The growth of rugby league in Aotearoa is most evident in the number of quality halves entering the Kiwi-NRL mixer. Aotearoa Kiwis are flush with halves depth to the point where they don't need Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran is deployed as a dummy half, with Jahrome Hughes and Dyaln Brown used as starting halves in the Pacific Championships. Further evidence of Aotearoa's rugby league prowess is on display in how the two older lads are both from the wider Auckland region, while Hughes is from Wellington and Brown is from Whangarei.

Even though Isaiya Katoa and Karl Oloapu are unlikely to ever represent Aotearoa, these young halves are both from Wellington. This created an incredible scenario where the two youngest halves in the NRL both grew up in Wellington before moving to Australia. This wrinkle is more of a throwback to a previous era though as Katoa and Oloapu moved to Australia at an age where they can pursue Aussie rep stuff. The following crop of young halves from Aotearoa all have significant junior backgrounds in New Zealand before moving across the ditch where some have quickly dominated Aussie pipelines.

This yarn is also about the young Kiwi-NRL halves who are in Australia. Like Aotearoa Kiwis being really good with no players from NZ Warriors or in the case of the 30-0 demolition of Australia, having just one NZW player in Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, this is a compelling cluster of young Kiwi-NRL halves with none from NZW.

NZW do have young halves from Aotearoa and all three of their 2023 SG Ball halves played against men this year. Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo (Bay Roskill), William Piliu (Mt Albert) and Phranklyn Mano-Le-Mamea (Otara/Howick) not only played most weeks in Fox Memorial, they also featured in NZRL National Premiership. What's funky here is that all three played other positions against men with Cowley-Lupo dabbling in fullback mahi before playing wing for Auckland in their game vs Aotearoa Maori, Piliu was a steady presence at fullback for Mt Albert and Mano-Le-Mamea played everything from fullback to lock forward for Howick and Counties Manukau.

These three may not develop into halves in the NZW pipeline. NZW have no issues recruiting NRL talent to Aotearoa and they have recruited various juniors from Australia for specific needs such as the play-making positions. More information about that is available in this yarn and all Aotearoa Warriors Diary content.

Three young halves from Aotearoa sit at the top of this group...

Ryder Williams (Marist) has a development contract with Titans and at 17-years-old, he is the youngest Titans player with a development contract. Williams is also the only player highlighted by Titans with a development contract who was younger than 19-years-old and he is shining in a sneaky impressive Kiwi-NRL pipeline at Titans.

Titans do a lovely job of integrating players from Aotearoa into their system with Williams joining the likes of Keano Kini and Vaka Sikahele who have made waves in Queensland after leaving Auckland. Williams could settle in Queensland Cup next season which would be a major progression given he is fresh out of high school, straight into NRL squad training.

Oliver Lawry (Halswell) has been training with the Tigers NRL squad after leaving Canterbury. Lawry may originally come from Greymouth as there is stuff linking him to West Coast Rugby League and he played both codes while at St Thomas of Canterbury College, where he cracked a bunch of NZRL representative teams.

While Lawry featured early in the SG Ball campaign last year at halfback for Tigers, he didn't play much more footy but was a starting half in the Tigers Cubs vs NZW junior team at Mt Smart in August. Lawry's absence for most of this year did throw up uncertainty about his spot in the Tigers system and this was eased by his presence in Tigers NRL training prior to Christmas. Lawry's summer training could lead to NSW Cup footy next season but he will probably start in Jersey Flegg and climb his way into the reserve grade mixer.

Cassius Tia (Marist) may also be in summer training with Roosters but there is nothing official to put him in that equation. Tia is however the only lad in this whole group who played reserve grade in 2023 and he was a notable figure in the Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals deep dive.

Tia left Auckland and Mt Albert Grammar to move into the Roosters pipeline where he has flourished as one of their best young halves. Having played SG Ball, Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup this year, Tia was usually in the highlights packages with all-round skillset commanding attention. Roosters have plenty of development know-how and will probably slowly brew Tia in NSW Cup footy next season, but the way he performed above his age grade this year suggests he could slot straight into NSW Cup next year.

There is no Under 21s footy in Queensland anymore, but Williams is in that age bracket, while Lawry and Tia also appear to be eligible for U21 Jersey Flegg for next season. All three are operate above that level right now though with Williams and Lawry churning out NRL mahi this summer and Tia fresh off notable NSW Cup mahi late this season. These three aren't much older than the other lads who are in the younger age brackets which is a lovely sign of the talent in all these players.

Everything's more murky in the younger age brackets (below Under 19s) so it is tricky to suss out where lads fit in and how they are tracking. More players will move to Australia for the 2024 season as well and not all junior squads have been officially announced, so this younger group zones in on a few stand out talents.

Along with Williams, Titans also have Amarni Wetini-Ngaropo (Manurewa) who is named in Burleigh's U19 Mal Meninga Cup squad. Wetini-Ngaropo left Auckland to enter the Titans system and he's been playing junior footy with Burleigh over the last two years, which should see him blossom at the U19 level.

Another example of Aotearoa's rugby league talent was on display in the Under 17 Harold Matthews Cup final with Bronson Reuben and Haami Loza playing against each other. Reuben is from Northern Bulldogs (North Canterbury Rugby League) and his impressive mahi in Canterbury's rugby league circuit was parlayed into a dominant season with Bulldogs HMC, leading Bulldogs to a 32-6 win over Loza's Knights in the HMC final.

Reuben joins Lawry as Kiwi-NRL junior halves from the wider Canterbury region/South Island and this is another indicator of rugby league's growth across Aotearoa. While Reuben was a consistent presence in the halves for Bulldogs HMC, Bulldogs also have Maraki Aumua from Palmerston North Boys High School/Rotorua Boys High School in their system as an emerging half.

Aumua played SGB and JF this season for Bulldogs. How Reuben and Aumua develop with Bulldogs will be fascinating as Bulldogs are investing heavily in Kiwi-NRL recruitment and they are stock-piling talent, which could clutter the pathway towards NRL footy. This will generate competition though and while most Bulldogs signings are celebrated in Australian media, they conveniently overlook how two of their young halves are from Aotearoa.

Back to Loza who started at halfback for Knights in the HMC final. Loza appears to have started out in Rotorua where he was at Rotorua Boys High School before moving to Auckland with Otara/Mangere East and De La Salle College. Loza was part of a fantastic DLSC team in 2022 and earned various representative honours before moving to Newcastle where he quickly settled as one of the best young halves in the Knights system.

Knights have quietly invested heavily in Kiwi-NRL talent, more undercover than the loud moves made by Bulldogs. Knights made the HMC and SGB finals with multiple Kiwi-NRL juniors in both teams, but Loza was the only half from Aotearoa in their Kiwi-NRL ranks and like the rest of these lads, the swift transition into Aussie systems is a significant indicator of Loza's ability.

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Peace and love.