Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Simmering Deine Mariner Buzz
Last year Deine Mariner dominated schoolboy footy in Queensland while also impressing for Tweed Heads Under 18s. This year the Marist Saints junior has dabbled in NRL trials footy for Brisbane Broncos and this was parlayed into a fantastic outing in Mariner's first taste of reserve grade footy for Wynnum Manly.
Mariner started at centre and snared four tries as Wynnum went down to Burleigh. I covered much of Mariner's background in the yarn late last year and it's low key funky how Mariner was playing for Tweed who are aligned with Gold Coast Titans, now Mariner has moved to Wynnum and is all up in the Broncos system. Wynnum has been a crucial Kiwi-NRL club with Porirua Vikings junior Teui Robati rising through Wynnum's system to debut for Broncos last year.
Mariner was joined by Delouise Hoeter (Marist), Falakiko Manu (Mangere East), Te Maire Martin (Turangawaewae), Matiu Love-Henry (Taupo Phoenix) and Kalolo Saitaua (Ellerslie) as Kiwi-NRL jokers in the Wynnum team for their first round of Q Cup. Felix Fa'atili (Hornby Panthers) played for Wynnum Under 18s over the weekend while older brother Caius (Horny) is named in Wynnum's Under 21s squad alongside Cassius Cowley (Pacific Sharks) and Sefa Roache-Faimalo (Marist).
This is about Mariner and appreciating the rise of a high quality Kiwi-NRL prospect who has leapt from Under 18 footy to NRL trials and reserve grade in less than six months. This is also about the Kiwi-NRL takeover and most of these lads won't move as quickly as Mariner through Aussie systems, yet the wider context reflects the growing Kiwi-NRL presence in Australia. Broncos have made big moves in snapping up top-tier Kiwi-NRL talent, Wynnum are a lovely development farm for Kiwi-NRL talent and south east Queensland is the Kiwi-NRL stove where such talent is cooked to perfection.
Mariner's simmering away right now and could crack NRL footy this year for Broncos. I prefer slow cooked hangi though, so Mariner would probably be best served stacking up games in reserve grade. Mariner's mahi in his Q Cup debut suggests that plenty of reps in reserve grade could be super fun.
Mariner scored tries pushing up in support, finishing backline moves and blasting past his opposite centre. For one of his tries, Wynnum had a midfield scrum with most of their backline out on the left which leaves Mariner with plenty of space to flex easy mahi on the right. The play appears to be as simple as 'give Deine the footy and yeah'...
Grown men (players and coaches) opted for a play where the bloke fresh out of high school gets the footy with minimal options, just run. Mariner shimmied to the outside and later bo. There was a minor mishap in defence from Mariner where he had even numbers down his edge and tried to cover two players at the same time; bite in to cover the decoy runner hoping speed allows him to then cover the joker out the back (can’t see the opponents behind the light tower - can see their shadows).
This was a well executed play from Burleigh with multiple decoys, plus Mariner’s defensive read is likely because of his speed to cover two blokes and that smells like confidence. No dramas here and nothing suggests Mariner will struggle to defend at centre at this level.
Enjoy the come up folks. The joy of Kiwi-NRL mahi is that these youngsters are coming from all around Aotearoa and take different paths to the NRL. Mariner is a polished footy player and seems to be a lovely young chap, now we kick back to allow the simmer in reserve grade.
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Peace and love.