Support the Niche Cache on Patreon.

Gold Coast Titans handed an NRL debut to Mangere East Hawks junior Greg Marzhew to give Aotearoa six Kiwi-NRL debutants this year, plus the Titans have built a low key impressive Kiwi-NRL pipeline to ensure there will be plenty more. Parramatta Eels welcomed back Dylan Brown to bolster their supreme Kiwi-NRL crew and I can't let Nelson Asofa-Solomona go uncelebrated any further. Let's start with big Nasty Nas in your area, about to cause mass hysteria.

Upper Hutt Tigers junior Asofa-Solomona played 55 minutes in Melbourne Storm's win over Gold Coast Titans and this was the most minutes he has played this season. Kenny Bromwich was injured in the first half just as he returned from injury, while Jesse Bromwich rolled out 50mins and Brandon Smith was emphatic in his 69mins as starting hooker. Big chur to J-Brom as he's played 35+ minutes in every single game this season - I'm going to keep this yarn about Asofa-Solomona though.

Against the Titans, Asofa-Solomona had just 8 runs for 74m @ 9.25m/run and that's the fewest run metres Asofa-Solomona has had this season. The end of the game chucked up a seed though as I watched a 200cm/115kg bloke chasing down the last play of the game after he had played the most minutes in a game and his 24 tackles were the second highest in a game this season.

This came after Asofa-Solomona played 49mins starting at prop the week prior against Brisbane Broncos and as fast as the NRL is these days, Asofa-Solomona (and J-Brom) has simply flowed with the river. Asofa-Solomona has played less than 35mins just once this season and he is on track for his sixth season in a row playing 20+ games. Asofa-Solomona has scored 4+ tries with 70+ tackle busts and 20+ offloads in each of the five seasons prior to 2021 playing 20+ games.

Ponder this: Asofa-Solomona is on track for his sixth season in a row with 20+ games, 4+ tries, 70+ tackle busts and 20+ offloads. Along with what other jokers are doing, these are bankable contributions every season and the big uso has made 227 tackles this season, missing just 13 to tackle @ 91.1 percent efficiency.

For a lad who is bigger the most and more athletic than most, you'd expect a bit more volatility in what he's doing. You'd expect more injuries and/or that his size would become an issue as the tempo of NRL footy increased. Instead, Asofa-Solomona has merely continued to do his job in the Storm system and along with the likes of the Bromwich bros, Dale Finucane, Christian Welch, Tui Kamikamica; they are the reason for Storm success.

Marata Niukore started at prop for Parramatta Eels in their win over Newcastle Knights. The Mangere East Hawks junior played eight consecutive games at centre to start his 2021 season and this had no negative impact on the Eels even though Niukore had primarily played as a robust forward since leaving NZ Warriors -where he was a centre as a youngster. Niukore played 36mins for 7 runs - 62m @ 8.85m/run, 25 tackles @ 96.1 percent and while this wasn't his most productive output this season, I'm just fascinated by a bloke who can play centre and middle forward in the 2021 NRL.

Te Atatu Roosters junior Isaiah Papali'i did jack up some typically hefty stats...

57mins, 16 runs - 152m @ 9.5m/run, 2 tackle busts, 1 offload, 21 tackles @ 87.5%.

Papali'i started on an edge and then moved into the middle. This year Papali'i is averaging 150m/game with 49 total tackle busts and 16 offloads with the Eels. In the four years prior with NZ Warriors, Papali'i had high markers of 80m/game, 26 tackle busts and 13 offloads; Papali'i has already smashed all his previous work with NZ Warriors.

Dylan Brown returned to the Eels line up...

21 runs - 195m @ 9.28m/run, 1 linebreak assist, 2 tackle busts, 1 offload, 23 tackles @ 100% and 9 kicks.

No Eels player had more runs or run metres than Brown in this game.

The only place that lays out stats in the following way is Fox Sports Lab. Fox Sports lists Brown as averaging 8 runs - 94m (11.75m/run!) and in the 'Five-Eighth' cluster, all the players who average more run metres are not strict five-eighths. Nicho Hynes and Reece Walsh are mainly playing fullback, Connor Watson's coming off the bench, Matt Burton and Joseph Manu have mainly played centre.

Move into the 'Halfback' cluster where Jack Bird and Burton are the only players who average more run metres than Brown. Next best behind Brown's 94m/game as strict halves (both clusters) is Cameron Munster's 88m and then the likes of Jahrome Hughes averages 73m/game and Nathan Cleary averages 72m/game.

Fox Sports also lists Brown has making 255 tackles with 8 missed tackles. That's less than 1 missed tackle per game and no notable half listed as a Five-Eighth or Halfback by Fox Sports averages less than 1 missed tackle. Cleary averages 1 missed tackle and he's made 192, missed 18.

That means that Brown is the best running and tackling half in the NRL. Chuck in his average kicking metres going from 109.91m last season to 135.93m this season and the 20-year-old (!!) from Hikurangi Stags in Whangarei is low key one of the best halves in the NRL.

Gold Coast Titans are becoming a Kiwi-NRL club to keep a close eye on. Marzhew made his debut and was a Junior Kiwi in 2016 and 2017, while 2018 Junior Kiwi Jospeh Vuna returned to the NRL after doing his Lord's work for a few years. I've previously noted that longtime NZRL coach Ezra Howe is the Recruitment Manager at the Titans and he coached Vuna in the 2018 Junior Kiwis.

Since Howe linked up with the Titans they have signed Sam Lisone, Erin Clark, Patrick Herbert and Esan Marsters. Like Marzhew and Vuna, all those four have been in the NZRL pipeline. Paul Turner has been rumoured to join the Titans next year where he will join brother Lee Turner who is playing for the Titans feeder club Tweed Heads - Paul is a noted NZRL junior.

The Burleigh Bears Under 21s team has Vaka Sikahele, Isaac Matalavea-Booth (both Manurewa) and Samuel McIntyre (Northcote) who the Titans recently recruited. All my research suggests that McIntyre's father works in an NRL development role in the Gold Coast region. There appears to be an Aotearoa takeover of the Gold Coast Titans and while their NRL squad has been bolstered with Kiwi-NRL signings, stay tuned for a new wave to come through.

Hit an ad to support the Niche Cache. Peace and love.