Keano Kini was the smallest chap who took the most runs in an impressive win for Gold Coast Titans against Brisbane Broncos, a week after he scored his first NRL try. The Northcote junior Kini has already played five games this season and is on track to pass the six games he had last year, which led into Aotearoa Kiwis squad selection.

Titans are still building with Des Hasler and Kini appears to be thriving under the new coach. Kini played in rounds one and three to start the season for two hefty losses against Dragons and Bulldogs. His next dose of footy came in Queensland Cup with Tweed where Kini played rounds six and seven, snaring two wins and those two wins featured a try, two linebreaks, four try assists, 14 tackle breaks, three offloads and 190m/game.

Now Kini has played three games in a row and Titans have won two of those games. The loss came against Knights and Titans only lost that game by four points as Kini showcased his long range speed to score his first try. Here's how Kini's stats look in the last two games...

vs Knights

1 try, 20 runs - 221m @ 11m/run, 3 tackle breaks, 1 tackle @ 33%

vs Broncos

27 runs - 262m @ 9.7m/run, 2 try assists, 5 tackle breaks, 4 offloads, 3 tackles @ 75%

Last season Kini averged 20.5 receipts per game and this has blown out to 31.4 under coach Hasler. While Kini's isn’t the best tackling fullback in the NRL, he is always willing to make tackles and his tackling efficiency has improved from 65.2% last season to 75% this season. Add in a big increase in his average run metres from 104m/game to 174m/game and Kini is snapping up his opportunity for consistent reps at fullback.

The tricky thing is that Titans are flush with depth in this position which flows into other roles. AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell are out of action at the moment which opened up space at fullback for Kini, while Kieran Foran and Tanah Boyd are out injured as halves. The best case for Kini is that he commands more opportunities at fullback with Brimson and/or Campbell shifting to the halves.

Kini also had a few games coming off the bench last season and this could be where he settles when Titans get players back from injuries, if they can roll out a near full strength team. Despite being one of the smallest players in the NRL, Kini has already proven that he belongs at this level and his continued development may see him demand selection regardless of who else is available.

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