Plenty of young #KiwiNRL talent under the Finals microscope this weekend; Marata Niukore, Dylan Brown, Briton Nikora, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Joseph Tapine, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jahrome Hughes, Brandon Smith and Joseph Manu.
The only word to describe Aotearoa Warriors right now is weird and they will thankfully wrap up their 2019 season this weekend, while Canterbury Cup and Jersey Flegg couldn't crack finals footy so they are already chillin'.
Ngaruawahia’s Morgan Harper is named to make his debut for the Bulldogs, two prospects from St Pauls are close to cracking NRL footy for Newcastle Knights and it’s an almighty #KiwiNRL clash between Benji Marshall and Shaun Johnson for a taste of Finals footy.
Plenty of buzz has been hovering around the young forwards at Brisbane Broncos, none of whom have genuine #KiwiNRL ties other than Payne Haas spending time with Aotearoa Warriors earlier in his youth.
Offering an opinion on any type of drama at Mt Smart is a tedious task, even more so when Aotearoa Warriors aren't offering anything on the field to genuinely discuss.
NRLW is approaching and there have been a few warm up nuggets to explore as the four teams prepare for the second installment of NRLW.
Is Kodi Nikorima still a starting Kiwis half? Or should that job go to Kieran Foran, Dylan Brown, Benji Marshall or Jahrome Hughes? Marata Niukore and Braden Hamlin-Uele are also blowing down the Kiwis selection door and the Roosters have yet another exciting #KiwiNRL prospect coming through.
Aotearoa Warriors been losing and all the wrong noises have been coming out of Mt Smart as the 2019 season winds up.
This last cluster of NRL games for Aotearoa Warriors might as well all be must win games and when you're hunting 2 points, the last team you want to encounter is Sydney Roosters.
Marata Niukore keeps on impressing with Parramatta Eels, Morgan Harper’s nearing a #KiwiNRL debut for Bulldogs, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Jesse Bromwich are still among the best and what a week for the Turner brothers.
Throughout the 2019 NRL season, Aotearoa Warriors have struggled to extract enough x-factor out of their edge forwards and we now sit in a niggly spot where Adam Blair and Isaiah Papali'i reflect the lack of identity or playing style of the Warriors.
Prior to an impressive win over Manly Sea Eagles on Friday night, it had been written that the Aotearoa Warriors were stuck in a little roster building hole.
Kenny Bromwich vs Sam Burgess, Dylan Brown vs Mason Lino and an almighty battle up the guts for Raiders vs Roosters.
Regardless of what is happening at Mt Smart, there is a high quality #KiwiNRL presence at the top of the NRL ladder as well as a sneaky wave of young lads making waves around the NRL.
Unfortunately for Aotearoa Warriors, the Mt Smart graveyard isn't where other teams come to get their souls snatched by a rampant Warriors team and instead, it's where the Warriors wander around aimlessly.
Tonight, Aotearoa Warriors host Canberra Raiders at Mt Smart in a game that is likely to define the 2019 NRL campaign for the Warriors.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad returns to Auckland as a new whole new creature, Jesse Bromwich jumped on a podcast with Sandor Earl and Jirah Momoisea is lurking for his Newcastle Knights debut.
Late in the NRL season, sniffing around the top-eight and leaving your Finals hopes in the hands of referees. Sound familiar?
Clubs are sussing their final squads for 2019 NRLW and we’ve got the updates on which #KiwiNRL Wahine have been signed.
The best thing about NRL footy at this stage of the season is that teams either back up their talk by winning and cracking finals footy, or they stumble.