Aotearoa Warriors are still loitering around the NRL top-eight after a 20-24 win against Newcastle Knights and the combination of promising signs as well as same old niggly issues makes for a jumbled wrap up.
Newcastle Knights used to be a team that Aotearoa Warriors could bank 2 points against, which was only because the Knights were on a journey to get to where they are now.
Shaun Johnson’s rolling through the same ol’ stuff, Michael Chee Kam is Mr Clutch and Mason Lino comes up against his former team with all sorts of opportunities ahead of him.
There should have been no way that Aotearoa Warriors could have lost Sunday's game to Penrith Panthers and yet, kinda desperately seeking a win, the Warriors gave the game up to Penrith.
Ahead of a niggly encountered against Penrith Panthers, Aotearoa Warriors have had a busy ol' week in terms of sussing out their roster and things might get even funkier in the last few days of June.
Jamayne Isaako’s out of action, Braden Hamlin-Uele is a starter and we’ve got another #KiwiNRL half back in the NRL with Northland’s Dylan Brown making a return from injury.
Having emphatically denied any speculation about a possible move to Melbourne Storm, Solomone Kata has signed with Melbourne Storm.
Once Tonga's initial wider squad had been narrowed down to a group of 17 for their game vs Aotearoa Kiwis, it became clear that regardless of what happened at Mt Smart on Saturday night, Tonga would be all good.
Tonight, State of Origin's game two will go down in Perth and the inter-state angst fueled by Aussies being Aussies will look nothing like Aotearoa vs Tonga.
Look past the surface-level niggle of Aotearoa vs Tonga and you'll find an intriguing contest rooted in two contrasting ways of playing footy.
Aotearoa Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has trimmed his extended squad down to a group of 19 to face Tonga on Saturday, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak retained as skipper.
Among the representative round fixtures this weekend is a buffet of women’s rugby league headlined by Aotearoa vs Fetu Samoa.
Aotearoa Warriors grabbed a win in the NRL over Gold Coast Titans, then the reserve graders followed suit to defeat Wentworthville Magpies 26-16 yesterday while Jersey Flegg Warriors went down 24-32 to Parramatta Eels.
On the back of Tonga and Aotearoa naming their wider squads, as well as 19-wahine Kiwi Ferns squad, Martin Taupau announced that he would be returning to represent Samoa.
Well, I wanted a 'do whatever, just win the game' type of effort from Aotearoa Warriors and that's exactly what we got in their 24-20 win over Gold Coast Titans.
Aotearoa Warriors fans and casual bang-wagoners would probably, generally feel like the Warriors are a step above Gold Coast Titans in the NRL hierarchy.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has been named among a growing #KiwiNRL Bulldogs whanau, Briton Nikora faces a tough encounter ahead of Kiwis selection and some freakish numbers from Jason Taumalolo.
As we lead into Aotearoa Kiwis vs Tonga, there are still a bunch of intriguing selection moves to be made by Kiwis coach Michael Maguire.
I take it as my job to create Aotearoa Warriors optimism, which in itself is a weird old task given that I'm not relaying or passing on the optimism, I genuinely have to try and create the positive vibes.
Noise of some possible Aotearoa Warriors departures has dripped out in recent days and we have plenty of Warriors funk in the Canterbury Cup and Jersey Flegg squads selected to host Dragons and Victoria Thunderbolts respectively.