Seven games into the NRL season and Aotearoa Warriors are right where this diary pondered they would be. Warriors grabbed three wins in a row and those three wins look slightly better now as Tigers have turned their corner, Broncos are ahead of Warriors via points difference, while Cowboys are 5th on the ladder. Three wins against similar teams to Warriors, followed by two games against the best NRL clubs of the modern era and two losses.

Warriors are now 11th on the ladder and this is the comfy abode Warriors folk know so well. There is a sniff of finals footy although it's just a sniff and there are a bunch of teams who are worse than Warriors on the field with drama dripping from how they have started the season. Nothing to start this season is any different to previous seasons. The reliability of nature is soothing.

Knights and Bulldogs have lost five games in a row. Broncos, Titans and Raiders are 1-4 in recent games. Warriors now face Raiders at the Redcliffe whare and while a funny viking clap type of situation would be far better at Mt Smart, the objective for Saturday evening's game is to generate enough fizz for Warriors fans to spark that up at Redcliffe.

First though, news came through this week that Warriors had signed Daejarn Asi from Cowboys in an immediate move for the rest of this season. That throws up a chance that this move will become a multi-year deal for Asi and the Aranui Eagles (Christchurch) junior has a chance to command further opportunities with Warriors.

Asi impressed in his debut campaign back during the flu season of 2020, but couldn't settle into a consistent role with Cowboys. Capable of playing a range of backline positions, Asi has played four games in the halves for one of the Cowboys reserve grade teams Mackay with a try, 2 try assists, a linebreak, 8 tackle busts and 83m/game running. Asi has a left-footed kicking game and his 190 kicking metres per game is the most of his five years in reserve grade (165km/game in 2021).

Asi will provide depth in the short-term and I'm curious about the bigger picture here as Asi fits into a few Warriors recruitment trends. The first trend is that Warriors have no problems recruiting Aussies or kiwis or anyone else. A narrative of the Warriors struggling to keep or sign Aussies as they will return to Aotearoa has floated around NRL yarns and that's not the case here. Warriors have signed three Aussies for their return to Aotearoa in Mitch Barnett, Luke Metcalf and Dylan Walker. Warriors have signed Marata Niukore to return to Mt Smart and now Asi has chance to seal his future.

No Peter O'Sullivan, no wucking forries.

Many of these recruits are versatile jokers. Metcalf and Walker cover many positions, while Niukore has played middle and edge forward as well as centre for a top-tier team in Eels. Asi made his debut in the halves and plugged holes at centre, plus fullback for Cowboys.

Asi and Metcalf also share years of reserve grade mahi. Asi has played five years of reserve grade in Queensland while in the Cowboys system and Metcalf first played reserve grade in New South Wales back in 2018 while with Sea Eagles, before moving to Sharks for 2021. These aren't lads who are fresh on the NRL scene, these lads are well acquainted with the footy grind and then there are other degrees of this with Niukore and Walker respectively.

These signings are quite different to the Stephen Kearney era that revolved around veterans. Warriors have a core group of players (Tohu Harris, Shaun Johnson, Addin Fonua-Blake etc) and there is a hearty wave of young Warriors, which leaves a void in the 'solid pro seeking opportunity' bracket.

The versatility idea is intriguing given the team named for this round vs Raiders. Rocco Berry and Viliami Vailea were the centre pairing for round tahi, now they are the wing pair with Jesse Arthars and Adam Pompey named at centre. Such versatility is crucial in winding through a season and the more footy these younger lads play, the more reliable they become as NRL troopers. Same with Taniela Otukolo who has been asked to play various roles early in his NRL career and instead of whinging about Warriors development, maybe it's better to support the local juniors who are stepping up to consistent NRL footy.

Raiders stink.

Warriors don't stink, they are volatile footy team. Warriors will be eager to move forward with their mahi and settle into their game plan against Raiders. Get back to basics with hefty forward mahi, Shaun Johnson dictating the tempo and executing the plays they want to. Raiders were rolled by Panthers and were viking clapped by the Panthers crowd, leaving them just as eager to make a statement in this game as the Warriors.

Bouncing back doesn't apply here as both these teams want to bounce back. This is a glorious bottom eight match up and both teams will be eager to stamp their authority on their bottom eight fellows.

Junior Warriors Mahi

If Daejarn Asi drops off the Warriors extended bench against Raiders, he will likely slide into the Redcliffe Dolphins Queensland Cup team. Rocco Berry has played one game in reserve grade at centre, Kina Kepu has played three games, Valingi Kepu has played two games and Junior Ratuva has played four games. Kina was the only Warriors junior who played reserve grade last weekend.

Eric Va'afusuaga played centre for Redcliffe Under 21s last round and is named alongside Ali Leiataua in the centres this week. Meanwhile, the Junior Warriors squad is on tour with their final stop being Rotorua on Saturday where they will play a local invitational team. This tour started last Saturday with a trip to Whangarei, then Tauranga yesterday and now Rotorua.

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Peace and love.