Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Xavier Willison & Deine Mariner Check In
Wai-Coa-Bay junior Xavier Willison is named to return to Brisbane Broncos footy this weekend after a hefty injury break, fresh after his international debut with Cook Islands. There is also the sneaky presence of Deine Mariner who is named on the Broncos extended bench with both Willison and Mariner dabbling in Queensland Cup footy to rack up minutes in recent weeks.
Mariner is unlikely to play for Broncos and after scoring 4 tries in his Q Cup debut earlier this year for Wynnum, Mariner played three more games before dipping out of action. Mariner has played the last two games of reserve grade and the Marist Saints junior from Auckland has a rather fabulous record of 6 games, 6 tries, 27 tackle busts and 4 linebreaks.
Willison returned to reserve grade with Norths Devils in round 10 and has played four consecutive games, churning out 50 minutes in each of the last three games. In lovely Kiwi-NRL alignment, Wynnum defeated Norths last weekend with these Kiwi-NRL youngsters playing against each other…
Deine Mariner vs Norths (winger): 1 try, 10 runs - 79m @ 7.9m/run, 9 tackle busts, 11 tackles @ 78.57%.
Xavier Willison vs Wynnum (bench): 50mins, 10 runs - 100m @ 10m/run, 1 tackle bust, 1 offloads, 24 tackles @ 85.71%.
There was a glimpse of Mariner's class to score his first try since round two as he hovers around the footy despite playing on the winger. Mariner is swift and his intuition to track the footy again highlights his blatant talent...
Starting at prop for Cook Islands in their loss to Samoa, Willison played 36mins and there is an intriguing trend in Willison's mahi since returning from injury...
Round 10 vs Sunshine Coast: 5 runs - 62m @ 12.4m/run.
Round 11 vs Northern Pride: 13 runs - 126m @ 9.69m/run.
Round 12 vs Burleigh: 7 runs - 114m @ 16.28m/run.
International vs Samoa: 5 runs - 56m @ 11.2m/run.
Round 13 vs Wynnum: 10 runs - 100m @ 10m/run.
Five games this year, four averaging over 10m/run and one game just below 10m/run with higher output than the rest of his appearances. This stinks like a fantastic return from injury for Willison. His size, mobility and nimble footwork is a package perfectly suited to NRL footy. Willison played three games last year and will probably be eased into his NRL mahi, although his return is timely given that Broncos are missing representative players.
Willison offers a unique presence on the Broncos bench. While he's a top-tier Kiwi-NRL youngster, Willison will need to command further opportunities and this will require him to execute his role in an improved Broncos outfit. Mariner appears to be behind fellow Marist Saints junior and Wynnum comrade Delouise Hoeter in competing for fringe-NRL spots, which could mean he has to wait a while to make his debut.
Both Willison and Mariner are among the best footy youngsters from Aotearoa right now. Both dominated Queensland schoolboy footy straight after leaving Aotearoa and Willison's shown flashes of Kiwi-NRL excellence already, while Mariner has looked at home in reserve grade since finishing school. There is a decent chance we see these two join Jordan Riki in the same Broncos team this season, which would serve as a celebration of Broncos Kiwi-NRL recruitment. Maybe even alongside Te Maire Martin who was given a crack by Broncos in nifty piece of Kiwi-NRL business.
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