Are we sure of Joseph Manu's ceiling? Having watched Manu establish himself as one of, if not the best NRL and Aotearoa Kiwis centre, now Manu is picking up reps in the halves and at fullback for Sydney Roosters and in typical Manu fashion he is making it all look groovy. The Kiwis angle here is intriguing as assuming that we are graced with our first dose of Aotearoa Kiwis footy since late 2019 with a possible Rugby League World Cup, all signs are pointing to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck skipping over to rugby union for the provincial campaign.

Hence there will likely be a hole at fullback and the Kiwis aren't short of options. Even with Tuivasa-Sheck in the mix, he's currently playing on the wing and Aotearoa does lack a straight up fullback as Bailey Simonsson, Jamayne Isaako and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak are all wingers who have dabbled in fullback duties. Of these lads who could do a job at fullback, Manu has the most upside and his work at fullback vs Bulldogs again highlighted Manu's low key brilliance…

26 runs - 290m @ 11.15m/run, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 6 tackle busts, 1 offload.

Manu did cough up possession after gathering a grubber that led directly to a Bulldogs try and was also caught out trying to balance numbers in the defensive line. Here's Lachlan Lewis putting a chip over Manu that Lewis scored off...

Manu only coughed up possession for Lewis' second try because he was nicely positioned to actually get to the footy first. Manu also showed the busy fullback nous (fizzing to support a kick) and his try saw him shine getting the footy in a second-man spot out the back where his offloading/distribution could have seen him set up those outside him, while his running ability had him bouncing back against the grain to score...

These are basic fullback duties and Manu's energy around the footy is in tune with James Tedesco. This has me pondering how Manu's shown the most natural instinct of all these quasi-fullbacks who aren't always hovering around the footy or lack the play-making ability to set up those around them. While Aotearoa is lacking a pure fullback, there is no shortage of centres and the likes of Morgan Harper and Reimis Smith could ensure that Manu is the Kiwis fullback moving forward.

Generally, Manu is not a bloke to limit. Along with James Fisher-Harris and Brandon Smith, these three have consistently improved to now reside as Aotearoa Kiwis cornerstones and are also fantastic people. Manu apparently grew up with his whanau supporting anyone who needed help in Tokoroa and whether it's Manu flying to Sydney by himself for weekends with the Roosters while at high school, Brandon Smith catching the ferry from Waiheke Island to Auckland for footy trainings and games or the quiet kid from Rawene excelling once in Sydney; these lads aren't short of life experience, Aotearoa leadership nor talent.

Here's a brainstorm of young-ish players who could be factors for Tonga moving forward...

Forwards

Haumole Olakau'atu (Sea Eagles), Hame Sele (Rabbitohs), Siosifa Talakai (Sharks) Daniel Suluka-Fifita (Roosters), Eliesa Katoa (Warriors), Stefano Utoikamanu (Tigers), Taniela Paseka (Sea Eagles), Taniela Otukolo (Warriors).

Backs

Falakiko Manu (Bulldogs), Matt Ikuvalu (Roosters), Sione Katoa (Sharks), Tuipulotu Katoa (Bulldogs).

The most important of all these players named could be Taniela Otukolo as the Tongan spine is their trickiest hole to plug. Consider that Ata Hingano and Tuimoala Lolohea have not been in the NRL for a while now, plus Manase Fainu is still caught up in his situation. Siliva Havili is a leader for Tonga and as long as he's available he can do a job, yet Havili has struggled to earn selection for the Raiders in this middle phase of the season.

Sione Katoa is still getting game time with Bulldogs, while Otukolo could be the young spark to help provide nifty dummy half running. Kotoni Staggs wants to be a half for Broncos and that suits the needs of Tonga. Here's the spine from Tonga's last two internationals in 2019...

vs Aotearoa: Will Hopoate, John Asiata, Tuimoala Lolohea, Siliva Havili - Manase Fainu.

vs Australia: Will Hopoate, Tuimoala Lolohea, Kotoni Staggs, Siliva Havili - Sione Katoa.

As has been the case through Tonga's wins, the spine only has to do so much when their forward pack is firing. At some stage soon there will need to be a changing of the guard in the forward pack as the likes of Andrew Fifita, Manu Ma'u etc move on and as you can see in that list of forwards above there are some super funky options who are better suited to how footy is played in 2021.

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