The first round of NRL finals footy dished up plenty of Kiwi-NRL intrigue as every base was covered. There were dominant performances commanding plenty off attention, more subtle Kiwi-NRL contributions and some low key deep cuts that reflect the Kiwi-NRL funk. Gold Coast Titans and Newcastle Knights were knocked out of the finals, which wasn't so bad for the Knights as they didn't have a Kiwi-NRL joker in their playing 17 while the Titans have a hearty Kiwi-NRL crew that will soon be a Kiwi-NRL force.

I'll tap into how the Titans are building as a Kiwi-NRL club, let's stick to the finals script here though and start with the Kiwi-NRL deep cut of two young wingers adding themselves into the Aotearoa Kiwis mix. Jaxson Paulo and Haze Dunster played against each other back in 2017 with Paulo starting on the wing for Aotearoa Under 18s and Dunster doing the same but for Australian Schoolboys. Both were solid in intense finals games with Northcote Tigers junior Paulo playing for Rabbitohs and Rotorua's Dunster on the wing for Eels...

Jaxson Paulo: 1 try, 12 runs - 98m @ 8.16m/run, 1 linebreak, 2 tackle busts, 1 offload.

Haze Dunster: 19 runs - 151m @ 7.94m/run, 4 tackle busts.

Paulo moved to Gold Coast as a teenager and into the Titans system, before linking up with the Rabbitohs. With a consistent record of Paulo snapping up NZRL representative opportunities while living in Australia, Paulo will likely be a Kiwis factor and is also eligible for Samoa. Dunster's a bit more uncertain as his rep footy is more aligned with Australia, but his vibe is pure Kiwis; silver fern tattoo and hearty Kiwis Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore and Isaiah Papali'i around him.

Aotearoa Kiwis have an abundance of outside backs available. Dunster and Paulo did plenty of hard wing mahi in these finals games, while also showing the silky wing skills that are required. Both have plenty of growth ahead of them and they are examples of the overlooked Kiwi-NRL depth on offer.

Fresh off that Eels win...

Marata Niukore (Mangere East Hawks): 78mins, 16 runs - 135m @ 8.43m/run, 1 tackle bust, 31 tackles @ 81.6%.

Isaiah Papali'i (Te Atatu Roosters): 56mins, 21 runs - 194m @ 9.23m/run, 1 tackle bust, 1 offload, 34 tackles @ 91.9%.

Two former Junior Warriors who were part of a rugged forwards battle. New Plymouth's Makahesi Makatoa (Marist Dragons) only played 12 minutes but held his own in his fifth game of NRL, while Dylan Brown (Hikurangi Stags) had a rather typical Brown performance. Expect more from Brown and you'll be disappointed as he had just 9 runs for 57m, but I've come to view Brown as a quality supporting player alongside Clint Gutherson and Mitchell Moses.

Moses ran for 145m and that's his second highest tally of the season, along with a try assist. Gutherson had 2 try assists and above is an example of how Brown doesn't get many try assists as he's the bloke shifting the footy to Gutherson down the left edge. Both Gutherson and Moses are in the top-10 for try assists, so the Eels don't lack creative funk and Brown just has to play his role - 26 tackles @ 96.3 percent is regular for Brown.

The Roosters grabbed a cheeky win over Titans and as has been the case all season, it was built from Kiwi-NRL mahi while the star players get the praise. Otara Scorpions junior Siosiua Taukeiaho played just 2 minutes, leaving Otahuhu Leopards junior Isaac Liu to play 67mins in his 25th game this season; Liu has played every game.

Rotorua's Jared Waerea-Hargreaves played 47mins with 19 runs - 190m @ 10m/run.

Marist Saints junior Sitili Tupouniua grabbed 80mins as an edge forward and in his fourth season, Tupouniua has started all but one of his 23 games. Against an eager Titans forward and without Taukeiaho, these three once again held the fort and in executing their role they open things up for Victor Radley and James Tedesco to get busy through the middle.

Benji Marshall played 20mins off the bench for Rabbitohs and wasn't overly busy. Marshall operates as an extra half in attack as he's more about organisation and being first-receiver to bump Cody Walker out wider, less about taking tough hit ups. In defence Marshall moves to an edge, usually defending alongside Adam Reynolds.

Benji's involvements will be intriguing throughout the finals as he's a massive wildcard, while I'm also curious how Hokianga's James Fisher-Harris goes about his mahi next week. In the preview I highlighted a dip in Fisher-Harris' production as he took a break, then returned to play the last two games. That felt like coach Ivan Cleary easing Fisher-Harris back into the mix, however Fisher-Harris was below his regular mahi again...

Prior to round 24: Less than 15 touches twice.

Since round 24: 12, 15 and 12 touches.

Prior to round 24: Less than 100 running metres once.

Since round 24: Three games below 100m.

Also concerning is Fisher-Harris' 5 missed tackles vs Rabbitohs. This was only the second game Fisher-Harris with more than 3 missed tackles, after 6 missed tackles in round 19 vs Broncos when Fisher-Harris made up for it with 193m. You'll hear and read a lot about what went wrong for Panthers or how they can improve; the Kiwi-NRL perspective offers a clear dip in Fisher-Harris' performance.

Then we have the Storm who are fantastic. Sea Eagles were put under the microscope by coach Craig Bellamy and the Storm, which unfortunately came at the expense of Ngaruawahia Panthers junior Morgan Harper. I love Harper and his Kiwi-NRL Steve Matai vibe, but Justin Olam and Storm plans have torched the Sea Eagles right edge.

Harper missed 4 tackles. Jason Saab missed 3 tackles. Daly Cherry-Evans missed 3 tackles. Haumole Olakau'atu missed 4 tackles. That's the Sea Eagles right edge and while there's some Harper funk below, this is an example of Storm flexing all over their opponent.

In the 10 games since round 16, Harper has missed more than 3 tackles just twice. Both were against Storm (4 missed tackles in round 21) and both games saw Justin Olam register 6 tackle busts, 120+ run metres plus Olam scored 2 tries the first game and a try this weekend. Olam's all over Harper at the moment and hopefully we get another chance at seeing Harper fix this up.

I have a lot of Storm thoughts and there'll be more games to suss them out. They are the NRL All Blacks and against Sea Eagles, Brandon Smith (Waiheke Rams) snaring 2 try assists in 18mins while Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Upper Hutt Tigers) was once again a play-making monster. Everything else about the Kiwi-NRL Storm is undercover with the likes of Reimis Smith and Jahrome Hughes (Harbour City Eagles) doing their jobs, while the Bromwich bros (Manurewa Marlins) are the perfect job-doers.

The beauty in Storm footy is undercover. No other edge forward is getting the footy out the back of their centre's decoy run, however such Storm plays don't get celebrated because it's normal. The Storm make the most of Kenny Bromwich's skill in many ways and it's no coincidence that Olam shines outside Kenny, nor that Kenny's edge torched Harper and Sea Eagles right edge.

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