Kiwi-NRL Finals Week Toru Preview
Sea Eagles vs Rabbitohs
Sea Eagles
Morgan Harper - Ngaruawahia Panthers/Waikato.
Kieran Foran - Ellerslie Eagles/Auckland.
Josh Aloiai - Glenora Bears/Auckland.
Martin Taupau - Auckland.
Toafofoa Sipley - City Newton Dragons/Auckland.
Rabbitohs
Jaxson Paulo - Northcote Tigers/Auckland.
Benji Marshall - Whakatane.
Kiwi-NRL Breakdown
Rabbitohs notes here are limited to Jaxson Paulo on the wing and Benji Marshall coming off the bench. Paulo is quietly building into possible Aotearoa Kiwis wing contention and after three games in the first 18 rounds, Paulo has since played seven games since round 19 with 6 tries, 6 linebreaks and 15 tackle busts in this recent stretch. Paulo has played 10 games this season and won't quite hit his mark of 13 games last season, but he's here playing finals footy.
I really want Marshall to explode with play-making juice, as does all of Aotearoa. The thing is that Marshall played 20 minutes two weeks ago vs Panthers, 13 minutes in the round 23 game vs Panthers and didn't play in the round 11 game vs Panthers. This is packaged alongside 15mins vs Eels in round 12 and 15mins vs Eels in round 21. Marshall grabbed most of his big-minute outings earlier in the season (49mins vs Storm round 1) or against weaker teams, so I'm expecting a concise Marshall performance in this game.
Morgan Harper has been leading all my Kiwi-NRL finals thoughts and this is all about Harper's journey. In the first finals game Harper hit a low point, before bouncing back in the next game vs Roosters. Now Harper is coming up against a Rabbitohs left edge which is among the best, if not the best attacking edge in the competition. I've got faith in coach Des Hasler having a plan to limit the Rabbitohs and how Harper performs within that plan will provide a fun wrinkle to tap into.
Harper will be on the right edge, Kieran Foran on the Sea Eagles left edge. Foran will need to play his role in locking that edge down and this presents a balance in Sea Eagles play that intrigues me. Defensively, Sea Eagles have two Kiwi-NRL troopers on either edge as well as Josh Aloiai and Martin Taupau through the middle. With the Kiwi-NRL goggles on, if Aloiai and Taupau can dominate the middle it will then keep a lid on how effective the Rabbitohs edge raids can be - thus making Harper and Foran's job easier.
In attack Foran is as important as Daly Cherry-Evans. They play different roles, although the balance offered by Foran and how he combines with Josh Schuster is crucial in spreading out the Sea Eagles attacking options. Think about Tom Trbojevic's wizardry and then how Sea Eagles have other threats around Trbojevic, of which Foran is a leading hand in orchestrating.
Aloiai seems to have settled into a starting role. I touched on this last week and now Aloiai has started three games in a row after coming off the bench for four games in a row. We know what Taupau does, yet I'm more interested in Aloiai who is getting his first genuine crack at finals footy and now he comes up against an eager Rabbitohs forward pack.
Storm vs Panthers
Storm
Reimis Smith - Mascot Jets/Sydney.
Brandon Smith - Waiheke Rams/Auckland.
Jesse Bromwich - Manurewa Marlins/Auckland.
Kenny Bromwich - Manurewa Marlins/Auckland.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona - Upper Hutt Tigers/Wellington.
Panthers
James Fisher-Harris - Whangarei Marist/Northland.
Kiwi-NRL Breakdown
What more can be said about the Kiwi-NRL Storm? Here's a quick guide about the stuff that helps Storm win but goes overlooked by the razzle-dazzle.
Reimis Smith is tackling at 91.81 percent efficiency, after a high marker of 82.18 percent in three years with Bulldogs. Jesse Bromwich is all about ruck control and won't smack opponents, but he will wrestle them to their backs. Nelson Asofa-Solomona on the other hand is all about legs tackles and you'll have fun watching a biggest bloke on the field fly around cutting players down. Kenny Bromwich is a focal point of Storm's left edge attack - look for Kenny to be the decoy runner and also play-making out the back of a decoy.
Brandon Smith is less about detail as his excellence is blasted loud for all to see and hear. Smith is averaging 101m per game and registered 88m, then 80m in two games vs Panthers this season. Smith also missed 3 tackles in both games vs Panthers. Starting at hooker and then playing as a middle forward, Smith impacts games in two different ways which is amplified by finals footy. That mixed with two sub-par performances vs Panthers this year make this a super funky game for the Waiheke Ram.
James Fisher-Harris was immense for Panthers in their gritty clash with Eels and I can see Northland's finest putting together a similar shift vs Storm. Averaging 158m/game this season, Fisher-Harris has not run for more than 105m in his last four games but that was off-set by 48 tackles vs Eels and intangible mana in a physical battle. The only other game when Fisher-Harris had less than 105m was vs Storm early in the season (97m) and we now have a more mellow version of Fisher-Harris coming up against a Storm team who always target their opponent's best players.
How the Storm forward pack deal with Fisher-Harris specifically will be mandatory Kiwi-NRL viewing. Isaah Yeo leads the ball-playing and could be a target for his influence, yet Yeo is only of value when his team has dominance through the middle and that swings back to Fisher-Harris. J-Brom will be eager to limit Fisher-Harris' impact and perhaps some Storm ball movement can keep Fisher-Harris shuffling around chasing the footy.
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