All The Funky New Zealand Wrinkles In NRL & NRLW Finals (Plus Deep Cuts Below NRL/NRLW)
Panthers are in the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Finals this weekend along with their NRL Finals game vs Knights. All three Panthers teams have Kiwi-NRL players with former Warriors Tom Ale and Kalani Leuluai-Going chasing their second NSW Cup Championship in a row.
Two other former Warriors in Patrick Moimoi and Toby Crosby played NSW Cup last year for Warriors but didn't play in the Grand Final win. They are named in the Panthers NSW Cup team and Mangere East junior Moimoi has had a great season at centre for Panthers, playing 17 games this season after seven games of NSW Cup in three seasons with Warriors.
Moimoi has scored 11 tries and had five try assists this season, with tackle breaks in all 17 games this season. Panthers have won three consecutive NSW Cup games and Moimoi has scored two tries with 12 tackle breaks in this streak.
Haami Loza is the other notable Kiwi-NRL junior at Panthers and he's named at halfback in the U21s Grand Final vs Bulldogs. Loza came through De La Salle College before moving to Knights where he played U19/U21/NSW Cup last year and then switched to Panthers where he has mainly played Jersey Flegg Cup. Loza has played three games of NSW Cup this season with two tries and four try assists.
Loza is one of the best Kiwi-NRL juniors creeping below the radar in Australia and he will line up against another excellent young half from New Zealand in Bronson Reuben. Loza is named at halfback and Kaiapoi's Reuben is named at five-eighth for Bulldogs so it's not a direct match up, instead it's a funky halves combo to ponder with complimentary styles - possible future combo for Aotearoa Kiwis.
Reuben is in his fifth season with Bulldogs having started at the U17 level coming out of Northern Bulldogs and St Bede's College. This is his third year playing U21s for Bulldogs and he's only played in one season of U19s, showing how Reuben has progressed quickly as a play-maker. Reuben's scored 13 tries in 24 games this season and his trademark is the dummy and run, which has led to tries on both edges all season.
Bulldogs also have Chelden Hayward (Linwood) and Sosaia Alatini (Hornby) in their backline for this Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Final. Their connection to Christchurch is clear with three juniors from the Canterbury region in the same team but they also have Kaawyn Patterson (Westlake Boys High School) at hooker.
Patterson has mainly played U21s this season but he has also played three games of NSW Cup, having started the year in U19s. He played 40+ minutes in each of his NSW Cup games with a try and a try assist. Having been part of an excellent NZ Warriors U17 team and then making swift progress in two seasons with Bulldogs, Patterson will soon put himself in the Aotearoa Kiwis depth chart as a dummy half.
Newtown Jets are in the NSW Cup Grand Final vs Panthers. They have Chris Vea'ila (Waitemata) at centre and he's off to Perth Bears, along with excellent Kiwi-NRL juniors Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae) and Mason Barber (Kaikohe) in the outside back department.
Jets also have veteran Glenora forward Braden Hamlin-Uele and another Christchurch product in Felix Fa'atili (Hornby) on the bench. Fa'atili is likely to benefit from a Sharks refresh this summer after playing in three seasons of NSW Cup and going from six games in his first two years to 24 games this season.
The most interesting thing in Queensland is Redcliffe taking on Sunshine Coast in the Q Cup Grand Final. Tevita Naufahu (St Kents College) is on the wing and as Dolphins have fine-tuned their teams for finals footy, players like Mason Lome-Hindle (Otago Boys) and Montel Lisala (Halswell) have dropped out of the Redcliffe team after playing through most of the season.
Sebastian Su'a (Mt Albert) is named at prop for Redcliffe and he's played 14 games of Queensland Cup this season, along with one NRL game playing 31 minutes off the bench. Su'a has found a consistent groove with Redcliffe and he's played 40+ minutes in five consecutive wins as a starting prop heading into the GF. He also played one game for Norths Devils mid-season so not sure what was doing there.
Four former students of Howick College are named in NRLW Finals squads. Leianne Tufuga and Mackenzie Wiki maintain their spots in the Raiders outside back group, while Sarina Masaga is on the bench for Titans and Aleksandra Tunufai is on the extened bench for Titans. Tunufai made her NRLW debut this season when she replaced Masaga earlier in the season and the Aussies don't know much about Aotearoa rugby league, so they didn't highlight how cool that moment was.
Tunufai probably won't play for Titans in their local derby vs Broncos, while Masaga can cover outside back positions as well as edge forward. The legend Georgia Hale is named at hooker for Titans and she will spend time as a small forward. Hale is in her best season of NRLW with a 10-1 record and she is in her fifth consecutive season tackling over 96% efficiency.
One of the most notable NRLWahine this season is Wainuiomata junior Fanua Rimoni who made her debut as an 18-year-old and has won all eight of her games this season. Rimoni played Farah Palmer Cup two years ago and this is a common theme throughout the NRLWahine ranks as they quickly excel in FPC before snapping up better career pathways in NRLW.
Rimoni has played 40+ minutes as a starting prop in seven of her eight games this season and she has no missed tackles in five games this season. She has Kiwi Ferns talent and is performing far better than the middle forwards at Warriors, so Rimoni should be in the mix for Aotearoa selection this year. Wellington is also churning out fantastic NRLW talent with the Tauaneai sisters also coming from Wainuiomata, along with Billie Va'a (Eels) and others like Randwick junior Te Raukura Leafe who was awesome for Roosters in NSW Women's Premiership this season.
Titans will play against Broncos who have Kerri Johnson (Kaikohe) and she is the only player from Northland left in NRL/NRLW Finals. Broncos also have Kiwi Fern Brianna Clark and probable Kiwi Fern Shannon Mato as their starting props. That's the challenge facing Rimoni in her first NRLW Finals game and she will have Hale working hard in the trenches with her.
Roosters have Kiwi Fern Otesa Pule at starting prop for their game vs Raiders and Amber Hall is on the bench. Along with the Howick College duo of Tufuga and Wiki, Raiders have Christchurch's Isabella Waterman on the wing and she is keeping Madison Bartlett out of the NRLW team, although Bartlett has been a hearty presence on the wing for Mounties in NSW Women's Premiership.
Zahara Temara is the only half under the NRLWahine umbrella left in finals footy as the halfback for Raiders and her move to represent Aotearoa adds more play-making depth to the mix. Her sister Chante is at hooker and we will have to wait to see if she will align with Kiwi Ferns as well, while Grace Kukutai continues her impressive season as a useful bench player for Raiders.
Mounties are playing Knights in the NSW Women's Premiership and as Knights were knocked out of NRLW Finals last week, Charley Lahmert is named to start at hooker. The Bell Block junior from Taranaki played five games of NRLW after starting this year in U19s for Knights and earned an NRLW debut because of her mahi in Women's Premiership so she will be a key player for Knights.
Fullback Botille Vette-Welsh has roots in Northland but chose to align with Australia and Cheyelle Robins-Reti is named on the wing for Knights having dipped away from NRLW footy this year. Shikynah Pearson joins Lahmert as the funkiest NRLWahine for Knights in reserve grade as she left Horowhenua to enter the Knights system and she's progressed from U19s to NSW Women's Premiership this year as a centre.
Kalyn Ponga, Greg Marzhew (Mangere East), Phoenix Crossland and Francis Manuleleua (Papatoetoe) are named again for Knights in NRL Finals. Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana (Mangere East) is part of the wider squad as well and all four teams in NRL Finals have edge forwards from Aotearoa in their squads.
Manuleleua is starting at edge forward for Knights and Panthers have Kiwis veteran Isaiah Papali'i (Te Atatu). Roosters have Salesi Foketi (Manurewa) and Siua Wong (Burnham/Manurewa) as their starting edge forwards, while Connelly Lemuelu (Tangaroa College) is named on the bench for Dolphins and he will come on to play edge forward with Max Plath likely to move to middle.
All those edge forwards aside from Papali'i have strong links back to South Auckland.
Jamayne Isaako (Aranui) is in his usual wing spot for Dolphins and he is the leading South Island player left in NRL Finals. Kodi Nikorima was a Burnham junior as well and he's in the halves for Dolphins, but Isaako was an elite rugby league and 1st 15 player in Christchurch before moving to enter the Sharks system.
Jeremy Marshall-King joins Crossland as Aotearoa dummy halves in NRL Finals this weekend, while another product of Tangaroa College in Benaiah Ioelu is part of the Roosters squad as a dummy half. Roosters also have Bay Roskill junior Naufahu Whyte at prop as he continues to fulfill the crazy potential he showed at Kelston Boys High School where he was a prefect, scholar and a 1st 15 midfielder.
Whyte and Moses Leota are the big donnnie Kiwi-NRL props left in NRL Finals. They are the only starting middle forwards from Aotearoa in finals footy this week and are among the elite forwards for Aotearoa Kiwis during the Pacific Championships era. Along with Leota and Papali'i, Panthers have Casey McLean at centre and he's locked in as a starting centre for Kiwis, while Scott Sorenson is in the Kiwis mix as well and he's likely to roll through the middle for Panthers.
All four teams in NRL Finals have efficient Kiwi-NRL pipelines. Dolphins entered the NRL with a recruitment drive of Aotearoa juniors and Naufahu is the best example but they have others like John Fineanganofo who made his NRL debut this year after leaving Auckland Grammar School to join the Dolphins system a few years ago.
Roosters do some of the best recruitment from Aotearoa. Including Ioelu, all four of their Kiwi-NRL juniors in the squad this week were recruited from New Zealand while they were still at school in Auckland. Their flexibility is evident in how Whyte, Foketi and Ioelu finished school in Aotearoa and Wong moved earlier to have a few years playing 1st 15 in Sydney.
Panthers have mainly snapped up Kiwi-NRL juniors from other systems and this stretches all the way from Papali'i to their NSW Cup group from Warriors and then Loza. Even a deep cut like Kaea Cribb who was part of their U19 team and on the fringe of U21s was recruited from Queensland after coming up through Te Iti Rearea in Waikato.
It should also be noted that Panthers have recruited a wave of wahine from Aotearoa even though they don't have an NRLW team. Players like Kahu Cassidy, Olive Connolly, Malena Lavea and Harmony Covacich have worked through the Panthers system and they have potential to play at the NRLW level.
Manuleleua opted to join Panthers after leaving school in Auckland with lots of buzz in both codes. He then moved to Knights to join Ponga and Marzhew who joined Knights from other NRL systems, while Crossland grew up in Newcastle. Knights are one of the most active organisations in recruiting from Aotearoa combining men and women, with Leaumoana a funky example as he grew up with Leka Halasima before crossing the ditch.
Others like Tamakaimoana Whareaorere (Te Puke), Te Kaio Cranwel (Linwood), Tom Perkins (Nelson College), Sosaia Latu (Mangere East), Xavier Lynch (Halswell) and Ryder Crosswell (Dannevirke) some of the stand out Kiwi-NRL juniors who left Aotearoa to join the Knights system.
Raiders and Broncos don't have many NRLWahine in their systems below NRLW, but Roosters and Titans make up for that. Other wahine from Aotearoa in the Roosters reserve grade mix include Manisha Seebeck (Hornby) and Luca-Bella Ngatuere-Ongley (Randwick). The Titans development system is evident in how Masaga has progressed since leaving Aotearoa, while Rimoni and Tunufai have earned NRLW opportunities from their mahi in reserve grade.
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