Christian Tuipulotu commanded plenty of Kiwi-NRL recruitment buzz while enjoying his grassroots footy in Auckland and recent performances for Manly Sea Eagles suggest that the Otahuhu junior is settling into his groove. This provides a low key example of why folks shouldn't stress as media whip up a frenzy like they did when Roosters lured Tuipulotu out of the Warriors system, because Tuipulotu along with the likes of Asu Kepaoa were quickly snapped up by other Sydney clubs.

Tuipulotu played one game for Roosters in 2020 before a shift to Sea Eagles where he played just the one game again last season. Coach Des Hasler had Tuipulotu on the fringe of NRL footy to start this season and the stars aligned for Tuipulotu to start on the wing in round five, playing four consecutive games. Steady selection has seen Tuipulotu register 15 tackle busts, 2 linebreaks, 2 tries as well as 40+ post contact metres and 100+ running metres in each game.

vs Knights: 11 runs @ 10.18m/run.

vs Titans: 15 runs @ 9.33m/run.

vs Sharks: 13 runs @ 9.23m/run.

vs Rabbitohs: 20 runs @ 9.65m/run.

In losing to Rabbitohs this round Tuipulotu laid out his best performance with the most runs, most run metres, most PCM and the most tackle busts of any Sea Eagles player. This is what it looks like when a decorated NZRL junior taps into their potential and this now presents an intriguing juncture for Sea Eagles outside backs.

The stink buzz here is that Ngaruawahia junior Morgan Harper has dipped out of the Sea Eagles top-17 as Tuipulotu snaps up his opportunity on the wing. Tom Trbojevic is out injured which is absorbed by having Reuben Garrick shift from wing to fullback, opening up a wing spot for Tuipulotu.

Sea Eagles have Garrick, Tuipulotu and Jason Saab competing for two wing spots when Trbojevic returns. Brad Parker and Tolutau Koula started at centre this round, with Ben Trbojevic coming off the bench to plug a hole at centre in the second half. Add Harper to this mix and Sea Eagles have a tricky outside back equation to manage, which has already bumped Harper out of the starting side.

All Tuipulotu can do is churn out his best mahi and with four consecutive games it seems as though Tuipulotu is doing exactly that. In a World Cup year, this could also see Tuipulotu command selection for Tonga or Aotearoa. Tuipulotu is like many fresh Kiwi-NRL juniors who have enjoyed an improved NZRL representative system that provides ample development opportunities, although he would need to hit various nek levels to leap up the Aotearoa Kiwis wing depth chart.

This leaves a sneaky opportunity for Tuipulotu to represent Tonga and there is a hefty crop of young Tongans who have emerged since their last taste of international footy in 2019. However the international eligibility thing plays out, Tuipulotu has made the most of his opportunities in this pocket of games and is delivering on his potential shown at St Paul's College.

Join the Niche Cache Patreon whanau to support our kiwi sports content straight up, get a karma boost and find extra podcasts.

Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email with bonus content. Sign up here!

Peace and love.