Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Winning Start For Kiwi-NRL Dolphins
Redcliffe Dolphins have started their NRL journey with three wins and lots of Kiwi-NRL funk. Any expansion team needs Kiwi-NRL juniors as well and Dolphins were busy recruiting youngsters from Aotearoa prior to this season to ensure a steady flow of talent from Aotearoa.
The Bromwich brothers from Manurewa were key signings for Dolphins and this starts with matua Jesse. Having made his debut in 2010 for Storm, Jesse played 20+ games in 11 of his 13 seasons with Storm. Younger brother Kenny played 10 seasons for Storm with 20+ games in seven consecutive campaigns. Both Bromwich brothers have won at least 50 percent of their games in every season of NRL footy.
Hence coach Wayne Bennett wanted them in the Dolphins mixer. After three games, Jesse is averaging 116m/game and this is his best mahi since 2019. Jesse averaged 120+ metres in seven consecutive seasons before a pandemic dip and the theme for all Kiwi-NRL Dolphins is a Bennett bump in performance.
Kenny is churning out 108m/game and this is his first season averaging over 95m/game. While Jesse has played 40+ minutes in all three games, including a season-high 52mins in last night's win over Knights, Kenny has played 50+ minutes in all three games. Kenny isn't getting 80mins as an edge forward every game because coach Bennett rotates Kenny through the middle and against the Knights, Kenny started in the middle alongside Jesse and Tom Gilbert.
This is a fresh wrinkle to Kenny's footy, even though he plugged any Storm hole required like Tohu Harris had done previously. Kenny is an eager runner of the footy while also being a capable passer and along with Jesse, they lead the passing Dolphins forward pack. Against Knights, Jesse had 4 passes and Kenny had 2 as the Dolphins forward pack combined for 17 passes. Knights forwards combined for 5 passes.
Coach Bennett can roll Kenny through the middle because he trusts Connelly Lemuelu to do a job at edge forward. Let this serve as Kiwi-NRL inspiration because the Bromwich brothers came up through James Cook High School (Manurewa) and Lemuelu went to Tangaroa College (Otara) before moving to Keebra Park High School.
Having shifted from Tigers to Bulldogs to Cowboys and Dolphins, Lemuelu has settled under coach Bennett. Lemuelu came off the bench in the first two games and is a fine utility given his versatility, then he played 72mins on an edge vs Knights. Lemuelu already has 2 linebreaks this season and that's almost as many as he had in three seasons with Cowboys, also churning out the best defensive mahi of his career.
Jamayne Isaako has also benefited from the Bennett bump after drifting out of top-17 action with Broncos, then popping up with Titans for most of last season. Bennett was instrumental in getting Isaako to Broncos after Isaako left Christchurch to enter the Sharks system and the Aranui junior is shining on the wing for Dolphins.
Isaako has already scored more tries this year than his 3 tries in 11 games with Titans and he is averaging a linebreak per game which is far better than any of his previous campaigns. Isaako is averaging 160m/game after five years averaging between 100-125m per game.
With Tesi Niu on the other wing, coach Bennett has opted for two skillful wingers. Isaako went to Broncos as a fullback and spent time in the halves as a junior , which is similar to Niu's rise through Broncos. With passing forwards and wingers who grew up in play-making roles, there could be a trend here. Niu and Isaako are handling basic wing mahi though with lots of metres and tries.
The positional funk is also evident in Lemuelu. This yarn highlights Lemuelu as youngster in Tangaroa College's 1st 15 playing first-five and then he featured at fullback for Keebra Park. Now Lemuelu is a skillful edge forward and these lads offer far more skill than blokes who grow up playing one position.
Whakatane's Jeremy Marshall-King didn't play vs Knights, but his first two games saw him average 88m/game which is a hefty leap up from 62m/game last season. Burnham junior Kodi Nikorima made his first appearance in Marshall-King's absence, with a try, 3 tackle busts and 11m per dummy half scoot in his 43mins. Nikorima also made 16 tackles without a miss.
Wellington's Isaiya Katoa continues to impress as a young half and looks at ease in his first dose of NRL footy. Katoa left Wellington at a young age and is eligible for New South Wales which will likely see him pursure Tonga/NSW representative footy. It's worth noting though that two of the best young halves prospects are from Wellington with Randwick junior Karl Oloapu on the cusp of Bulldogs NRL footy.
Herman Ese’ese (Mangere East) and Poasa Fa'amausili (Glenora) are on the fringe of Dolphins footy and given Bennett's influence, they are likely to play their best footy when called upon. Waikato's Valynce Te Whare is still stashed away in Queensland Cup and Sheldon Pitama (Northern Bulldogs - Canterbury) could work his way to into the wider mix, having played for Maori All Stars this year.
Queensland Under 21s footy hasn't started yet so it will be interesting to learn about the Kiwi-NRL juniors who pop up in the Redcliffe Hasting Deering Colts team. Patrick Kailahi is a notable Kiwi-NRL junior in Redcliffe's Under 18s team and the Takahiwa junior from Northland appears to have been recruited from Hamilton Boys High School 1st 15 where he also played for Hukanui rugby league. Marist junior Sangstar Figota is a centre for Redcliffe's Mal Meninga Cup (U18) team and Howick/Otahuhu junior Azariah Toki-Mautairi is also starting in that team most weeks.
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