Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Youngster Report
New Zealand Warriors are undefeated in four games against Penrith Panthers across NRL, NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg, now they return to Mt Smart to host Dolphins on Sunday. The biggest theme of NZW footy under the two Andys (Webster and McFadden) is how impressive everything is beneath the surface level. Strong development and a dynamic crop of young talent at Mt Smart directly led to the Magic Round win over Panthers, meanwhile the NSW Cup crew defeated Panthers 22-10 in Sydney on the same weekend.
The NSW Cup win featured 11 lads under 21-years-old in the team of 17. Panthers are top of the ladder in NSW Cup but this young NZW group has a draw and a win in their two games against Panthers this season, which is amplified by how young this team is. This week the NSW Cup Warriors take on Bears who are also among the best teams in NSW Cup and while this is likely to change for gameday, here are the youngsters named...
Under 19
Motu Pasikala, Kayliss Fatialofa, Jacob Auloa, Leka Halasima
Under 21
Caleb Laiman, Luke Hanson, Zyon Maiu'u, Makaia Tafua, Tanner Stowers-Smith, Eddie Ieremia, Demitric Sifakula
That's 11 U21 lads in the team once again. Pasikala continues to get reserve grade opportunities after starting the season as fullback in SG Ball and he was at fullback in the win over Panthers last week. Now Pasikala is named on the wing and Fatialofa is showing is versatility as he is named at centre, having covered edge forward and centre after sliding up to NSW Cup from SG Ball.
Another sneaky addition to the NSW Cup team has been Caleb Laiman who played in the halves vs Panthers and is named there again this week. Chanel Harris-Tavita and/or Paul Roache could drop down from the NRL squad which would probably bump Laiman down to Jersey Flegg, but this is a funky pocket to explore.
Laiman was initially recruited by Bulldogs as a Marist junior, playing SG Ball and Jersey Flegg for Bulldogs before returning to Aotearoa this year. NZW not only defeated Panthers in NSW Cup last week, they did so with two U21 halves as Hanson lined up against his former club. These two shared the kicking duties, had nine and 10 runs respectively while both tackling abov 84%.
The promotions of Laiman and Hanson has seen a variety of combos deployed in Jersey Flegg. Laiman and Cassius Cowley were the halves combo in the win over Panthers a few weeks ago and that's been the main duo since Hanson jumped up to NSW Cup. Last week Phranklyn Mano-Le-Mamea and Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo were the halves combo which seems like a product of late changes in the teams above. This week the SG Ball combo of Maui Winitana-Pateleiso and Jesse Soric are named.
Again, all of this will probably change when these games get underway and it will all be covered on Monday in our New Zealand sports newsletter. At the very least this shows how many options NZW have in their junior system for play-making roles and they are all competing with each other in a wholesome way to improve as players and bolster the pipeline's depth.
Should Roache drop out of the NRL squad, don't assume that he will be playing dummy half. Roache has played in the halves this season for the NSW Cup team because Tafua and Auloa are getting the job done as an U21 hooking combo. That NSW Cup win over Panthers featured two U21 halves and two U21 dummy halves as another indicator of how enticing the junior system is.
Sifakula returns to footy this weekend and is named on the NSW Cup bench alongside Halasima. Halasima has only played two games this season and the 18-year-old casually churned out 102m/game with 92% tackling in those two appearances. The ages for every player aren't available but Halasima is still one of the youngest players in this NZW NSW Cup team, let alone the whole competition and he is quietly gathering experience with 20 games played in reserve grade.
How Sifakula settles into this NSW Cup team will be interesting as he was a consistent presence in the team last season. NZW are building depth in edge forward with Eddie Ieremia the leading youngster on the edge and Fatialofa also emerging, but they are well stocked for exciting middle forwards which could frame what roles Halasima and Sifakula play.
Sifakula is likely to be brewed as a middle forward, while Halasima can genuinely play middle and edge, plus he covered centre a few times last season. Maiu'u and Stowers-Smith have been the starting props in nearly every game this season, both are 20-years-old and then there is Sifakula adding himself into the mix. Other NRL teams would love to have Maiu'u, Stowers-Smith and Sifakula in their systems, let alone all together building towards NRL footy.
Ieremia and Moala Graham-Taufa are the low key lads to watch out for. Ieremia played four games of NSW Cup last year after starting in SG Ball and he has played all 11 games this year in NSW Cup, rolling through 80 minutes in six of them. Of the five games in which Ieremia hasn't hit the 80mins, one was 43mins off the bench in round one and he has since started every game while he's had 50+ minutes in the other four games.
Graham-Taufa has snapped up his opportunity with NZW after returning to Aotearoa from the Roosters system and a brief stint with Eels. He's already played one NRL game back in 2021 with Roosters and he is exactly the type of outside back who will get game time under coach Webster. Graham-Taufa can cover wing and centre without much fuss, plus he is a big lad who moves well and was among the best Kiwi-NRL juniors when he was still in Aotearoa which led to the Roosters link.
As has already been evident with many NZW youngsters, coach Webster will not rush them into NRL footy. Opportunities do arise naturally though with injuries and suspensions, hence depth is so important. Graham-Taufa still sits behind Ed Kosi in the wing depth chart according to coach Webster's selections, yet he has been a consistent presence in good NSW Cup teams covering centre and wing. This is a key attribute to have when seeking NRL game time and Graham-Taufa could find himself making his NRL debut this season.
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