Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Youngster Report Part Two
New Zealand Warriors have another crucial NRL game on Friday night against Wests Tigers and while their chances of finals footy are fading, the finals flame is still flickering. This will be a massive game in front of the Mt Smart faithful after two close defeats in which the dark forces of an NRL season have been working against NZW.
All that matters for this game is getting a win and there isn't much analysis to offer this week, aside for exploring a few selections in the NRL team to set up the second Youngster Report of the season. The NSW Cup Warriors had a bye last week and are third on the ladder heading into Friday's game against Magpies, with the Tigers reserve grade team sitting last in NSW Cup; Tigers are last in NRL and NSW Cup.
Meanwhile there is a bye for the Under 21 Jersey Flegg lads after their win in Fiji. The Flegg Warriors are 13th in that competition and the only team below them is Fiji's Kaiviti Silktails who are yet to grab a win this season. Don't worry too much about Flegg results right now as most of the best U21 players for NZW are rolling through consistent NSW Cup footy and the Flegg team usually consists of U19 players.
The trip to Fiji was slightly different though as there was no NSW Cup game, so a few of players dropped down a grade to get game time. Sio Kali, Caleb Laiman and Tanner Stowers-Smith all played against Kaiviti before being named for NSW Cup this week. That Flegg team also included Brandon Norris who is a Northern Sharks junior which is in Moulden, Northern Territory.
Norris seems to be the latest Aussie youngster to join NZW and this yarn says that he earned a spot in the Under 18 Broncos Academy back in 2022. Norris moved to Norths Devils in Brisbane where he played U19s in 2023 and 2024 before appearing on the wing for the Flegg Warriors in his first game for NZW. NZW already have four young Aussies in their pipeline (Luke Hanson, Jesse Soric, Tallan Egan, Jack Thompson) but they are all halves/play-makers, meaning that Norris is the only non-spine player from Australia in the NZW junior ranks right now.
With Ali Leiataua and Moala Graham-Taufa in the centres for the NRL team, Eddie Ieremia and Sio Kali are selected as the centres in NSW Cup. Ieremia continues to command attention as one of the best NZW juniors folks don't know about as he has played middle, edge and centre this season in reserve grade while still being U21 eligible.
NZW have Zyon Maiu'u, Jacob Laban and Demitric Sifakula in their NSW Cup forward pack alongside Bunty Afoa and Kalani Going. Sifakula is named on an edge as he shows his versatility as well and he has returned from injury for a run of eight NSW Cup games, mainly through the middle. Stowers-Smith is named on the bench and along with Ieremina; these two will play NRL footy and they will be more than ready for the step up after consistent mahi in NSW Cup.
The NSW Cup team is still getting fabulous service from their U21 spine players in Luke Hanson, Makaia Tafua and Caleb Laiman. Hanson left Panthers to join NZW for this season and he quickly progressed through Flegg into the halves for NSW Cup, while Tafua has made the starting hooker spot his own this season. Tafua spent most of the 2023 season playing for Otahuhu in Fox Memorial after moving north from Christchurch which has prepared him for a reserve grade footy.
Laiman spent time in the Bulldogs system before returning to Auckland where he has covered halves/hooker in NSW Cup and Flegg. The ability to play multiple positions leads to more opportunities, especially for spots on the bench and Laiman has wiggled ahead of Jacob Auloa as a bench player for NSW Cup.
Auloa has gathered plenty of NSW Cup experience this season as a starting hooker and coming off the bench despite being U19 eligible. Now Auloa is starting hooker in the U21s team and Jeriko Filipi-Talisau is a spot behind him in the dummy half bucket, with these two sharing dummy half mahi for the trip to Fiji last week. Laiman was joined in the halves by Wellington's Maui Winitana-Patelesio who has also gained experience as a dummy half this season, coming off the bench for the Flegg team in many recent games.
The freakiest talents are Kali and Motu Pasikala who are shining as the youngest lads to get regular NSW Cup opportunities. Kali played fullback for the Flegg team last week and is in the centres this week for NSW Cup while Pasikala has settled on the wing with the ability to cover fullback. Both are excellent runners who have flashed their talents in NSW Cup despite still being U19 lads, with Pasikala offering an impressive goal-kicking skillset as well.
Incase the crew of Laban, Maiu'u, Sifakula, Stowers-Smith and Ieremia doesn't get you excited, there are more young forwards coming through the pipeline. Like the lads ahead of them in the depth chart, these aren't regular ho-hum forwards, these lads all have power, mobility and skill. Kayliss Fatialofa is next in line and he is just as versatile as Ieremia, while Harry Durbin, Rodney Tuipuotu-Vea, Toby Crosby and Ieti Samuelu are all middle forwards on the rise.
Alvin Chong Nee has the same centre/edge ability as Fatialofa and Augustino Filipo is another powerful runner who can't be overlooked given his pedigree. The backline depth features Raphael Sio who is a consistent winger in the Flegg team and Sialetili Faeamani who is usually playing centre where he's a regular try-scorer.
Let's swing back up to the NRL level. Leka Halasima has had a tricky start to his NRL career as he has been forced into the centres in close losses to Bulldogs and Raiders, playing more minutes than expected (37 and 47mins). In each of his first two games, Halasima has started as a middle forward where his speed and power stands out, before moving to centre with NZW ravaged by injuries. The fact that Halasima has done so without a drop off in performance for losses by teeny-weeny margins is an example of his footy ability, as well as his mana in doing whatever the team requires.
Leiataua has similar versatility, easily sliding between centre and wing during the loss to Raiders. Graham-Taufa finally returns to NRL footy in the other centre spot and he has been in tremendous form for the NSW Cup Warriors, after an impressive debut for NZW against Dolphins. Here are some of their NSW Cup stats this season...
Ali Leiataua: 8 games, 2 tries, 4 try assists, 4 linebreaks, 4 tackle breaks/game, 2 offloads 112m/game, 82.1% tackling
Moala Graham-Taufa: 13 games, 10 tries, 10 linebreaks, 4.5 tackle breaks/game, 9 offloads, 155m/game, 88% tackling
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.