Jirah Momoisea Named To Be 17th Kiwi-NRL Debutant of 2021 (Plus Kiwi-NRL Notes)
Newcastle Knights have named St Paul's College junior Jirah Momoisea to make his NRL debut this weekend, making Momoisea the 17th Kiwi-NRL debutant of 2021. Like most of the Kiwi-NRL debutants this year, Momoisea was born and raised in Aotearoa then scouted by Melbourne Storm playing 1st 15 rugby for St Paul's. That's all a bit funky given that St Paul's is perhaps the most productive rugby league school in Aotearoa and hailing from South Auckland, Momoisea commanded attention in union.
I listed the 16 Kiwi-NRL debutants earlier in the week here and of that group, to the best of my knowledge only Greg Marzhew and Falakiko Manu weren't recruited from Aotearoa. Both are Mangere East Hawks juniors who moved to Australia as teenagers and entered the Titans and Bulldogs systems respectively. TC Robati could also be in this category as the Porirua Vikings junior seems to have moved to Brisbane on his own accord, yet Robati went through Marsden State High School who recruit from Aotearoa alongside Wynnum Manly Seagulls hence that's a bit more murky.
The key thing here compared to previous years of Kiwi-NRL debutants is that most of these lads were scouted from Aotearoa, then shipped over to that NRL club. Momoisea left the Storm to link up with Knights and there is a fun crop of Kiwi-NRL prospects at the Knights, led by Starford To'a (Mt Wellington Warriors) and Simi Sasagi (Ellerslie Eagles) who have already made their debuts. Those three are all from Auckland and the Knights offer a clear trend here as they also have Christian Ma'anaima (Glenfield Greyhouds) and Chris Veaila (Waitemata Seagulls) in their system.
Wellington's Daniel Ticehurst is also in the Knights system as a robust middle forward and the Knights have Kiwi-NRL talent spread across the positions; Momoisea, Ma'anaima and Ticehurst are forwards, To'a and Veaila are outside backs while Sasagi is a skillful utility.
Momoisea suffered a hefty achilles injury during the summer training period and wasn't meant to be playing reserve grade this year let alone pushing for an NRL debut. Prior to the NSW Cup being paused, Momoisea played four games in a row and came off the bench for two games, then started in the middle before starting on an edge. In four games, Momoisea registered 6 tackle busts, 3 offloads, averaged 99 run metres and had 93 percent tackling efficiency.
In the NRL, expect Momoisea to come off the bench to play through the middle. Based on how most of these other Kiwi-NRL debutant forwards have performed, Momoisea should have an impact running the footy with his defensive prowess and work ethic giving him plenty of upside. Sasagi hasn't added to his one NRL game in which he looked slick at right centre and To'a isn't named, so it'll be Momoisea all alone reppin' Aotearoa in that Knights team.
Griffin Neame is out suspended this week for Cowboys after his impressive debut, while Naufahu Whyte is named on an extended bench for the Roosters after his debut last week. Makahesi Makatoa keeps his spot on the Eels bench and Kiwi-NRL folks should be tapping into how the likes of Dylan Brown, Isaiah Papali'i, Marata Niukore and Rotorua's Haze Dunster are contributing to the Eels.
None of these lads are go-to options for the Eels, so my Kiwi-NRL bias has me empathetic to their slump. Brown's getting some negative spotlight vibes through this four-loss streak, yet the only thing that is notably different from his previous mahi is that these four losses have seen Brown run for less than 100m in three of the four games. Brown averaged 116m last season, which is down to 102m this season and as Brown only had 5 try assists in each of his first two seasons, Brown's 2 try assists is a dip but Brown was never jacking up be try assists numbers.
Brown averages 102 run metres, 135.64 kicking metres and has 95.7 percent tackling. The dip in run metres is countered by an increase in kicking metres, otherwise this is the same steady Brown that was consistently solid prior to turning 21-years-old (!!). Don't stress about Brown from a Kiwi-NRL perspective as the Eels woes are far greater than Brown and as a young half, Brown is still one of, if not the best running/tackling half.
I've enjoyed seeing Matthew Timoko settle in at centre for Canberra Raiders. Timoko has played six games this year, two off the bench and four starting at centre including the last two games. In his four games starting at centre, Timoko has 13 tackle busts, 2 offloads, 1 try assist and three games with over 120 run metres. Timoko has 91.7 percent tacking, which is fantastic for a young centre and I'm loving this group of young Kiwi-NRL centres who are all named to play this weekend...
Titans: Patrick Herbert (Bay of Plenty).
Storm: Reimis Smith (Sydney).
Raiders: Matthew Timoko (Auckland.
Sea Eagles: Morgan Harper (Waikato).
Sharks: Mawene Hiroti (Taranaki).
Cowboys: Daejarn Asi (Christchurch).
Roosters: Joseph Manu (Waikato).
Warriors: Adam Pompey (Counties Manukau).
Along the same lines, here are some young Kiwi-NRL forwards named this week who are building nicely...
Raiders: Joseph Tapine (Wellington).
Sea Eagles: Josh Aloiai (Auckland).
Panthers: James Fisher-Harris (Northland) - named on extended bench, his return will be massive for Penrith.
Tigers: Kelma Tuilagi (Auckland), Tukimihia Simpkins (Rotorua).
Sharks: Briton Nikoria (BOP), Braden Hamlin-Uele (Auckland).
Eels: Isaiah Papali'i, Marata Niukore (Auckland).
Roosters: Sitili Tupouniua (Auckland).
Broncos: Jordan Riki (Christchurch), TC Robati (Wellington).
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