RED AND BLACK REPORT 2023: EDITION NO.11

August 1, 2023 / Will Evans

RED AND BLACK REPORT 2023: EDITION NO.11

August 1, 2023 / Will Evans

The Red and Black Report shines a spotlight on Canterbury Rugby League products featuring in Australia’s elite and lower-grade competitions.

NRL

Dolphins winger Jamayne Isaako continues to head the NRL’s pointscoring charts with 183 points from 16 tries and 59 goals.

The Aranui junior scored a sizzling 80-metre solo try against Canterbury-Bankstown on Sunday, but the Bundaberg encounter ended in heart-break for the Dolphins as Isaako’s last-minute sideline conversion attempt swung wide in a crucial 23-22 loss.

Returning to five-eighth for the Dolphins in Round 22 after another stint at fullback, Burnham Chevaliers junior Kodi Nikorima produced a line-break and laid on the last try against the Bulldogs.

Aranui product Daejarn Asi has played eight straight games in the halves for Parramatta, lining up at five-eighth in losses to North Queensland and Melbourne in the past fortnight.

Asi is vying to retain a spot in the Eels’ 17 following the impending return of suspended Kiwi Test five-eighth Dylan Brown this week.

Twenty-year-old forward and ex-Burnham Chevalier Siua Wong made his third NRL appearance in Round 21, coming off the bench for 14 minutes in Sydney Roosters’ 36-18 defeat of Gold Coast Titans.

Hornby junior Fa’amanu Brown made a mid-season switch from Canterbury-Bankstown to Newcastle last week.

The hard-working utility made five NRL appearances for the Bulldogs this year – taking his career tally to 54 games in the top grade – and will look to force his way into the line-up for the in-form Knights, his fourth NRL club.

Burnham Chevaliers junior Jazz Tevaga is expected back from injury for the high-flying Warriors this week.

The 114-game veteran was in tremendous form before being cut down by a calf injury in the Round 8 loss to Melbourne on Anzac Day.

NSW CUP

Fa’amanu Brown marked his last appearance for Canterbury-Bankstown with a try, 17 runs for 125 metre and 31 tackles at lock in a 40-16 loss to Penrith, underlining the quality and industriousness Newcastle has gained.

Brown was fast-tracked into the Knights’ NSW Cup line-up last week, making 26 tackles and five runs in 47 minutes off the bench in a 36-24 loss in Canberra.

Warriors SG Ball captain and Halswell front-rower Tanner Stowers-Smith earned his first NSW Cup run-on appearance against Canberra in Round 21. The tyro played the first 22 minutes of the nail-biting 21-20 win at Mt Smart, making three hit-ups and 10 tackles.

Halswell product Joseph Taipari was back at five-eighth for Sydney Roosters in Round 21, making a line-break and 74 metres in a 32-16 loss to his former club Parramatta.

Taipari produced a line-break assist and 69 running metres in a 26-16 defeat of the Bulldogs last Friday, rejoined in the Roosters’ line-up by former Burnham Chevaliers junior and recent NRL debutant Siua Wong, who starred with a try and a game-high 241 metres from lock.

QLD CUP

Former Hornby and Canterbury Bulls engine-room powerhouse Caius Faatili made his 10th Queensland Cup appearance of 2023 for Wynnum Manly Seagulls in a dramatic 30-28 eclipse of Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Despite starting off the bench, Faatili churned out a game-high 221 metres from 16 runs and racked up five tackle-breaks in 37 minutes on the park.

Jayden Nikorima, who turned out for Burnham Chevaliers as a junior, was a standout at halfback in Falcons’ loss to the Seagulls on Saturday.

The livewire produced two line-breaks and two try assists along with 95 running metres.

Northern Bulldogs product Sheldon Pitama’s Redcliffe Dolphins return to action on Saturday after two weekends off.

JERSEY FLEGG

Riccarton prop K-Ci Newton Whare – whose father, Vince Whare, was a stalwart for Riccarton and Canterbury – continues to hold down a bench spot in Melbourne Storm’s Jersey Flegg side, coming off the pine in back-to-back 26-18 losses to the Dragons and Eels.

Hornby forward Felix Faatili has cemented an interchange role in fourth-placed Cronulla Sharks’ line-up, coming off the bench in a win over the Sea Eagles and a narrow loss to the Panthers to extend his run in the side to five consecutive matches.

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