To start 2020, Aotearoa Warriors rolled out their first Under 18 team in New South Wales Rugby League's SG Ball competition. The Warriors played six games before the universe kicked up a pandemic fuss and that left the Warriors 3rd with a 4-2 record in NSW premier junior competition. This was quickly flipped into the Redcliffe Dolphins connection, resulting in Warriors having Redcliffe teams to place their juniors in but without their own junior teams to cover all their bases.

The Warriors had their own SG Ball team for example, which then became a few players in Redcliffe's U18 team. The Warriors and players had to suss out what was best for them. This basically meant that the Warriors went from providing SG Ball level of competition for 20-ish players to cutting that down to invest in fewer players at Redcliffe. Some players were better off staying in Aotearoa, while others went to Australian clubs to continue their development.

Let's start with the 2020 NZ Warriors SG Ball players who played for Redcliffe this year and/or NRL.

They joy of SG Ball is that it goes down prior to the NRL season, so Warriors could give their contracted juniors high level rugby league before they played 1st 15 for their respective schools. That was the case with Viliami Vailea who went from SG Ball to Aorere College 1st 15 and then to Redcliffe U21s, Redcliffe Intrust Super Cup and NRL in just over 12 months. Taniela Otukolo joins Vailea in playing SG Ball to start 2020, then NRL in 2021.

Sebastyan Jack played in the halves for Warriors SG Ball. Jack then started 2021 with Redcliffe U18s and that's a good development jump for a complex position in the halves. Jack was joined in the Mal Meninga Cup competition by Eric Va'asufusa who played SG Ball then Kings College 1st 15 in 2020. Va'afusuaga then graduated up to Redcliffe U21s and was joined by Daeon Amituanai and Lleyton Finau in playing most of the Hasting Deering Colts campaign.

Kina and Lingi Kepu feel like the most notable duo to highlight. The Kepu twins started in SG Ball last year and worked their way through Redcliffe U21s to finish the year playing in ISC against fringe NRL forwards. That's a fantastic gauge of their abilities and as we have already seen Vailea and Otukolo swiftly progress through the Queensland pipeline, the Kepu twins appear to be cut from the same cloth.

Zyon Maiu'u was highlighted by the Warriors themselves when it was announced that he and Jacob Laban were signed to fresh Warriors contracts. Given that there were no such announcements for Vailea, Otukolo or the Kepu twins, this was a weird move. Kelston Boys High School is one of the hottest footy schools in Aotearoa and there is a clear Warriors connection here with the Autex owners heavily involved in KBHS sports. Maiu'u played 2020 SG Ball and was one of a few who stayed in Aotearoa for 2021.

Maiu'u spent this year playing 1st 15 for KBHS who won the Auckland competition. Laban had been shipped up to KBHS from Wellington after the SG Ball competition so he didn’t play, while Tony Tafa is the other notable KBHS product. Maiu'u and Tafa both played Warriors SG Ball with a year left of high school, so the best move was to keep them in school in Aotearoa.

Maiu'u is obviously a contracted Warriors player, while we'll have to wait and see what happens with Tafa who was recently named in the Aotearoa Schools rugby union squad. These two could offer two more young, beastly forwards to the Warriors depth that already has the Kepu twins leading that pack. A prop in union and middle forward in league, Tafa's future will become clear later this summer.

Speaking of the 2021 Aotearoa Schools rugby union squad...

Francis Manuleluea did not play Warriors SG Ball but was part of Future Warriors (U16) while playing 1st 15 for Kings College. Having been a standout in Future Warriors footy, Manuleleua was also named in the 2021 Schools union squad. Two more schoolboy union squads were announced by NZ Rugby with Tamakaimoana Whareaorere named in the U18 Maori team via Rotorua Boys High School after he had officially joined the Warriors system earlier this year.

The Barbarian U18 squad featured Jeremiah Asi from St Peter's College in Auckland and Asi was a regular feature in the Warriors SG Ball team. Another RBHS product Tamiro Armstrong was named in the Barbarians squad and he also played Warriors SG Ball after he moved up from Rotorua to Auckland to play 1st 15 for Auckland Grammer. Armstrong moved back to RBHS this year, so I'm not sure of his footy status.

All three NZR rep teams feature some kind of Warriors connection. Tafa, Armstrong and Asi all played SG Ball, while Manuleleua has been a decorated Warriors junior and Whareaorere is set to link up with Warriors.

Ali Leiataua played fullback for the SG Ball Warriors and he played another year of 1st 15 rugby for Kings College this year. Leiataua was joined by Carlos Tarawhiti, Maiu'u and Tafa in Auckland's Under 20s teams for the NZRL National U20s competition earlier this year. We know Maiu'u is a certified Warriors junior, while the fact that Leiataua, Tarawhiti and Tafa all played for Auckland U20s teams while being much younger leads me to believe they are still aligned with Warriors.

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