After 14 Kiwi-NRL players made their debuts last year, we now have eight already this season thanks to Falakiko Manu getting a crack at centre for the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs got smoked by Sea Eagles and while these Kiwi-NRL debut numbers do amplify the Kiwi-NRL takeover vibe, the Covid styles of these current times are forcing clubs to dig deeper into their depth pool and for many clubs this means a plethora of Kiwi-NRL youngsters are getting opportunities.

Manu's story is pretty damn funky. Having left Auckland where he was a Mangere East Hawks junior to link up with Ipswich State High School, Manu moved into the Bulldogs system only to battle through some adversity after his Under 20s Bulldogs tenure. Manu was sleeping in his car, then his panel beater boss found out and up until February this year Manu was living in a backroom that his boss transformed into a bedroom.

The Bulldogs aren't very good, although Manu looks fairly decent at centre and as the Bulldogs allowed Morgan Harper and Reimis Smith to leave, this current Kiwi-NRL Bulldogs crew will be interesting to keep an eye on. Ofahiki Ogden is another Mangere East junior and along with Porirua Vikings junior Renouf Atoni they are decent forwards on the rise, who like Harper and Smith could benefit from a move elsewhere. Right now these lads are all trying to help the Doggies.

Mangere East Hawks huh?

Manu joins two other Mangere East juniors in making their debuts this season. Greg Marzhew finally cracked NRL footy with Gold Coast Titans and Edward Kosi debuted on the wing for NZ Warriors. That's three of eight Kiwi-NRL debuts from Mangere East this season alone and along with Auckland Clubs Marist Saints, Ellerslie Eagles and Otahuhu Leopards; these clubs feel like the most productive Kiwi-NRL junior clubs in Auckland.

Ponder this: there is a large difference between clubs that produce Kiwi-NRL talent and clubs that want to win games on Saturday. The big Auckland clubs benefit from hefty financial backing just to win Saturday games, while Ellerslie, Mangere East, Marist and Otahuhu are actually producing NRL players. Being deep in these magroves leads me to suggest that Manurewa Marlins are next up with lots of their juniors currently in NRL systems.

Here are the 2021 Kiwi-NRL debutants...

Falakiko Manu - Bulldogs/Mangere East.

Edward Kosi - Warriors/Mangere East.

Greg Marzhew - Titans/Mangere East.

Simi Sasagi - Knights/Ellerslie.

TC Robati - Broncos/Porirua (Wellington).

Wiremu Greig - Eels/Northern Swords (Northland).

Rocco Berry - Warriors/St Pat's Silverstream 1st 15.

Taniela Otukolo - Warriors/Otahuhu Leopards.

Couple more notes about that group above...

Ronaldo Multialo is another Ellerslie Eagles junior, while Starford To'a also spent time with Ellerslie. Mulitalo grew up in Otara and this points to the easiest way to view eligibility in rugby league as everyone has their own vibe; Mulitalo (like many kids in Aotearoa) grew up loving State of Origin and wanting to play for Queensland and that's his vibe.

For every Mulitalo there is the opposite. Isaac Liu appears likely to join Kiwi-NRL hot-spot Gold Coast Titans next year and Liu moved to Keebra Park via Otahuhu Leopards as a teenager. Liu represented Samoa and has then stuck with Aotearoa Kiwis. Reimis Smith and Bailey Simonsson both seem likely to represent Aotearoa Kiwis (their fathers rep’d Aotearoa) even though neither played junior footy in Aotearoa.

Every player has their own vision and what they want to do. These are individuals making their own decisions and it's all good.

TC Robati also moved to Brisbane as a teenager and while many Kiwi-NRL youngsters are scouted/recruited while playing in Aotearoa, there are also many who move to Australia on their own accord and make something happen. Mulitalo linked up with aiga in Brisbane, Robati followed his intuition and once in Brisbane he linked up with the Wynnum Manly Seagulls Academy. From there Robati's mahi saw him shine and he played in the 2019 Queensland Secondary Schools team alongside Reece Walsh, Sam Walker and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

Robati worked through the Broncos system from there and of the Kiwi-NRL debutants this year, Robati has had the biggest impact with his mobile, aggressive running. Robati has essentially taken over from Christchurch's Jordan Riki as Riki played the first 10 games and since round 10, Riki has played one game while Robati has played four games.

The Broncos have quietly assembled the best collection of young Kiwi-NRL forwards. That takes into account quality and where the have picked these lads from. Robati is the only one who the Broncos scouted locally, while Riki was a highly sought after recruit coming out of Christchurch and last week saw Xavier Willison feature on the extended bench. I've yarned about Willison a few times and the Waikato product who popped on the radar via Wai-Coa Bay has gone from Palm Beach Currumbin schoolboy to fringe-NRL in the space of a year.

Caius and Felix Fa'atili are both playing for Broncos-aligned clubs (Wynnum and Norths) as well. Given that Robati looks at ease in the NRL and the pedigree of Riki, Willison and the Fa'atili brothers, I'm fairly confident in chucking these this up as a major Kiwi-NRL pocket to keep tabs on. It's never smooth sailing though and Riki's recent absence is in alignment with most of the Kiwi-NRL debutants from last year who haven't quite had the same opportunities this year...

Matthew Timoko - Raiders/Ellerslie Eagles - 2 games this year.

Daejarn Asi - Cowboys/Aranui Eagles - no games this year but named to start at fullback this weekend.

Emry Pere - Cowboys/Taniwharu - 0 games this year.

Connelly Lemuelu - Cowboys/Papatoetoe Rugby - 8 games this year.

Jordan Riki - Broncos/Hornby Panthers - 10 games this year.

Christian Tuipulotu - Sea Eagles/Otahuhu Leopards - 1 game this year.

Asu Kepaoa - Tigers/Papatoetoe/Ellerslie - 5 games this year.

Tom Ale - Warriors/Mount Albert - 2 games.

Paul Turner - Warriors/all info has vanished.

Eliesa Katoa - Warriors/Tamaki College - 8 games this year.

Steven Marsters - Rabbitohs/Mt Wellington - 1 game this year.

Jaxson Paulo - Rabbitohs/Northcote Tigers - 3 games this year.

Haze Dunster - Eels/Rotorua - 5 games this year.

Jackson Ferris - Sharks/Kia Ora Warriors - 0 games this year.

There definitely isn't a shortage of Kiwi-NRL prospects hunting debuts either. I mentioned Willison with the Broncos and he is lurking on the fringes, while Jirah Momoisea (St Paul's College) has made a hearty return from injury to pick up extended bench selections. Waitemata Seagulls junior and Kelston Boys High School's Naufahu Whyte is named on the Roosters extended bench this week and he's as good as anyone else mentioned above. Greymouth's Griffin Neame suffered some Coivd dramas recently, but he's now back with North Queensland Cowboys and Neame won't be far away from a debut if the stars align.

These new debutants will be mixed in last year's debutants who are coming back into their respective teams as well as those lads who already cracked NRL footy this year. Aotearoa's grassroots clubs have produced the majority of these 22 Kiwi-NRL debutants from the last season and half, which is why the whole Kiwi-NRL takeover was sparked up. There are a lot more lurking in the junior ranks as well and this will have a clear, tangible flow-on effect to Aotearoa Kiwis, Samoa and Tonga's international footy.

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