Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Xavier Willison The Blossoming Big Bopper
Aotearoa has plenty big boppers on the rise towards NRL, but Xavier Willison leads a pack of forwards who have already dabbled in NRL mahi and are chasing a breakout 2024 campaign. Willison made his debut in 2021 after being recruited by Brisbane Broncos from Aotearoa in another example of nifty Broncos business.
Broncos only deal in top notch Kiwi-NRL youngsters and sometimes that means going deep in the mangroves to find lads like Willison. The mana of Broncos saw them pick up Jordan Riki a few years ago as a high pedigree Kiwi-NRL junior who was in demand, yet Broncos have also invested in Willison and Deine Mariner who had far less representative honours than Riki in Aotearoa.
Mariner's Kiwi-NRL pathway has been covered in depth by The Niche Cache and he is named on the wing to start this season. Willison had a similar journey to Mariner as his most notable junior mahi came while playing for Wai-Coa-Bay Under 15 which led to selection in the 2017 Under 15 National Youth Tournament Merit team. That serves as the only note about Willison's rise in Aotearoa and Broncos have now updated his NRL profile to list Willison as a Whatawhata Wolves junior.
Whatawhata is a small town west of Hamilton and Willison appears to hail from Taharoa, while spending time at Hamilton Boys High School before moving to Palm Beach Currumbin High School on the Gold Coast. The Willison whanau has deep roots in the Waikato region, specifically Taharoa which is brewing as a hot pocket of Kiwi-NRL mahi with Aotearoa Warriors homies Te Maire Martin and Taine Tuaupiki also hailing from Taharoa.
Willison played four games over two seasons before his seven appearances last year. This included the Broncos vs NZ Warriors game in Napier last year where Willison returned to Aotearoa. The Broncos forward pack was and is stacked with talent, which along with injuries has limited Willison to sporadic appearances and no consistency in his role. Now Willison is a top-17 Bronco for their opening game against Roosters.
Throughout his journey with Broncos, Willison has been dominant in Queensland Cup. Willison entered Q Cup averaging 97m/game across seven games in 2021, which grew slightly to 101m/game in his nine appearances for 2022. Last year was a bit tricky as Broncos weaved through Q Cup niggle with changes to their affiliated teams, meaning Willison made a mid-season switch from Norths Devils where Willison had settled in his first three years, to Wynnum Manly Seagulls.
Willison changed Q Cup teams but nothing changed in his footy...
Norths: 8 games, 1 try, 13 tackle breaks, 3 offloads, 138 tackles @ 95%, 140m/game
Wynnum: 5 games, 2 tries, 12 tackle breaks, 3 offloads, 120 tackles @ 91%, 141m/game
Willison flashed his ability in 24 minutes for Aotearoa Maori in the All Stars game. Willison had 8 runs - 103m @ 12.8m/run, 4 tackle breaks and 14 tackles @ 93% as the only Aotearoa forward to average over 11m/run. The potential for Willison is obvious, offering the size and mobility combo that every NRL team wants. Hitting a consistent bench role is ideal for Willison this season and this would bolster the Kiwi-NRL flavour of the Broncos, who have Willison, Riki, Mariner and Jesse Arthars in their top-17 to face Roosters.
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