi making their debuts with the Knights, while Jirah Momoisea was all but guaranteed a debut this year until a ruptured achilles in January put that on pause. Coming out of St Paul’s College Momoisea was initially signed by Melbourne Storm but ended up at the Knights and the 22-year-old played six NSW Cup games in 2018, followed by 20 in 2019 and one game in 2020 before the pandemic stopped all reserve grade footy.
To'a is another St Paul's old boy, while Sasagi appears to have gone to Mount Roskill Grammar. Sasagi made the NZRL Under 15s Merit team in 2016 and Glenfield Greyhounds junior Christian Ma'anaima was also in that team; Ma'anaima has played three NSW Cup games this year as a bench forward.
In the 2017 NZRL Under 16s Residents team were Sasagi, Christian Tuipulotu (Manly), Jyris Glamuzina, Temple Kalepo (NZ Warriors), Caius Fa'atili (Broncos) and Griffin Neame (Cowboys.
Along with To'a, Momoisea, Sasagi and Ma'anaima, the Knights have outside back Chris Veaila who is a Waiteamata Seagulls/Mount Albert Grammar product. Veaila has played three games of NSW Cup this year (two at centre and one on the wing) and that gives us five Knights Kiwi-NRL players who are from Auckland.
The initial 2019 Under 19 Junior Kiwis squad featured Ma'anaima, Sasagi and To'a. Sasagi dropped out of that initial squad and the final squad then featured Daniel Ticehurst who is from Wellington via Aotea College. Ticehurst left Aotea College for Ipswich State High School in Brisbane, before popping up at the Knights and along with that Junior Kiwis nod, Ticehurst played two NSW Cup games in 2019 and two more this year.
Within this Knights Kiwi-NRL pipeline we can see two clear Kiwi-NRL recruitment methods. The Knights have recruited players from Auckland in the 15-17 age range with the option of moving to Newcastle and staying with a Knights host family. Then there are the more random recruitment bits like pouncing on Momoisea or snapping up Ticehurst via an Australian system.
A thread through all my Kiwi-NRL recruitment yarns is to be realistic about this fantasy that many kiwis and Australians have about NZ Warriors having all of Aotearoa as their own talent pool. As you can see with that 2017 Under 16 Residents example above, the Warriors had two of five notable players in that squad who are now on the NRL fringes and the Warriors continue to fill their stocks with quality Aotearoa talent.
First and foremost is the fact that there there is a surplus of talent. NZ Warriors only have 'x' amount of roster spots in their junior pathways and as most Australian clubs are deeply rooted in Aotearoa recruitment, there is more than enough talent for everyone. Within this Knights example is another key factor as certain NRL clubs (Knights, Roosters, Cowboys etc) sign players at a young age and these clubs invest in developing those players.
The Knights have been specific in their recruitment to plug holes in their pipeline and their investment in Auckland players is crucial given that every NRL club is scouting talent in Aotearoa. The Knights picked who they want and have done a great job in bringing them through their system, which has resulted in To'a and Sasagi breaking through while there are a couple more lurking for an opportunity.
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