How Manly Sea Eagles Re-Jigged Their Kiwi-NRL Whanau
Like most NRL clubs, Manly Sea Eagles are bolstered by Kiwi-NRL players at all levels. Right now Manly are creeping into the NRL's upper echelon and that features strong contributions from veterans Kieran Foran and Martin Taupau, while nifty recruitment has seen Manly re-jiggle their roster by adding Morgan Harper and Josh Aloiai in the past 12 months. Chuck in Toafofoa Sipley's development, talented prospect Christian Tuipulotu hunting opportunities and some low key Kiwi-NRL pipelines for a Manly Sea Eagles outfit that is continuing its long tradition of hearty Kiwi-NRL funk.
Ellerslie Eagles junior Foran played his 20th game of this season in the win over Canberra Raiders and that's the first time Foran has hit the 20 game mark since 2014. Daly Cherry-Evans has also played 20 games this season and while not all these games have been together, Foran's return to Manly and consistent availability has helped solidify Manly's play-making. Foran is average 122.12 kicking metres per game and 74 run metres which are on par with his career work, while also churning out 8 try assists and 8 forced drop outs - the latter being second only to Foran's 16 forced droppies in 2013.
Translation: Foran may not be peak Foran, yet he's the best version of Foran we have seen in a long time and he simply has to fit into Manly's talented set up.
Taupau on the other hand has played 20+ games in seven of the last eight seasons. Averaging 155m per game, Taupau has only averaged more run metres per game in 2017 and 2018. Taupau has not registered a missed tackle in his last three games, missing 6 tackles in his last 10 games and rocking around with 95 percent tackle efficiency. Given that Taupau had a few bonkers years combining tackle busts, offloads and mobility; this ain't the best Taupau but it's an impressive Taupau in his 11th year of his career.
When those are two of Manly's veterans and the Kiwi-NRL leaders, the tone is set.
Morgan Harper is one of my favourite Kiwi-NRL, my favourite if the vibe is right. This starts with the fact that Harper is Aotearoa rugby royalty considering one grandfather was George Loveridge who played for the All Blacks around 1913 and another grandfather was Joe Menzies who played for Aotearoa Kiwis in the 1920s.
Prior to being snapped up by Canterbury Bulldogs, Harper was playing for Ngaruawahia Panthers premier men with twin boys. Then came the move to Bulldogs where Harper impressed in the lower grades to play 2018 Junior Kiwis, then make his NRL debut in 2019. Despite the Bulldogs not being too good during this period, Harper could only play twice in two seasons before the Bulldogs graced him with a mid-season departure last year to Manly.
Through all my Kiwi-NRL yarns, the Bulldogs remain a case of 'wtf'. While recruiting big money outside backs, Harper left mid-season and another hearty Junior Kiwis rep Reimis Smith strolled south to Melbourne Storm. Now both have settled in at right centre for their new clubs and Harper is brewing some Steve Matai vibes here with his physicality at centre while snaring 7 tries, 10 linebreaks and 3 try assists in 18 games.
Manly also added Josh Aloiai over the summer after he niggled his way out of Wests Tigers. Aloiai is a Glenora Bears junior (big ups fellow Bears juniors Braden Hamlin-Uele and Kelma Tuilagi) who started with Parramatta Eels where he made the 2014 Junior Kiwis before moving to Tigers to play 15+ games in each of his five years as a Tiger. That development came in messy time for the Tigers where Aloiai had various coaches and he has found a far more solid situation with Manly.
Tigers coach Michael Maguire is also the Aotearoa Kiwis coach and I've got Aloiai as another top-tier lad in the Kiwis young-ish forward group. Hopefully there is no drama there between the two as Aloiai is rolling through 127m per game, with 97 percent tackling efficiency and after missing the mid-season phase, Aloiai has played the last four games to build into finals footy.
Harper and Aloiai were both snapped up from other clubs, same goes for Toafofoa Sipley and Christian Tuipulotu. City Newton Dragons junior Sipley was a stand-out with Warriors junior teams before making his NRL debut in 2016 and then popped up with Manly in 2018 where he's eased into his NRL mahi...
2018: 4 games, 34m/game.
2019: 10 games, 57m/game.
2021: 18 games, 82m/game.
Sipley's role varies week to week, although he's making the most of his minutes by offering size and mobility with 95.8 percent tackle efficiency. That's a common thread across Sipley, Aloiai and Taupau as coach Des Hasler has them zoned in on defensive assignments and all the fun development boxes get lovely ticks with these Kiwi-NRL lads.
Hence Tuipulotu's future is intriguing. Sydney Roosters signed Tuipulotu from NZ Warriors and in typically headline hype fashion, this was blasted as more reinforcement of poor Warriors recruitment/development. Kiwi-NRL readers know that every NRL club has a heavy presence in Aotearoa (see below) and Tuipulotu along with another Roosters/Auckland player Asu Kepaoa are no longer with the Roosters.
Otahuhu Leopards junior Tuipulotu has only played one game this season, grabbing 4 minutes of action as a 18th man reserve. Last year Tuipulotu grabbed a game on the wing for Roosters and given his pedigree and Hasler's coaching prowess, expect Tuipulotu to continue to be slow-cooked and get rewards.
One of my favourite Kiwi-NRL deep cuts is the 2015 Aotearoa Maori Under 17 team that has Harper in the halves alongside Hayze Perham (Eels), Steven Marsters (Rabbitohs) at fullback, Jackson Ferris (Sharks) on a wing. Having dived deep into some Manly stuff and coming back to the announcement of those Maori rep teams, I found two more Manly prospects who were named in the 2015 Aotearoa Maori Under 15 team; Neihana Oldham (Waikato - Turangawaewae) and Lewis Afeaki (Auckland - Mt Albert).
Oldham and Afeaki were both in the Manly Jersey Flegg squad this year, along with Caleb Pese (Ellerslie Eagles), Jonah Palota-Kopa (St Paul's College/Te Atatu Roosters) and Raymond Tuaimalo-Vaega (Marist Saints).
Manly balance their own development pipeline with snatching talent from elsewhere. Palota-Kopa was in the Manly system while still in Auckland going back to 2017, while Oldham also appears to have been directly recruited by Manly from Aotearoa. Pese and Tuaimalo-Vaega both played U20s for the Warriors, with Tuaimalo-Vaega taking up a gig with Northern Pride before the pandemic saw him return to Marist Saints before impressive in the NZRL National Premiership last year. Afeaki was recruited by Roosters out of Mt Albert Grammar school before linking up with Manly.
Up top, Manly are cruising with Kiwi-NRL veterans playing some of their best footy while the likes of Harper, Aloiai and Sipley are working their way into Manly fandom. This offers a funky wrinkle to tap into as Manly push into finals footy, while Manly's proven record of player development provides a long term wrinkle as they are quietly building a exciting Kiwi-NRL pipeline.
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