Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Preston Riki Debut For Panthers
Preston Riki didn't get a win in his NRL debut with Penrith Panthers but the latest Kiwi-NRL lad from Northland showed folks what happens when one stays solid to their journey. Riki came off the bench in the loss vs Dragons to play 26 minutes and offered 5 runs - 52m @ 10.4m/run, 16 tackles @ 82.6%.
Most notably, Riki spent time in the middle with the Hokianga homie James Fisher-Harris. Apparently Fisher-Harris didn't know much about Riki when he joined Panthers for the 2022 season even though they are from the Hokianga region in Northland, but their connection is obvious and Riki may have a chance to build on the mana established by Fisher-Harris at Panthers.
Hailing from Rawene, Riki went to school at Mt Albert Grammar in Auckland. Riki played junior footy for Mt Albert and was a notable junior in the NZ Warriors system, making his NSW Cup debut in 2018. For the only round of NSW Cup footy for 2020, Riki started at prop with NZW and he moved to Redcliffe as part of the Warriors-Redcliffe partnership where he played Queensland Cup in 2021.
Panthers didn't just sign Riki from the Warriors-Redcliffe crew, they also snared Daeon Amituanai (Whiti Te Ra) who played SG Ball for NZW in 2020 and then moved to Redcliffe. Amituanai is a few years younger than Riki and is in his third season of NSW Cup footy with Panthers as a winger, highlighting how Panthers slowly develop their emerging talent.
Riki has battled injuries and stuck to the plan with Panthers. Despite playing NSW Cup with NZW for a few years and rolling through a full season of Queensland Cup, the Panthers system seems different to many NRL pipelines. Training style and intensity, plus tricky nuance in the roles for players in the Panthers system means that consistent reps are crucial and Riki has slowly transitioned from a bench forward for Panthers in NSW Cup to a starting prop.
Riki has played 41 games for Panthers in reserve grade, more than his 22 games for NZW. Add in 18 games for Redcliffe though and Riki had 40 reserve grade games under the NZW umbrella. Riki started all of his nine NSW Cup games this season at prop and played 50+ minutes in every game.
With the foundation of big minutes in NSW Cup and consistency of his role, Riki is now primed to offer impact off the bench for Panthers. His 10m/run vs Dragons is an example of this impact efficiency and while it wasn't his best tackling performance, most Panthers had mediocre tackling stats in the loss to Dragons. Averaging 29.7 tackles per game in NSW Cup, Riki averages just 1.2 missed tackles per game and the combination of his effort with mobility should see him flourish as a reliable bench forward for Panthers.
Riki is now the fifth Kiwi-NRL debutant of 2024 along with Jacob Laban (Te Aroha), Zyon Maiu'u (Te Atatu), Solomon Alaimalo (Hornby) and Josiah Karapani (East Tamaki/Otahuhu). Laban and Maiu'u made their debuts for NZW, while Karapani played SG Ball in 2020 for NZW and Riki also came through the NZW pipeline before joining Panthers.
There is also a lovely Northland angle here. Fisher-Harris and Riki form a Northland duo at Panthers, while Dylan Brown (Hikurangi) and Wiremu Greig (Whangarei) are a Northland duo at Eels. The Hokianga area isn't quite at Taharoa status but it's another pocket of Aotearoa with multiple Kiwi-NRL players, showcasing the rugby league talent coming out of regional Aotearoa.
Enjoy our Kiwi-NRL coverage? Please consider supporting the Niche Cache through Patreon or with a paid Substack subscription. We drop Kiwi-NRL notes each week in our Subscriber Podcast which is only available on Patreon and Substack.
Or you can make a donation through Buy Me A Coffee.
Our Monday/Friday newsletter always has Kiwi-NRL notes too.
Peace and love.