Xavier Willison has played 30+ minutes in all eight games for Brisbane Broncos this season under coach Michael Maguire but the last two weeks have offered the most intrigue with the Whatuwhata junior playing more minutes at edge forward. One of the hearty Taharoa crew in the NRL and NRLW, Willison has played 60+ minutes in his last two games with the latest being an Anzac round win vs Bulldogs.

He didn't just hit the 60+ minute checkpoint either as Willison churned out 80mins on the left edge and scored his third try of the season. In eight games Willison has already scored the same number of tries as he did in 19 games last year and his progress is clear in how he scored two tries as a middle forward vs Tigers before scoring as an edge forward vs Bulldogs.

All of which flows off a strong 2024 campaign despite Broncos missing finals footy. Willison started four games at prop and finished the season with four consecutive games of 40+ minutes, featuring a stint of 52mins in round 22 when he came off the bench. That was Willison's only game over 50 minutes last season and his entire career before this season though, now he has played 50+ minutes in his last three games.

Willison dabbled in right edge mahi against Roosters which was probably when the seed was planted by coach Maguire. Then Willison started on the left edge vs Warriors and stayed on the left edge against Bulldogs. Here's his stats from the two games starting as an edge forward...

vs Warriors: 62mins, 11 runs - 99m @ 9m/run, 2 tackle breaks, 28 tackles @ 93.3%
vs Bulldogs: 80mins, 1 try, 18 runs - 155m @ 8.6m/run, 5 tackle breaks, 20 tackles @ 100%

Willison has made 48 tackles with one missed tackle in the two games starting as an edge forward. He is always a willing runner with his size and mobility making him a dangerous presence through the middle, while also allowing him get busy on an edge. Willison had 54 post contact metres vs Warriors which was third behind Patrick Carrigan and Payne Haas for Broncos forwards, followed by 60 post contact metres vs Bulldogs which was the same as Carrigan and behind Haas.

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Of the forwards who weren't starting props in these two games, Willison had the most post contact metres. Erin Clark led the non starting props with 53 post contact metres for Warriors while all three of the players who were edge forwards for Warriors in that game had less than 30 post contact metres. No Bulldogs forward had more than 45 post contact metres and their edge forwards all had less than 40 post contact metres.

Willison played ahead of Brendan Piakura vs Warriors and then Jordan Riki was out injured vs Bulldogs, with Willison joined by Piakura as the edge forwards. Broncos also have Jack Gosiewski who started the first six games at edge forward and Jaiyden Hunt who started one game on an edge before coming off the bench vs Bulldogs and Warriors.

The ability to play middle and edge at a high level is a handy tool for Willison to have. He was already a top-17 player as a middle forward so it won't boost his case for selection but coach Maguire is has more flexibility in his team selections with Willison covering both roles.

Willison is already a Cook Islands international and he may stay on that path. He is from the Waikato and his whanau has immense mana in the region, so it seems likely that Willison will enter the Aotearoa Kiwis mix along the same time as his cousin Taine Tuaupiki and also Tenika Willison who is playing for Knights in NRLW and showed her Kiwi Ferns potential last season.

Aotearoa Kiwis have plenty of middle forwards and Willison deserves to at least be in the squad. Depending of player availability Willison would be slightly behind the group of Naufahu Whyte, Leo Thompson, Griffin Neame and Erin Clark. Willison is next up though and if he continues to gather experience at edge forward, he would offer more competition to players like Isaiah Papali'i, Scott Sorenson, Marata Niukore and Jordan Riki.

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