Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Second Year Surge With Will Warbrick
Will Warbrick suffered a small dose of second year syndrome with Melbourne Storm this season but he is now in the the midst of a second year surge as he works towards Aotearoa Kiwis selection. Warbrick played 25 games in his first season of NRL footy with 17 tries, 20 linebreaks and 131m/game which helped him earned an Aotearoa A nod at the end of the year.
This season, Warbrick is averaging slightly less tries and linebreaks for Storm. That is balanced by a sharp increase in Warbrick's running mahi which is now at 150m/game. The physicality required to cart the footy up as an NRL winger can be tricky and along with more defensive mahi, Warbrick has had to adjust to running it straight in the NRL after a few years with All Blacks Sevens.
While Warbrick played his role nicely with Storm to start the season, he didn't register 170+ running metres in his first 11 games. Warbrick missed a few games due to injury after round 12 and he has played five games upon his return, with 170+ running metres in four of those five games. These last five games include 50+ post contact metres in all five of them, after hitting that mark in four of his first 11 games.
Storm love to shift the footy to their edges with typical Storm precision, which is ideal for Warbrick as he is a fabulous runner in open space. Warbrick doesn't have the footwork of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck or Jamayne Isaako, but his swerve and ability to maintain speed while weaving between defenders is top-notch, just like it was back in his first Queensland Cup season.
Add in Warbrick's aerial ability in attack and defence for a prototypical Storm winger. The oomph in Warbrick's carries, especially coming out of Storm territory has been a nifty addition to his game and this should see Warbrick keep his spot as a top-17 player with Storm chasing a deep finals run. That will set up Warbrick to enter the Aotearoa Kiwis mix.
Isaako and Ronaldo Mulitalo are the leading wingers for Kiwis as they got the job done last season in beating Australia. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak suggested that he was going to represent Tonga last year before injury stopped him from touring England, so let's assume that Watene-Zelezniak will again opt to represent his Tongan heritage. Tuivasa-Sheck could be a contender in any outside back position if he wants to pursue Kiwis footy, but at this stage of his career, Tuivasa-Sheck could represent Samoa.
Jordan Rapana could bow out of NRL footy with a Kiwis stint and there are lots of emerging Kiwi-NRL wingers who aren't quite at the Warbrick level, while also being eligible for/more likely to represent other nations. Warbrick sits below Watene-Zelezniak and his Aotearoa mana in the Kiwi-NRL wing depth stocks, but there will probably be an opening for Warbrick to play himself into an Aotearoa Kiwis squad later this year.
Warbrick is a winner and that is always useful for Aotearoa Kiwis. Warbrick won an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo event and he has started his NRL career with a 60 percent win rate in 2023 which improves to 81 percent winning this season. Now Warbrick has a chance to push for an NRL Grand Final and as finals footy becomes its own beast, more oomph in Warbrick's mahi is a perfect addition to his game.
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