The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals In 2023
The third edition of Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Win is here to highlight the youngsters from Aotearoa who played Grand Finals in Queensland's Mal Meninga Cup and Hastings Deering Colts as well as New South Wales' SG Ball and Jersey Flegg. The previous entries can be found in the links below...
The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals In 2021
The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals In 2022
In Queensland's MMC Under 18 competition, Redcliffe Dolphins defeated Townsville Blackhawks 36-18. In the HDC Under 21s competition there was a 40-0 win for Townsville Blackhawks over Brisbane Tigers. Down in NSW, Parramatta Eels won the Under 19 SGB competition with a 28-22 win over Newcastle Knights. The Under 21 JF final was won by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs with a 22-20 win over Sydney Roosters.
Of the eight teams competing, the Townsville MMC team was the only team with no Kiwi-NRL juniors. Here's a basic break down of the Kiwi-NRL juniors who played in each GF...
Mal Meninga Cup
Redcliffe: John Fineanganofo (Auckland Grammar), Elijah Rasmussen (Westlake Boys)
Hastings Deering Colts
Townsville: Henry Teutau (Marist), Jeremiah Matautia (Otara)
Brisbane: Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro (Takahiwai), Samuela Vakadula (Bell Block), Braydon Seu-Easthope (Otahuhu)
SG Ball
Knights: Elijah Leaumoana (Southern Cross), Jayden Harris (Kohukohu/Westlake Boys), Bailey Carmichael (Te Puke/Rotorua Boys)
Eels: Te Hurinui Twiddle (Turangawaewae)
Jersey Flegg
Bulldogs: Karl Oloapu (Randwick), Fahmy Toilalo (Otahuhu)
Roosters: Tavita Henare-Schuster (Kia Toa/Palmerston North Boys), Cassius Tia (Marist), Salesi Foketi (Manurewa), Lafi Tuinauvai (Waitemata)
Redcliffe has been quietly building a strong crop of Kiwi-NRL juniors, led by Fineanganofo who is the only player in this mix who was selected for the Under 18 Australian Schoolboys team. Fineanganofo comes from an illustrious footy whanau in Auckland with strong ties to Auckland Grammar School. Older brother Fehi played for All Blacks Sevens and Bay of Plenty this year, while Melino impressed with Western Clydesdales in Queensland Cup to earn a train and trial gig with Bulldogs this summer.
John started slowly in MMC as a bench utility but by the end of the season he was a starting half who scored tries with ease while also kicking goals. Fineanganofo also dabbled in HDC footy for Redcliffe and even came off the bench for 35 minutes of Queensland Cup footy for Redcliffe.
Redcliffe also had Rasmussen starting at prop in the MMC GF and he went on to play 14 games of HDC for Redcliffe. This throws up a funky theme for Redcliffe's Kiwi-NRL juniors as they share 1st 15 backgrounds and while he didn't play in the GF, Patrick Kailahi is another Kiwi-NRL junior who played MMC for Redcliffe. Kailahi appears to come from Takahiwai in Northland but went through Hamilton Boys 1st 15 and he played edge forward for Redcliffe.
Fineanganofo continues the trend of Kiwi-NRL juniors having swift influence on winning footy in Australia and this features two young forwards in the Cowboys system. Teutau and Matautia played in Townsville's MMC team that made the GF last year and they went one better this year by winning the HDC GF.
Both started at prop in the GF before playing in Queensland Cup for Townsville. Teutau played in five games, starting at prop in two of them while Matautia came off the bench in three games of reserve grade. These two have already laid out impressive mahi in Queensland since leaving Auckland and Cowboys have a fabulous record of recruiting/developing young forwards from Aotearoa which offers intrigue as to how they progress.
Cowboys recruited Griffin Neame from Greymouth and Wiremu Greig from Whangarei before he took up a chance with Eels. D'jazirhae Pua'avase was recruited by Cowboys from Manurewa and he is following Neame's path, having appeared in the 2021 version of this yarn. Pu'avase played Queensland Cup this year for Townsville, meaning Cowboys have forwards from Aotearoa in every level of their pipeline.
Townsville defeated Brisbane in the HDC GF and while it's unclear where these lads sit in NRL pipelines, it seems like Northland winger Woodman-Tuhoro is linked with Storm. New Plymouth's Vakadula played centre in the GF after he left Aotearoa and this suggests that he could enter an NRL pipeline soon. Seu-Easthope started at hooker in the GF and the Otahuhu junior played for Wynnum in MMC then HDC before switching to Brisbane.
In theory, Brisbane Tigers are affiliated with Storm and all these lads could slide straight into Storm pathways moving forward.
Knights have been among the heartiest recruitors of Kiwi-NRL juniors and their SGB GF team saw a new wave of lads from Aotearoa shine. This included two Southern Cross Campus youngsters in Jerome Falemoe and Elijah Leaumoana, who are both listed as Manurewa juniors. Unfortunately for Falemoe, he didn't play in the SGB GF after spending most of that campaign at centre.
Falemoe's SCC homie Leaumoana started at edge forward in the SG GF and then went on to dabble in JF footy, before playing three games of NSW Cup for Knights. While U19 eligible, Leaumoana played 68mins at edge forward in his NSW Cup debut as a mark of his talent. Knights also had Northland's Harris and Te Puke's Carmichael on the bench for the SGB GF, while another Te Puke youngster Tamakaimoana Whareaorere played 10 games of SGB during the season.
The Eels team who won SGB had Te Hurinui Twidle as their fullback and he featured in the 2022 version, coming off the bench for Souths Logan in MCC last year's GF. This was one of the sneakiest wrinkles of Kiwi-NRL junior excellence as Twidle was then promoted to JF where he slotted straight into the fullback role and Eels were one win away from making the U21s GF. Twidle won SGB as Eels fullback and almost did the same in JF, which is similar to the immediate impact of Whangarei's Dylan Brown once he entred the Eels system.
Bulldogs won NSW JF with Oloapu starting in the halves and Toilalo coming off the bench. Toilalo has been the leading Kiwi-NRL presence in the Bulldogs system having played SGB and Flegg last season before racking up 15 games this season, usually as a middle forward. Bulldogs essentially paid a hefty transfer fee to Broncos for Oloapu to finish the season in U21s with five games of JF a key factor in how Bulldogs won JF. That is a bit niggly given recent news of Oloapu requiring neck surgey with a significant recovery period; why was Oloapu playing U21s with a neck injury?
Bulldogs are one of the busiest NRL teams recruiting Kiwi-NRL juniors and wahine right now. While Bulldogs are building towards an NRLW team, they are signing lots of young wahine to then play for other NRLW teams and this was evident in 2023 with Alexis Tauaneai (Dragons), Amelia Pasikala (Roosters) and Cortez Te Pou (Dragons) all playing NSW Women's Premiership for Bulldogs before departing for other NRLW teams. This is relevant because Bulldogs have signed lots of Kiwi-NRL juniors who don't play much footy for them.
Bulldog recruited Sione Moala (Manurewa) from Raiders and he managed 17 JF games this season, but the half/hooker then dipped out of the team late in the season either due to injury or because Oloapu entered the mix. Bulldogs recruited Eric Va'afusuaga (Kings College) from NZ Warriors mid-way through last season and he has played seven games for Bulldogs JF in two years. Bulldogs signed Isaac Matalavea-Booth (Manurewa) from Titans and he played two games for Bulldogs JF this season. Bulldogs also recruited Caleb Laiman (Marist) and Montel Lisala (Halswell) from Aotearoa with Laiman playing one game this season while Lisala has played seven games in two seasons of Bulldogs JF.
Assessing Bulldogs Kiwi-NRL recruitment/development mahi is tricky. Bulldogs are stock-piling lots of youngsters from Aotearoa and it is clear how much they value Aotearoa's talent. This is balanced by a lack of development all the way up to their NRL team and while we don't know the nitty-gritty of every player, the lack of game time for these Kiwi-NRL juniors is notable.
Bulldogs aren't slowing down their Kiwi-NRL recruitment either, although tracking the lads from Aotearoa is difficult and I have definitely missed a few Kiwi-NRL juniors who may have made sporadic appearances. There was lots of buzz about Bulldogs linking up with Canterbury Rugby League for a partnership that is over-stated. Bulldogs will get lads and wahine from Canterbury but youngsters from Canterbury can still chose their own pathway; NZ Warriors have a bunch of players from the 2023 NZRL Secondary Schools champions St Thomas of Canterbury entering junior pipeline for 2024.
Bulldogs defeated Roosters in the JF final but there is far more clarity and Kiwi-NRL talent in the Roosters system. Tavita Henare-Schuster was a standout youngster for Roosters this season after being recruited from rugby union in Aotearoa and he scored 12 tries in 17 games of Roosters JF this season, dabbling in centre but mainly playing on the wing. Henare-Schuster also played two games of NSW Cup and any hearty Kiwi-NRL joker needs to know this blokes name.
Cassius Tia was at halfback for Roosters in the JF GF having played Roosters SGB earlier in the year. Roosters also had Salesi Foketi and Lafi Tuinauvai on the bench for the Flegg GF, while Benaiah Ioelu was 18th-lad. This highlights a notable development wrinkle as Tia, Foketi and Ioelu all played SGB before moving up to JF and all three played NSW Cup at some point. Even better, all three played big minutes in their NSW Cup appearances with Tia play the full 80mins at halfback in round 19, Foketi playing 75mins in round 23 and Ioelu playing 70mins as starting hooker in round 26.
Roosters also had Matua Robinson (New Plymouth Boys) on the wing for a few JF games this season, scoring four tries in four games. Robinson was in the Cowboys season before moving to Roosters for 2023 and while Henare-Schuster is a vibrant outside back with speed/power, Robinson is more similar to Daniel Tupou with his height and aerial ability.
In assessing the quality of Kiwi-NRL pipelines, there is a clear difference in development opportunities between Roosters and Bulldogs. Credit to Bulldogs as they are busy in recruiting talent from Aotearoa although Roosters have been just as busy over a longer period of time, plus their Kiwi-NRL juniors are steadily built up through the grades.
The solid crew of Kiwi-NRL juniors at Knights is another interesting pocket as the previous wave of Kiwi-NRL juniors at Knights have departed (Starford To'a to Tigers, Chris Vea'ila to Sharks). Knights recruit high quality Kiwi-NRL juniors but this is yet to flow into the NRL squad and we'll wait to see how the current wave develops. Along with Teutau and Matautia shining in the Cowboys system, Redcliffe Dolphins have already flexed their Kiwi-NRL recruitment and Dolphins have plenty more Kiwi-NRL juniors in their system to learn about next season.
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