Griffin Neame started this season as a low key North Queensland Cowboys trooper and apart from playing nearly every game since, nothing has changed for the Greymouth geezer. Cowboys quickly emerged as one of the best NRL teams this season which now has them 2nd on the ladder and Neame has quietly gone about his mahi, missing two games in the opening rounds before playing 11 consecutive games.

Despite not starting any of his 15 games this season and playing 40+ minutes just once, Neame earned Aotearoa Kiwis squad selection. This felt like a development move from coach Michael Maguire as he builds out Aotearoa Kiwis mana and Neame is no stranger to NZRL representative footy, cracking teams such as the 2017 Aotearoa Under 16s Residents team before the 2019 Under 19 Junior Kiwis while with Cowboys.

Neame has been among Aotearoa's best Kiwi-NRL prospects, which for a lad from Greymouth holds extra weight. Neame rolled through the Cowboys junior system and while many other Cowboys youngsters are thrown up as examples of Cowboys development, Neame's rise through the Cowboys ranks since leaving Aotearoa is a lesser-known pocket.

In a winning team there is greater clarity around roles and more responsibility on the player to execute that role. Neame has settled into a zone of 25-35 minutes off the bench where his physicality catches attention with and without the footy. The last two games have seen Neame replace Jason Taumalolo in the first half and while this isn't always the case, this helps to frame Neame's role as he is charged with maintaining the oomph from Cowboys starters.

Neame isn't Taumalolo but he is among the best bench forwards in the NRL or at least one of the best job-doing forwards. In 35 minutes against Sharks, Neame had 11 runs for 118m @ 10.72m/run with 23 tackles @ 85 percent efficiency. Many Cowboys missed tackles in their loss to Sharks and Neame missed 4 tackles, fresh off 5 missed tackles against Broncos in the round prior.

Neame also has games with no missed tackles or very few missed tackles and this smells like a young player rolling with the NRL grind. Neame's tackles involve a fair amount of whack and as his physicality stands out, there might be more of a focus on oomph off the bench and less gritty mahi. Cowboys have a well-rounded forward pack and other blokes are better suited to that gritty mahi, just like others are better suited to offloads; Neame has no offloads this season.

The 10m/run marker is an average and while it lays out running efficiency, not every run is a 10m extravaganza. Neame averaged 10.72m/run against Sharks and some runs were below 10m, other runs from Neame chewed up metres through the middle...

That's all Neame has to do. Neame either forms a hefty combo alongside Taumalolo, or if Neame replaces Taumalolo as he has done recently, Neame continues the work of Taumalolo. While there is scope for a greater Neame role moving forward, Cowboys are a winning team with a recipe that's working and Neame has to play his role in that machine. This also translates to a possible Aotearoa Kiwis role as Neame should be in the squad and his game time will probably be a bench role.

Neame has the pedigree and mana to be a consistent starting forward, however that's a few stages down the development pathway. As Cowboys grind their way into finals footy, Neame's role will continue to revolve around efficiency and physicality in limited bench minutes. The prospect of Neame playing finals footy is enticing and with a World Cup looming, there is still room for growth within this role as well.

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