In Part 1 of the NYC Grand Final Insider we took a look at the 9 forwards that will take the fight to the Manly Sea Eagles through the middle and on the edges. Now in Part 2 we will shift the focus to Parramatta’s dynamic back line and just how they will be able to influence the result on Sunday.
Injuries and promotions to the Intrust Super Premiership resulted in the Eels having a lot of moving pieces in the back line throughout 2017. Tui Afualo (11 games, 3 tries), Emosi Alamoti (10 games, 9 tries) and Haze Dunster (10 games, 9 tries) all played significant roles throughout the season for Luke Burt but will take no part in Sunday’s decider. Their valuable contributions helped position the Eels for their charge in the post-season and they deserve plenty of credit – especially given that Afualo and Dunster also qualified for the SG Ball.
The four young men that will line up on the wing and in the centres on Sunday present a fascinating dichotomy. On the one hand you have our right edge of Dane Aukafolau and Greg Leleisiuao and on the other we will see Noel Aukafolau and John Fonua line up on the left. Our right centre and winger are both set to graduate from the Holden Cup at the completion of the Grand Final while our left centre and winger are two more members of the exciting young cadre of talent that were eligible for SG Ball this year.
Dane and Greg will enter the game as two of the premier backs in the entire competition. Greg having earned selection in the Holden Cup Team of the Year after a statistically jaw-dropping season while Dane spent the vast majority of the season playing up a grade against the seasoned veterans in the ISP.
Noel and John have earned their stripes this year, racking up plenty of tough experience on the job. After taking some early lumps and hard lessons they have emerged through the other side and now look like they genuinely belong in the grade. Make no mistakes about it – they deserve their starting spots in this year.
So without any further ago, let’s jump into the individual breakdowns of the Parramatta back line!
#2 – greg leleisiuao
It is difficult to do justice to precisely how dominant Greg Leleisiuao has been in the Holden Cup in 2017. In a mere 21 games, Leleisiuao has compiled a staggering 4511 running metres from just 325 carries. That averages out to an absolutely obscene 13.88m per run. Throw in a ‘measly’ 20 tries, 30 line breaks and 233 (!) tackle breaks and you can see why Fox Sports commentators are lavishing praise on this powerhouse winger.
Let me put it his way. In a given NYC game you can expect Leleisiuao to produce the following (give or take a bit):
- 15 runs
- 214m
- 1 line break
- 1 offload
- 11 tackle breaks
- 1 try
Greg has been has been a tour de force this year.
While he does plenty of damage down his native right edge, the Eels have found creative ways to deploy their offensive dynamo. From looking to pick off tiring forwards through the middle to set pieces around the goal posts, Luke Burt has found plenty of ways to get his star winger involved throughout games.
Physically, Leleisiuao is an incredible specimen. At ~180cm he is facing a height handicap in his wing match-up in most given weeks. The flip side to this is that he is built like a freaking tank. A tank that can seriously move. Greg runs with an usually wide base heading into contact and utilises outstanding foot speed to make incisive cuts and create leverage off defenders while in contact.
Seriously, check out what he did against the Tigers at the start of the year and remember that this is not an infrequent occurrence…
Mind you, Leleisiuao still has plenty of work to do in the upcoming preseason. I do not believe that he will simply walk into Semi Radradra’s vacant wing spot like the Fox Sports commentators from the Parramatta/Penrith Grand Final qualifier would have you believe. Of course his amazing body of work this year will thrust him into the thick of that positional battle in the near future but for now he looms as one of the genuine keys to victory for the Eels on Sunday.
#3 – Dane Aukafolau
The second member of Parramatta’s blockbuster right-edge (and elder brother to Noel Aukafolau), Dane Aukafolau is every bit the physical specimen that Greg Leleisiuao is – albeit a tad more conventionally! Standing in at an imposing 193cm and billed at 95kg, Dane is still yet to max out his considerable frame but is a menace to opposition defences none the less.
Dane’s 2017 NYC campaign was intermittently disrupted by promotions to the ISP. As a result he only has 15 Holden Cup caps to his name – 2 of which came in the finals. While his numbers might not be as dazzling as his outside man, Aukafolau is still a hugely productive weapon for the Eels. He averages ~12 runs and ~130m a game this year while he has broken the line 12 times, scored 9 tries, broken 73 tackles and created 4 try assists and 5 line break assists.
Although he is prone to the odd lapse like all NYC backs, Dane is an above average defender for the grade and generally reads the play quite well.
Like Leleisiuao, Dane Aukafolau looms as one of the pillars for a potential Parramatta victory this Sunday. In an exceedingly young team he is one of the true senior figures. If the game ends up going down to the wire you can almost take it to the bank that the ball will be thrown towards the right edge where he and Greg will be called into action.
#4 – Noel Aukafolau
If you can believe it, Noel Aukafolau (the youngest Aukafolau) is the third Aukafolau to come through the juniors at Parramatta. While I have already touched on Dane just above their eldest brother Erick Aukafolau (also a centre/winger) had his promising career ended before it ever truly got into gear due to a brutal leg injury sustained in the NYC.
This is a family with some serious back line pedigree.
While he is currently shorter than big brother Dane, Noel is still well built for a centre. Factor in a two year age gap between the brothers and Noel is positioned for a long and fruitful career in the 20s (even as it transitions to a state based competition in 2018).
While Noel is beginning to assert himself in attack it is his defence that has really caught my eye this year. In Week 1 of the finals, Noel was tasked with marking Holden Cup Centre of the Year Jesse Ramien. Ramien has thoroughly dominated both the NYC and ISP this year – earning a NRL debut in the process – and you could forgive the 18-year-old Noel for slipping up once or twice against such a difficult opponent. Never mind any forgiveness, Noel didn’t just hold his own in that game – he shut Ramien down.
In a huge defensive effort from the entire team that game that really stood out for mine. Oh and did I mention Noel only turned 18 this year? Go get it young man!
#5 – John Fonua
A fullback through his District Representatives career, John Fonua has carved out a role on the left wing for the Eels this year. Never one to get flustered, Fonua is as relaxed a footballer as you will come across!
John is one of the 8 SG Ball eligible players to be graded in the Holden Cup this year and although I have said it quite a few times throughout the year I honestly feel like I really can not overstate how impressive a leap it is for these young men to play such focal roles in the NYC at the age of 18 (or younger). I would actually be really keen to find out how the 8 total 18-year-olds and 4 18-year-old starters in the Grand Final compares historically.
After some early season struggles under the high ball, Fonua has broken into a nice run of form of late. A slippery kick-returner and prolific try scorer (15 tries to date), Fonua’s gradual transition from fullback to winger is now paying dividends for Luke Burt.
I don’t know how many trick shots the Eels will pull in the Grand Final but I have seen some seriously cute stuff this year featuring both the named flankers. It is something worth keeping an eye on come Sunday!
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTORS
- Tui Afualo
- Emosi Alamoti
- Haze Dunster
Commentators and pundits are rightly impressed with Leleisiuao’s attacking ability – he is surely already at NRL level in this facet of his game. But NRL games are lost by weak links in defence, and there must be a reason why Leleisiuao played so little ISP this year. I look forward to seeing his continued improvement though. He is obviously a massive talent.
Definitely Pou, it is the facet of his game that I will be by far away the most eager to see any improvement in over the preseason.
Encouragingly, he has shown plenty of willingness to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty rucking it out and helping his forwards. Obviously it doesn’t translate to being able to develop his defence but it does show that he won’t shirk hard work if it means bettering the team. That sort of attitude is needed if he is to take the next step.
Hey guys. Great work again. Do you think Greg will end up a centre with his build? With Tui, he was seen as the next big hope coming through our juniors for a while there. Is he still progressing, or has he dropped down the pecking order?
Tui was one of our first choice centres this year but a rather nasty foot injury saw him sidelined for over 3 months. He was racing the clock to be fit for the finals series but just missed out. I am expecting him to tear into his preseason and return an even better player in 2018.
As for Greg as a centre, I imagine you could make it happen (I think he may have played there a bit at the Gold Coast) and it would better shield his height from the opposition. Wingers are increasingly becoming such invaluable weapons though and if someone like Greg can be a difference maker then having him on the wing to start sets, finish off tries and even create a little something from nothing is huge.