We've finally got an Aotearoa Warriors team to sink our teeth into for the round one clash at Mt Smart vs Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday and while it's a beautiful thing, there isn't a whole lot of juicy funk to satisfy my cravings.
Briton Nikora, Dylan Brown and Bailey Simonsson make their #KiwiNRL debuts, plus we have Jahrome Hughes, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Jordan Kahu sliding into fullback. Round tahi of the #KiwiNRL season is here!
Esan Marsters and Joseph Manu will have to develop to deal with more defensive attention, Benji and Benny will be fun to watch for Wests Tigers while the Roosters have plenty of #KiwiNRL depth.
Dylan Brown is the Parramatta Eels youngster everyone is talking about and he’s just another #KiwiNRL takeover example. Mawene Hiroti and Matt McIwlrick will be hoping Wayne Bennett loves them at the Rabbitohs and what can Jason Taumalolo do to maintain his nek level work for North Queensland Cowboys.
Just like Brandon Stark learned from the Three Eyed Raven, Brandon Smith continues his journey in learning from Cameron Smith at Melbourne Storm. The stars have also aligned for Jahrome Hughes, while Newcastle Knights have a low key beast in Herman Ese’ese.
Cruz Topai-Aveai is from Christchurch and could be one to watch for Cronulla Sharks and Moeaki Fotuaika will definitely hit a nek level for Gold Coast Titans (he could make Tonga better!).
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is hunting for a Canberra Raiders fullback gig, Reimis Smith and Ofahiki Ogden want to build on last season for Canterbury Bulldogs and a new Brisbane Broncos coach could help Kodi Nikorima go nek level.
Not long to go now until Aotearoa Warriors spark up their 2019 NRL season and the last piece of business has been sussed with 29 players listed in their NRL contract gang.
The NRL season has snuck up on us and as we near our first taste of 2019 Aotearoa Warriors, don't expect too many dramatic team selections for round tahi.
NRL trials give us a minor insight into who has worked themselves on to the fringes of NRL selection in 2019 and for our #KiwiNRL perspective, that means a new crop of funky prospects.
The second NRL trial is always a wee bit more important than the first, although I must stay straight up and remind youz that trials are trials.
Having only recently truly explored how important Issac Luke could be to Aotearoa Warriors this season, Parramatta Eels apparently explored an avenue to snap up Luke prior to the start of this season.
Aotearoa Warriors reserve grade coach Nathan Cayless has dropped his first team list for 2019 as the reserves head down to Christchurch where they will face Canterbury Bulls on tomorrow (Saturday).
I'm not going to offer any great insight into the trial performances of Aotearoa Warriors, nor will I try spot any trends in how the various trial squads are selected. The first trial squad to face Melbourne Storm over in Australia though, does present immense funk.
Regardless on your views, or mine on how silly the NRL's player market is and how it's nothing more than a year-long buffet, I low key love it because it can throw up situations like Jordan Kahu moving from Brisbane Broncos to North Queensland Cowboys in February.
Imagine going from being a promising NRL winger still sussing out this professional rugby league stuff in 2017, to then being so damn good that you are one of the few players to start all five Tests for Aotearoa Kiwis in 2018.
All Stars weekend and NRL trials mean that the NRL season is fast approaching, yet the World Club Challenge is where we'll get the funkiest #KiwiNRL insight this weekend.
Aotearoa Warriors have released all round lovely bloke Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, allowing for Nicoll-Klokstad to move to Canberra Raiders in pursuit of more NRL minutes.
Remember when the biggest issue at Mt Smart last year was whether to re-up on Issac Luke and if so, how long for? Aotearoa Warriors took their time in dealing with Luke and everyone had a view on Luke's value, making it a fairly hefty yarn for a few weeks.
As Blake Green anchors the play-making duties for Aotearoa Warriors, there is a nice splash of clarity with regards to who his halves partner will be this season.