Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: No Ceilings With Ali Leiataua
Despite not playing consistently in NRL or NSW Cup this season, Ali Leiataua was quietly simmering away in both grades before exploding with dominant mahi for New Zealand Warriors in their win over Cronulla Sharks. Leiataua has been the premier outside back prospect for a long period now, so long that he was an impressive youngster in the first NZ Warriors SG Ball team early in 2020 and his mana was on show as he stayed solid with NZ Warriors even though he had to roll through niggly pandemic times.
That stint with Redcliffe Dolphins solidified Leiataua's talent though as the likes of Zyon Maiu'u, Jacob Laban, Demitric Sifakula and Leiataua were impressive in the Queensland junior grades. These young Warriors have been instrumental in the NSW Cup team playing finals footy for two seasons in a row and Leiataua not only looked comfortable in his NRL debut last year for the trip to Canberra, his power and class was instantly on display.
The Papatoetoe junior, who also spent time with Mangere East, had a linebreak and a linebreak assist on his debut. Peep the trend here as Leiataua had a linebreak vs Sharks and that gives him seven linebreaks in six games this season. Leiataua has three games with two linebreaks which includes the epic win over Panthers in round 11, as well as three tries and two try assists.
Of his six NRL games in 2024, Leiataua has a try, try assist or linebreak in five of them. Leiataua also has 100+ metres in five of his six games but it's his x-factor out wide that is most important for NZ Warriors moving forward, which along with a couple offloads this season, helps create opportunities for himself and others.
NZ Warriors had no issues carting the ball up this season as they are first for run metres and post contact metres heading into the bye to finish the season. NZ Warriors are 11th for tries scored heading into the final round though and they won't score any more tries in the bye, so they could drop down these rankings. The attacking system looked clunky in the round one loss to Sharks at Mt Smart and things continued that way all season, so the razzle dazzle and power of Leiataua out wide will be useful next year.
There could be an opportunity for Leiataua to play in the NSW Cup finals game vs Panthers in Sydney this weekend. Having played four consecutive NRL games between round 20-23 (two tries, two try assists, four linebreaks), Leiataua only has one stretch of three consecutive NSW Cup games this season and his 16 games last year dipped down to nine this year.
Not only has Leiataua been in and out of the NRL team, he has also battled to get on the field in NSW Cup. Of his nine games in NSW Cup, Leiataua has a try, try assist or linebreak in five of them and while his 10 tackle breaks vs Sharks was his first game with more than four tackle breaks this season in the NRL, Leiataua has three or more tackle breaks in six consecutive NSW Cup games.
The theme of the 2024 NRL season for NZ Warriors is how the youngsters/second tier lads contributed to winning. NZ Warriors won nine of 24 games which is 37.5% winning and Leiataua won 50% of his games, after winning his debut (only game) last season. This flows through NSW Cup as well with Leiataua winning more than half of his games in NSW Cup across the last two years.
NZ Warriors have immense depth at centre and this offers intrigue about how Leiataua builds into next season as he can genuinely cover every backline position. Leiataua played fullback for the 2020 SG Ball team and for Auckland Under 20s, he's plugged holes in the halves for the NSW Cup team as well as dabbling in wing mahi when required. Don't put a ceiling on what Leiataua can do as folks may be surprised when he comes out of another summer slog of NRL training.
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