The 2023 NRL season gets underway with Aotearoa Warriors hosting Newcastle Knights in Wellington in a fairly even match up to assess Warriors footy. Two things beneath the NRL radar also offer intrigue as the Warriors Under 19 SG Ball team is undefeated after three games and this weekend features the first game of Warriors NSW Cup footy since the pandemic.

Who should you check in with from the SG Ball team? All the lads. This group appears to be full of nifty talent and hearty Warriors fans will track who slides up to NSW Cup from the SG Ball team. Jacob Laban has been playing a couple SG Ball games after featuring in the first Warriors trial and this isn't because Laban struggled, he's just young enough to still be SG Ball eligible.

Don't cling to players at the junior level either. There is immense movement between clubs at junior levels and while many of the depatures from the 2020 SG Ball team (Salesi Ataata, Josiah Karapani, Daeon Amituanai etc) were influenced by the pandemic, some players from this SG Ball team will end up in other systems.

Fresh Warriors recruitment/development funk is evident in the SG Ball group and this flows into the NSW Cup squad. Harry Durbin is a Pikiao junior who played for Souths Logan Under 18s last year and Warriors brought him back to Aotearoa, starting games at prop. The first NSW Cup team named features Geronimo Doyle (Whitehaven), Setu Tu (Redcliffe), Moala Graham-Taufa (Roosters), Paul Roache, Kalani Going (Raiders), Michael Sio (Norths), Maia Sands (Burleigh) and Sanele Aukusitino (Sea Eagles) who all had stints overseas before sliding into the Warriors mixer.

The NSW Cup team also has lads like Esom Ioka (Glenora), Eiden Ackland, Isaiah Vagana (Mt Albert), Tahi Baggaley (Howick) and Nicholas Halalilo (Mangere/Richmond) who have been playing local footy in recent years. Ackland, Vagana, Baggaley and Halalilo have featured in the Warriors system previously. Baggaley (Papanui) offers some extra funk as he is from Canterbury and played in the Warriors system prior to the pandemic, while the SG Ball team has Halswell junior Tanner Stowers-Smith starting alongside Durbin most weeks.

Notable Warriors juniors Ali Leiataua (Papatoetoe), Zyon Maiu'u (Te Atatu) and Demitric Sifakula (Otahuhu) are all named to start in NSW Cup. How the team actually lines up will depend on which players from the NRL squad drop down. Which lads keep playing NSW Cup regardless of who drops down will inform us about the depth chart rankings.

There is nothing to fear in this Knights team and thus, round tahi in Wellington should be an intriguing battle for the Warriors. Mitchell Barnett is named to start at prop against his former team and this could add some spice to his already aggressive style of footy. Coach Andrew Webster's forward pack is generally as expected from the trials with Jackson Ford and Marata Niukore grabbing edge forward slots, while Tom Ale is a bloke to watch out for coming off the bench.

Warriors won't win many games or crack finals footy without a strong forward pack. Knights have the Saifiti twins starting, Tyson Frizell and Adam Elliott are impressive forwards, plus Leo Thompson will be fizzing to play in Wellington where he dabbled in footy after leaving Napier Boys High School 1st 15. The Warriors forward pack feels better though and Barnett will love his match up against the Saifiti bros.

Across The Niche Cache podcasts in recent weeks, I have thrown up the idea that Dylan Brown is a better half than Kalyn Ponga. Perhaps a better comparison is Te Maire Martin vs Ponga given that Martin has played fullback recently and while Brown is a better defender, Martin is super slick in counting numbers and executing the right play on either edge. Challenge yourself to look beyond Shaun Johnson's mahi and focus on where Martin pops up, how he engages defenders and sets up the outside backs.

The Monday newsletter featured some Brown vs Ponga stats, including how Ponga misses a tackle for every 2.14 tackles he makes. For context, Brown misses a tackle for every 14.86 tackles he makes and Martin sits at 5.7 tackles per miss. Our homie Reece Walsh averages 2.11 tackles per miss and if the Knights are going to put Ponga in the defensive line, the Mangere Mountain Marata Niukore will target Ponga.

How the Warriors roll through that game plan and their other attacking motions will teach us about Webster's style of footy. The presence of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad at fullback is interesting as he compliments Martin's play-making and Nicoll-Klokstad could shine more as a support player, hard-mahi fullback as opposed to how Martin played fullback for Broncos.

There is a distinct lack of youngsters in Webster's first team list, which gives the Warriors their best chance at winning games early and often. Adam Pompey is 24-years-old and has played 53 games as the freshest player in the starting line up, while Tom Ale is 23-years-old and has played seven games as the youngster in the top-17.

Webster obviously trusts Pompey to do a job at centre and while the theme of Warriors re-establishing their turangawaewae flows through all levels, the solid professional nature of this first team list is a notable theme for the NRL group. This team has enough footy talent to defeat Knights, but their maturity and experience in playing tough NRL footy each week could be more beneficial.

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Peace and love.