Kiwi-NRL Junior Spotlight: Under 19 Basics & The 1st 15 Pipeline
Under 19 footy has started in New South Wales and is starting this weekend in Queensland with a typically fantastic crop of Kiwi-NRL juniors involved. NZ Warriors have their U19s in SG Ball for the third time and while NZW also have an U17 outfit, the Kiwi-NRL Junior Spotlight will only focus on U19s and above.
The Kiwi-NRL Junior Spotlight doesn't care about wins and losses either. Some teams will have 19-year-olds in their SG Ball and Mal Meninga Cup squads, others will be giving those opportunities to younger players. At this level having older juniors can determine results and many of the best U19 players won't be playing much SGB/MMC.
Some of the best U19 Kiwi-NRL juniors spent the summer training with NRL squads and start the year in SGB/MMC as it's the best footy to play in February. This is especially the case in Queensland where U21 footy has been taken out of the equation. Kiwi-NRL juniors like Kylem Vunipola (Kia Ora), Ryder Williams (Marist), Elijah Rasmussen (WBHS) and Tevita Naufahu (St Kentigern College) are all named to start in MMC after having train/trial buzz with their respective NRL teams.
Vunipola is in the Broncos system and is named at centre for Wynnum. Williams is in the Titans system and is named in the halves for Tweed Heads. Naufahu is named at centre and Rasmussen is named at prop for Redcliffe as part of the Dolphins system.
Williams is joined by Tama Te Ahorangi Darlington (Waikato) as halves from Aotearoa named in MMC. Darlington doesn't have much rugby league information about him floating around but he was one of the best players for Waikato Under 18s last year in the Dean Bell Cup. Haami Loza (Mangere East/Otara) has moved up to SGB with Knights which means that three Kiwi-NRL junior halves are named in Queensland and New South Wales U19 footy.
Rasmussen is joined by Patrick Kailahi (Takahiwai) as starting props for Redcliffe. This is matched by Sharks rolling out two Kiwi-NRL juniors as their edge forwards in Manako Piutau (St Paul's College) and Pharrell Gray (Rongotai College).
To map out the Kiwi-NRL juniors in Australia and reinforce the idea that there are too many youngsters from Aotearoa for NZW to keep them all, here is a team made up of U19 Kiwi-NRL juniors in Australia...
Fullback: Mason Barber (Hokianga - Tweed)
Wingers: Sosaia Latu (Mangere East- Knights), Cheldon Hayward (Linwood - Bulldogs)
Centres: Kylem Vunipola (Kia Ora- Wynnum), Tevita Naufahu (St Kentigern College - Redcliffe)
Halves: Ryder Williams (Marist - Titans), Haami Loza (Mangere East/Otara - Knights)
Middles: Elijah Rasmussen (WBHS - Redcliffe), Patrick Kailahi (Takahiwai - Redcliffe), Javahn Stevenson-Hala (Dannevirke - Eels)
Edges: Manako Piutau (St Paul's College - Sharks), Pharrell Gray (Rongotai College - Sharks)
Hooker: Austin Marsters (Otahuhu - Burleigh)
Bench: Tama Darlington (Waikato - Burleigh), Sosaia Alatini (Hornby - Bulldogs), Te Kaio Cranwell (Linwood - Knights), Inga Kohukohu (HBHS - Bears)
Squad: Dakota Kakoi (Linwood - Eels), Levi Gwynne-Tuitahi (Kings College - Balmain), Sione Latu (Scots College - Sharks), Bailey Carmichael (RBHS - Knights)
Don't use that as a gauge of who the best players are or some sort of ranking, it’s just an exercise to highlight Aotearoa's rugby league abundance. The group listed above are all U19 and NZW have their own U19 team, meaning that there are at least 40 U19 Kiwi-NRL juniors doing their thing. I've missed some lads as well and some haven't been named yet (a few MMC teams aren't playing this weekend), so there is bound to be more.
Most Kiwi-NRL juniors played 1st 15 rugby union. This is the funkiest theme of Kiwi-NRL junior scouting and it's a complex storyline to break down. Aotearoa is the best sporting nation in the world and many youngsters play a variety of sports at high levels. Some lads played 1st 15 while also playing league for their schools or clubs.
1st 15 schools love to recruit from rugby league as well which means those youngsters benefit from being in highly visible spots where NRL scouts can spot their talents. Maori and Pacific Island rugby league is also a key factor here as 1st 15 players can compete in cultural rugby league tournaments where they can be scouted in league. Of course, many NRL teams recruit players with minimal/no league experience from 1st 15 as well.
All of which bolsters the depth of Aotearoa, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Cook Islands rugby league. So many factors are at work in this equation, yet the 1st 15 pipeline is just as productive for producing Kiwi-NRL youngsters as it is for rugby union (Super Rugby/NPC/NZR). One could make the argument that this reflects the changing nature of sport in Aotearoa and specifically in the rugby league/union bucket, the NRL pipeline is better for school leavers who have ambitions of being a professional footy player.
Keep in mind that NZR's deal with foreign investment could be viewed as a bit iffy right now. Rugby union is one of the few sports in Aotearoa where there is noise about a lack of crowds as well. NZR will never lack rugby union depth but the dirty secret is that 1st 15 footy is a certified Kiwi-NRL pipeline, just like the various rugby league pockets (club footy, schoolboy footy, Maori tournaments etc).
The Redcliffe props (Rasmussen and Kailahi) both played 1st 15 rugby with Kailahi playing for Hamilton Boys High School. Three players from last year's HBHS 1st 15 are now in the Kiwi-NRL mix with Caelys Putoko in the Titans system (Ipswich aren't playing MMC this weekend), along with Inga Kohukohu who is with North Sydney Bears and Hiraka Waitai-Haenga who is starting centre for NZW SGB.
Putoko and Naufahu were both in the NZ Schools rugby union team last year, months before entering NRL systems. The Sharks edge forward duo of Piutau and Gray both played 1st 15 rugby for St Paul's College and Rongotai College. Balmain centre Levi Gwynne-Tuitahi was the 1st 15 captain for Kings College last year. As a basic nugget to reinforce this theme, four players from the the HS Top 20 Rankings for 2023 are now in NRL systems.
Putoko was ranked second. Sione Latu was ranked seventh and while I don't have a certified Kiwi-NRL breakdown for Latu, it seems likely that the Sione Latu for Sharks SGB is the Sione Latu who played 1st 15 for Scots College last year. Sio Kali was ranked 13th while playing 1st 15 for St Paul's College and Naufahu was ranked 20th.
Those rankings don't matter though as NRL teams find value throughout 1st 15 rugby. To cover NZW SGB and continue the 1st 15 pipeline theme, let's dive into some key points for the U19 NZW team...
(Plenty of NZW NRL lads played 1st 15: Rocco Berry, Adam Pompey, Tom Ale, Ali Leiataua, Demitric Sifakula, Jacob Laban, Zyon Maiu'u, Leka Halasima, Tanner Stowers-Smith, Patrick Moimoi, Sanele Aukusitino, Etuate Fukofuka, Presley Seumanu-Tigafua, Eddie Ieremia etc)
NZW have Motu Pasikala at fullback for SGB. Pasikala left Tonga (where he may have played U19 football for Tonga) and joined Liston College 1st 15. This is similar to Eliesa Katoa who left Tonga to join Tamaki College 1st 15 - two schools that aren't trendy 1st 15 spots but have helped nurture talent.
Last round's wingers were Kali and Malakai Cama. Cama played 1st 15 for Rotorua Boys High School. NZW have named 'Nganaiaiafu' Vake at centre for both games but it seems like he is actually Nganatatafu Vake who played 1st 15 at RBHS and made the Chiefs U18 team last year, alongside Waitai-Haenga. Vake and Waitai-Haenga were the starting midfield for this Chiefs U18 game and now they are the starting centres for NZW SGB.
NZW halfback is Maui Winitana-Patelesio who played 1st 15 for St Pat's Silverstream and like many of these lads, did the union-league double as he also played league for Te Aroha in Wellington. This rounds out to six of the seven backs who were in the round tahi team for NZW SGB, played 1st 15 last year.
Another NZW wrinkle to tap in with is the young Aussies who have been recruited to move to Aotearoa and play junior footy for NZW. Jesse Soric (Byron Bay) is playing in the halves alongside Winitana-Patelesio and Tom Summer (Tweed Heads) is named on the extended bench this round as a middle forward. NZW also have Panthers junior Luke Hanson in the mix who will probably start in Jersey Flegg before moving into NSW Cup.
NZW have identified specific needs for their pipeline and are now able to recruit youngsters from Australia to plug those holes. This could be viewed as being at the expensive of local juniors, but some Kiwi-NRL lads want to move to Australia with or without whanau. NZW have an overflow of local juniors and there is enough Kiwi-NRL U19 junior talent to build out a squad based in Australia, so this feels more like NZW targeting specific skills under the two Andys.
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