Kiwi NRL Stocks: Round Three
Peace, Jason Nightingale wants peace, I want peace, let's stop killing each other ... it's a bit dumb ya know?
Stocks Up
Jason Taumalolo: The big lad scored a try in the Cowboys' demolition of the Roosters and had an excellent game through the middle, running for 179m off 15 carries in only 41 minutes of footy. Any time Taumalolo has that many carries, 5 tackle busts is standard business.
Antonio Winterstein: A try for the powerful winger to go with 184m running the footy off 17 carries which was the most of any outside back from either team in this game. Winterstein is a solid unit and long with nifty feet and some speed, he's difficult to handle.
Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Despite loosing the battle against Taumalolo, Taukeiaho was still the Roosters' best forward as he played the full 80 minutes at lock and ran for 122m off 17 carries with 3 tackle busts.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall: No coincidence that the Roosters best players in a heft loss were their Kiwis as Kenny-Dowall ran for 138m off 11 carries with a game high 10 tackle busts.
Kieran Foran: It shouldn't be a surprise that the Eels beat the Doggies rather convincingly and Kieran Foran played ... and played well. Foran averaged 11m with each carry thanks to 5 tackle busts and had a try assist, offering a steady hand to a team with plenty of talent.
Kenny Edwards: No Manu Ma'u for the Eels last week which meant Kenny Edwards had to step up, which he did as he played 80 minutes, ran for 116m, had 6 tackle busts, 28 tackles, an offload and a line break assits.
Danny Levi: The wee hooker Levi put in a mammoth shift for the Knights, playing 80 minutes and making 40 tackles to go with 119 touches of the footy. There was some razzle dazzle as well with 2 offloads coming via Levi.
Jordan Rapana: Each and every week Rapana serves up the goods for the Raiders and against the Knights it was no different. Rapana scored a try, ran for 100m, had a try assist, broke 6 tackles and squeezed an offload out for good measure. The consistency of Rapana's excellence could see him emerge as a smokey for the upcoming Kiwis squad even if there's a few kiwi wingers in the mix. Whatever you do, don't sleep on Rapana.
Iosia Soliola: Love the work from Soliola who does whatever Ricky Stuart requires and does it at a very high level. Soliola started on the edge and made 46 tackles to go with 127m, throw in a cheeky try as well.
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Joe Tapine: I reckon coach Stuart saved Tapine just for this game and Tapine didn't disappoint against his old club. Tapine only played 37 minutes - can't expect much more with the depth of the Raiders' roster - yet he had plenty of impact averaging 11.28 with each carry along with 3 tackle busts.
Peta Hiku: A slick try for Hiku as he snuck onto a grubber and Hiku was busy throughout the game with 16 carries for 123m, 3 tackle busts and most importantly, 6 offloads which enabled the Panthers to breakdown a rigid Broncos defence. The Panthers out-offloaded the Broncos 22-14 and Hiku had the most offloads of any Penrith player and Hiku's ranked 4th in offloads
Te Maire Martin: Benji Marshall has said that there are many more tricks in Martin's playbook and while he did win the game for Penrith, it wasn't an overly spectacular display from Martin. Solid, very solid though as Martin ran 11 times for 95m with 5 tackle busts ... and scored a try and kicked the winning field goal, on debut, but there's much more to come.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: Another 200m game for Mr 200, his third of the season which means every game this season has seen Mr 200 run for 200m. Tuivasa-Sheck had 231m off 22 carries (next best was Jesse Bromwich with 19 carries) and had 8 tackle busts which made him stand out like a sore thumb. As the current record holder for most metres in a season, Mr 200 is well on track to break his own record and he already leads the NRL in carries with 64 (next best is James Graham with 61) and run metres with 651m this season ... that's almost 100m better than Aaron Woods who is in 2nd place. After three games, Tuivasa-Sheck is already 91m clear of the rest of the NRL.
Jesse Bromwich: As expected, Bromwich returned home and put in a bartstorming shift in which he ran for 155m, had a try assist, broke 3 tackles, made 29 tackles and squeezed out 3 offloads. Bromwich had the most metres of any forward from the Storm and Warriors and was the only Storm forward to pass 100m.
Jazz Tevaga: Very solid debut for the Papakura Kid as he gave the Warriors a tough edge in the middle making 30 tackles, however there was also a nice attacking threat as Tevaga ran for 35m, broke a tackle and made 3 offloads.
Ben Matulino: It says a bit that Matulino was the Warriors' best forward, yet he was put in the shade by fellow Kiwi Bromwich. Matulino had 124m off 16 carries, broke a tackle and had 4 offloads.
Jason Nightingale: A beautiful try for the beautiful winger, everyone's favourite, Mr Nightingale. While he's one of the best finishers in the NRL, Nightingale also gets through a mountain of work; 139m, 19 carries, 5 tackle busts and 3 offloads ... best winger in the game? At least in the conversation.
Martin Taupau: Despite a silly swinging arm that should see Taupau on the sidelines for a few weeks, he was an absolute beast against the Sharks and his efforts on the left-edge with Steve Matai and Jorge Taufua has coincided with consistent improvements from Manly. Taupau played 80 minutes and ran for 165m thanks to the most carries of any Manly forward with 17. It's a pity that Taupau should miss some game time now as watching him and Matai bring the ruckus and develop their combination has been very fun.
Stocks Down
Sam Moa: Dominated through the middle by the Cowboys, Moa started the game and couldn't have the same influence as he did coming off the bench.
Curtis Rona: No try and less than 100m for Rona which is very much a rarity for the big Bulldogs winger.
Sam Kasiano: Some players don't feature in either Stocks Up or Stocks Down because they aren't standing out as being overly good or bad, they are solid. Kasiano seems to be the most erratic guy I follow as he's either putting up a freakish effort, worthy of Stocks Up or he's playing 30 minutes and running for 51m, missing 2 tackles and being rather ineffective. I love what Kasiano offers but too often he's unable to make the most of his freakish gifts.
Jordan Kahu: My favourite kiwi could only manage 72 running metres and 3 errors against Penrith, that's all he did. Sad face.
Jeff Lima: The big kiwi veteran let his lofty standards slip a bit which is more a nod to how awesome he's been to start the season. Lima could only manage 84m off 10 carries after easily passing 100m off the bench previously.
Shaun Johnson: Another confusing display from Johnson who hasn't quite settled into a clear role in this Warriors team. I view Johnson and Te Maire Martin as being fairly similar players and comparing their running stats is a big concern for Johnson and the Warriors. First though is the comparison between the teams as Martin's job was simple with Jamie Soward doing all the kicking, freeing up Martin just to concentrate on running and/or hitting a short ball. Johnson is still trying to do everything with the Warriors and he had 13 kicks while Jeff Robson - who should be controlling the game - had only one kick. Martin had 11 runs for 95m while Johnson only ran 4 times for 29m and if you were to ask me what is the strongest aspect of Johnson's game, it's obviously running the footy. Why he's not running it is beyond me and why he's trying to do everything is also very strange when Robson can take care of much of the nitty gritty halves stuff.
Leeson Ah Mau & Russell Packer: For the second week in a row, the Dragons kiwi front-row have struggled to impact the game. Against the Rabbitohs Ah Mau played 35 minutes and Packer played 30, which is a large part of the problem and isn't really their fault and they were overshadowed by epic performances from fellow middle forwards Mike Cooper and Jack de Belin.