New Plymouth's Mawene Hiroti is been patiently waiting for a decent opportunity at Cronulla Sharks and with an unfortunate injury lay off for Arorangi junior Kayal Iro, that opportunity has come at left centre this season. The Western Suburbs junior has played the last two games and is named again at left centre for Sharks for their round seven game against Knights.

Having made his debut in 2018 for Rabbitohs, Hiroti has played more than five games in just one of his seven NRL seasons before 2025. That can be tightened further as Hiroti has played at least three games in just two of those seven seasons and assuming he plays against Knights this will be his third season out of eight hitting the three game mark.

One of those seasons was in 2019 when he played four games for Rabbitohs and then he moved to Sharks for the 2020 season. In 2021 he played 14 games which stands out because it is his only season at Sharks in which he has played three or more games. Injuries have been a factor as they are for any rugby league player but the joy of Hiroti's slow brew with Sharks has been his tremendous service to the club with 53 NSW Cup games played in five seasons with Newtown Jets.

During this period there have been instances where someone like Iro has had more opportunities than Hiroti but that hasn't stopped Hiroti from doing whatever the Sharks need in NRL or NSW Cup. Aside from lining up in reserve grade for a good Jets team, Hiroti has covered all backline positions and this versatility leads to more opportunities.

Hiroti has played most of his NRL games on the wing for example, but most of his career across the top two grades has been played at centre. Add in games at fullback and in the halves, as well as being on the bench in the NRL and Hiroti is the ideal outside back squad member.

Now Hiroti is helping Sharks absorb the loss of Iro. In his four games this season before injury, Iro averaged 145m/game and was tackling at 91.4% efficiency. Hiroti has exploded past his previous best running mahi as well as Iro's with 179m/game although there is a wee dip in his tackling with 85.4% efficiency.

To support The Niche Cache you can join the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Chur

Iro scored five tries in four games which gave him five linebreaks. Hiroti has similar efficiency with two tries/linebreaks in two games but his two tackle breaks per game isn't close to Iro's six tackle breaks per game. Hiroti has found a groove in the NRL though and his two games this season have shown the talent that saw him depart Taranaki as a youngster.

vs Raiders: 1 try, 19 runs - 209m @ 11m/run, 4 tackle breaks, 25 tackles @ 86.2%
vs Sea Eagles: 1 try, 17 runs - 149m @ 8.7m/run, 22 tackles @ 84.6%

The funky nugget from those stats is how Hiroti has made the most tackles of Sharks backs in both games. The only other back who made 20+ tackles vs Raiders was Nicholas Hynes (21) and then Hiroti was the only back to make 20+ tackles vs Sea Eagles. Hiroti has also had 50+ post contact metres in both games and while he didn't have the most for Sharks backs in either game, Hiroti is the only back for Sharks who had 50+ post contact metres in both these games.

Hiroti may dip out of the top-17 as soon as Iro is back or he may earn a consistent streak of NRL games, either at centre or covering other backline positions. Even if Hiroti doesn't churn out many more NRL games, he will continue to offer value to Sharks in providing competitive depth and versatility.

Hiroti has scope to elevate to an NZ Kiwis level which stems from his pedigree as a youngster and how he has performed in limited NRL doses. Centre is one of the deepest positions for Aotearoa and Hiroti's ability to cover all outside back roles could make a handy member of the Kiwis squad during a tournament.

More NRL games are required but Hiroti sits below the Matthew Timoko/Sebastian Kris tier right now at centre and is probably behind an emerging talent like Ali Leiataua who is also eligible for Samoa. Iro is ahead of Hiroti as well but the Cook Islands international may not pursue Aotearoa Kiwis footy and that could benefit Hiroti, who is in a similar zone to Rocco Berry where they need to churn out consistent NRL footy.

Moses Leo is eligible for Aotearoa and Samoa, having played two games at centre for Storm. Along with the versatile Bayleigh Bentley-Hape who made his NRL debut on the wing but is primarily a fullback, Hiroti has the potential to add to the emerging depth of Aotearoa Kiwis.

Smash an ad. Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email newsletter so if you love New Zealand sports then sign up.

Peace and love.