At a time when there are lots of highly decorated Kiwi-NRL juniors from Aotearoa generating buzz on their climb to NRL footy, the Jacob Laban debut for New Zealand Warriors has been highly anticipated. Laban played 30 minutes coming off the bench against Rabbitohs where he held down a right edge spot and like other NZW local juniors such as Demitric Sifakula and Ali Leiataua, Laban looked comfortable with NRL footy.

As a Te Aroha and Randwick junior in Wellington, Laban went to St Bernard's College where his mana was already on display. Laban played 1st 15 for St Bernard's and cracked a few Wellington representative teams, as well as shining in softball before being named in NZRL Under 16 Residents team in 2020.

Laban was already a standout athlete in Wellington and he was the only player from Wellington named in that NZRL U16 Residents group. The Laban journey features a sneaky grind through adversity for a youngster who was always playing up age groups and having dominated sport in Wellington, Laban moved up to Auckland where he settled at Kelston Boys High School.

This move sums up the NZW vibe nicely as Laban lived with Zyon Maiu'u and his whanau. Both played 1st 15 for KBHS in 2021 and Laban was swiftly saluted as one of the best rugby league youngsters in Auckland as a College Sport Young Sportsperson of the Year nominee in 2021. Not only did Laban leave his home in Wellington while still at school, finishing school during the niggly pandemic phase meant that Laban had to leave Aotearoa and move to Redcliffe to continue his development with NZW.

Lost among understandably bad performances for NZW during this time were the extra measures NZW had to go through with their junior pipeline. It's lovely to celebrate how NZW have a full system of junior teams now, but after starting an SG Ball team in 2020, every NZW junior team was snatched away from them. NZW lost over half of their junior spots and could only send a few lads over to Queensland.

Some lads haven't been sighted since, others stayed in Australia. There is a glorious crop of NZW juniors who thrived in Redcliffe with Laban, Maiu'u, Sifakula and Leiataua showcasing how impressive Aotearoa's rugby league talent is. Laban played Under 18 Mal Meninga Cup before moving up to Under 21 Hastings Deering Colts in 2022 and he would have been 18-years-old while doing these things in Queensland U21s footy...

Laban was still U19 SG Ball eligible last year and dabbled in that level before playing 17 games of NSW Cup. Here's how Laban's two years of NSW Cup compare after three games this season...

• 2023: 17 games, 5 tries, 4 linebreaks, 88.5% tackling, 74m/game

• 2024: 3 games, 2 tries, 2 linebreaks, 95.4% tackling, 126m/game

Laban has at least six tackle breaks in all three games of NSW Cup this season and his development would have been a factor in NZW shuffling Josh Curran out of the mix. With Marata Niukore and Kurt Capewell out injured, Laban got his opportunity against Rabbitohs as Mitchell Barnett started at right edge and then moved to the middle to make way for Laban.

Like most NZW players, Laban slotted into the role nicely. Shaun Johnson tucked Laban back in field for his first run and Laban was able to showcase his footwork, while also ripping in for powerful mahi with and without the footy. NZW didn't kick to Laban in the win over Rabbitohs but that is a weapon they can use in the future and as Laban finds a consistent flow in NSW Cup, there won't be much of a drop in performance when he steps in for Niukore or Capewell.

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