Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Paul Turner's Titans Foundations
In his last game of the season and his first game back at Mt Smart since joining Gold Coast Titans, Paul Turner snatched a win away from his former team.
In his last game of the season and his first game back at Mt Smart since joining Gold Coast Titans, Paul Turner snatched a win away from his former team.
Manly Sea Eagles have graced two Auckland wingers with Kiwi-NRL debuts this season as Marist Saints junior Raymond Tuaimalo-Vaega grabbed his first NRL game in a hefty loss to Raiders.
Cronulla Sharks are quietly on the rise as a Kiwi-NRL club with the same development mahi evident in Ronaldo Mulitalo, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Briton Nikora flowing into the rise of Kayal Iro.
NRLWahine round two is headlined by an almighty Kiwi-NRL match up between defending champions Roosters and Broncos, plus Gayle Broughton faces off against the classy Emma Tonegato.
Earlier this year we dropped a Kiwi-NRL Spotlight about Dylan Brown's steady development and since then, Brown has settled into his best season of NRL footy.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona has been a middle forward monster for eight seasons with Melbourne Storm and as the Bromwich brothers are often overlooked as influential Storm figures, it is no surprise that Asofa-Solomona's excellence also creeps under the radar.
NRLWahine footy is back for another season this year with a trio of Kiwi-NRLWahine helping Roosters defend their championship, plus Gayle Broughton is primed to takeover.
Aotearoa Warriors have had plenty of turnover in their halves department this year and Aranui junior Daejarn Asi is not only battling for game time right now, he is hunting for future opportunities.
A young bloke from Tokoroa rolled out one of the greatest international rugby league performances a few weeks ago and since then, Joseph Manu has slotted straight back into hearty mahi with Sydney Roosters.
Brisbane Broncos were upset by Tigers this weekend and while that ruined the vibe a wee bit, Marist Saints junior Deine Mariner looked far too comfortable in his Kiwi-NRL debut.
Whether it was the alignment of stars over Aotearoa or an open minded god offering divine intervention, Otahuhu's Alfred Smalley was graced with a Kiwi-NRL debut for Manly Sea Eagles.
Marist Saints junior Sitili Tupouniua was grinding through another Kiwi-NRL season with a starting edge forward spot for Tonga at the World Cup in his sights, before he suffered a major knee injury with Sydney Roosters.
Griffin Neame started this season as a low key North Queensland Cowboys trooper and apart from playing nearly every game since, nothing has changed for the Greymouth geezer.
Aotearoa Warriors now embark on the final stretch of pandemic niggle and like the elongated flu, pandemic niggle is a slow moving beast.
After starting this year in dominant fashion, perhaps even better fashion than his award-winning campaign last year, Isaiah Papali'i (Te Atatu) continues to embrace his potential with Parramatta Eels.
Kiwi-NRL mana doesn't get much more emphatic than Hornby junior Fa'amanu Brown back playing footy with Wests Tigers after a long injury break.
Marata Niukore has only played seven Kiwi-NRL games this season and those seven games have seen the Mangere East junior start in five different positions.
Xavier Willison and Deine Mariner have returned to reserve grade footy in Queensland over the past few weeks, before popping up in the Brisbane Broncos squad for this round of Kiwi-NRL footy.
The return of Aotearoa Warriors to Mt Smart was also the first time those poor ol' Aussie NRL teams had to travel outside their little bubbles and for Wests Tigers debutant Austin Dias, that's glorious Kiwi-NRL alignment.
Aotearoa Warriors return to Mt Smart to face Wests Tigers on Sunday and we all know better than to break down what might happen.