Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Greg Marzhew Journey To A Knights Groove

Anyone tracking the best youngsters rising through Australian rugby league systems in the past few years would know all about Mangere East junior Greg Marzhew. Prior to Greg's decision to change his last name from Lelesiuao to Marzhew, he was a Junior Kiwis representative in 2016 via Gold Coast Titans and then in 2017 via Parramatta Eels.

Marzhew's move to Eels saw him play three years of NSW Cup footy, peaking with 26 games in 2019 while averaging 173m/game. Then he returned to Gold Coast where he first emerged on the Kiwi-NRL radar and was again stashed away in reserve grade, before sneaking into NRL footy during the 2021 season with Titans. Titans are flush with outside backs, similar to their stocks of lively fullbacks/utilities that is most evident in the rise of Northcote junior Keano Kini. Combine that with a need for genuine dummy halves and Marzhew shifted to Knights as part of a swap for hooker Chris Randell.

There are two major themes of Marzhew's footy journey. The first is his tackle-busting which is already among the best in the NRL and the second is how teams didn’t view Marzhew as a consistent NRL winger. Marzhew was a star of the Titans junior system but they let him depart to Eels, who didn't want to promote Marzhew from NSW Cup no matter how bright he was shining.

Even though Marzhew returned to Gold Coast, he never settled as a consistent starter. Whether it is his tackling (60% tackling this season) or his defensive ability in defusing bombs, the legend of Marzhew involved folks highlighting his flaws as much as his prowess. The stars aligned for the right opportunity and after moving to Knights, Marzhew has found a groove.

Marzhew has played two games of NSW Cup for Knights. He has scored two tries, with a try assist and three linebreaks as well as 214m/game. In NRL, Marzhew averages 195m/game and he has seven tries, with nine linebreaks in his seven games.

Here's how Marzhew's NRL mahi looks per season...

  • 2021: 8 games, 6 tries, 7 linebreaks, 74% tackling, 185m/game

  • 2022: 17 games, 9 tries, 7 linebreaks, 73.8% tackling, 152m/game

  • 2023: 7 games, 7 tries, 9 linebreaks, 60% tackling, 195m/game

Marzhew has at least five tackle busts in every NRL game this season, making 10 tackle busts in his first game and 12 tackle busts in his most recent game against Titans. This puts Marzhew fifth overall for tackle busts but his average tackle busts per game (8.3) is ranked second overall, first for lads who have played more than two games.

Assessing the defensive ability of wingers is always tricky. Wingers aren't usually elite tacklers, their defensive reads may stem from coaching plans and there are probably bigger issues in a team that are exposed before the footy gets that wide. Marzhew doesn't have a great tackling record, yet this is similar to fellow winger Dominic Young and Knights fullback Lachlan Miller. Marzhew balances his tackling with a lack of errors, less errors than Miller and Young...

  • Greg Marzhew: 1.1 missed tackles per game | 0.9 errors per game

  • Dominic Young: 0.8 missed tackles per game | 1.9 errors per game

  • Lachlan Miller: 1.5 missed tackles per game | 1.6 errors per game

Marzhew's powerful running has translated from reserve grade to NRL and he is named to start his eighth game in a row on the wing for Knights this round (vs Sharks). All the flaws that apparently held Marzhew back from racking up NRL appearances in previous years don't seem to be impacting his mana with Knights, who have also shown faith in Marzhew to make the most of consistent opportunities. Regardless of the twists and turns of our respective journeys, at some point folks need to pounce on an opportunity and Marzhew is doing exactly that with Knights this season.

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