Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Six Sneaky Juniors To Learn About
Like all sports in Aotearoa, rugby league is enjoying an abundance of talent and while this is evident in all our Kiwi-NRL content, Aotearoa Warriors are also building a hearty stable of local juniors. Some of these juniors have already made NRL debuts such as Demitric Sifakula and Ali Leiataua, others like Jacob Laban and Tanner Stowers-Smith have commanded attention in the NZ Warriors system and someone like Selumiela (Leka) Halasima has already established himself as one of the best youngsters yet to play NRL in Aotearoa and Australia.
Chatting about those lads during your summer festivities will showcase how tapped in you are with NZ Warriors mahi. The long list of talented youngsters rising up the NZW pipeline offers a few more sneaky local juniors who are just as intriguing as the lads highlighted above, yet their mahi has crept under the radar this year. All six sneaky NZW juniors were Under 19 SG Ball eligible to start the season, all six played against men at some point this year and all six have scope to be major factors in the pipeline next season, led by Glenora/Te Atatu junior Zyon Maiu'u.
Maiu'u is the least sneaky NZW junior in this group, but he is the young forward that NZW fans are all looking for. A recent announcement of Maiu'u and Jacob Laban grabbing contract extensions included a note about Maiu'u being eligible for SG Ball this year, which was a funky bit of information considering that Maiu'u only played NSW Cup this season. Maiu'u has transitioned from edge forward to middle in recent years and he consistently dominated experienced/fringe NRL forwards in reserve grade, as his physicality and aggression stood out.
Maiu'u left Kelston Boys High School where he played 1st 15 as a loose forward and endured the NZW-Redcliffe era, boosting his mana as he left the comfort of Auckland to grind in Australia. It's highly likely that Maiu'u will make his NRL debut this year, even though he is behind Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale and Sifakula in the forward pack. An opportunity will appear for Maiu'u and as soon as he runs it straight, NZW fans will be frothing at the sight of this young forward's vigour.
NZW also have Eddie Ieremia and Harry Durbin bolstering the forward pack depth. Aafter leaving De La Salle College, Ieremia started this year in SGB and played the qualifying stanza of Fox Memorial with Otara before moving to Howick which kept him in the top-tier of Auckland's premier rugby league competition. Ieremia mainly played edge forward for Howick and his NSW Cup opportunities came in the middle of the forward pack.
Ieremia looked like one of the biggest young forwards in the NZW system. There is a clear trend throughout the NZW pipeline of aggressive, versatile forwards and Ieremia's transition from edge to middle is aligned with lads like Marata Niukore, Mitch Barnett, Sifakula and Maiu'u. Ieremia is likely to start next season in NSW Cup and he may be the sneakiest off these five NZW juniors as he quickly impacted NSW Cup without much buzz about his mahi.
Durbin is a Pikiao junior who was playing for Souths Logan last year and then returned to Aotearoa where he was a consistent presence at prop for NZW SGB. Once SGB finished, Durbin went straight into the Pt Chevalier team for Fox Memorial and this saw Durbin crack the Akarana team for NZRL National Premiership. Durbin finished the year in the Aotearoa Maori team for their game against Auckland and all these pockets of footy with/against men provide fabulous development for an old school prop like Durbin.
Other forwards got game time in NSW Cup while Durbin was being slow-brewed in local footy against men. Lads like Ieremia offer more power and mobility than Durbin, yet Durbin's mana was evident at every level this year. Expect Durbin to feature in NSW Cup at some point next season, even if he starts in U21 Jersey Flegg where he should be a leader.
Etuate Fukofuka and Presely Seumanu-Tigafua made the switch from 1st 15 rugby union with St Peter's College to rugby league with NZW this year. After playing halfback in 1st 15 and cracking a few Auckland/NZRU representative squads, Fukofuka played hooker for NZW SGB where his kicking game and power demanded attention. This was followed by game time in Fox Memorial with Pt Chev and Fukofuka soon dabbled in NSW Cup footy.
Given his power, Fukofuka could forecast as a small middle forward and having that type of player is proving to be an asset in building an NRL squad. The dummy half package is kinda incredible though as Fukofuka is a constant running threat who also has a well-rounded kicking game from his 1st 15 mahi. This includes kicking goals, but more notable are his short and long kicks that will only improve as he learns about defensive pictures in rugby league.
Seumanu-Tigafua is similar to Maiu'u and Ieremia as an aggressive, robust forward. A major difference for Seumanu-Tigafua is that he played midfield in 1st 15 and he was good enough in that role to crack an Auckland U18 squad. Seumanu-Tigafua apparently has history in league as a Mt Albert junior before zoning in on 1st 15 with SPC. He spent most of the SGB season as an edge forward, before moving into the Pt Chev Fox Memorial team. This led to selection in the Auckland Vulcans team alongside Durbin (and NZW juniors Makaia Tafua, Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo, William Piliu).
The best comparison for Seumanu-Tigafua is Sifakula as he is aggressive in his work on an edge with mobility that stems from their midfield mahi in 1st 15. Seumanu-Tigafua will be aiming for a bench role in NSW Cup after playing one game of reserve grade this year and while edge forward his best role right now, Seumanu-Tigafua could grow into a middle role if graced with consistent NSW Cup selection on the bench.
Patrick Moimoi played 1st 15 footy alongside Sifakula and Ieremia for De La Salle College, then he was named in the Auckland U19 squad in 2022 via Manukau Rovers. This could be an example of nifty NZW scouting as Moimoi doesn't appear to have gone from 1st 15 to NZW and the basic information online suggests that NZW picked up Moimoi from local rugby union (either the Auckland U19 team or Manukau Rovers).
Moimoi joined Mt Albert after the SGB campaign and this led to a stint of five games as starting centre for the NSW Cup team. There is a lovely development thread in Moimoi's NSW Cup mahi as he had one tackle bust and three missed tackles in his first two games, then 11 tackle busts and two missed tackles in his next three games. NZW have no shortage of outside backs and Moimoi is likely to spend next season gaining consistent NSW Cup experience, which will serve as a strong foundation for him to develop.
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