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Australia's Top Super Rugby Rookies of 2017
By Ben Smith
Australia’s Super sides had a disastrous 2017, losing all 26 matches against their New Zealand counterparts and losing a franchise. There wasn’t much to write home about in 2017, but these Rookies were some of the few bright spots for the Aussies.
We found that 2017 was the year of the outside backs for NZ Super teams, with very few rookie forwards locking down starting positions and getting enough game time.
For Australian sides, it was very different, with a range of positions earning a spot on the list. To qualify, players must have never played a Super Rugby match before 2017 and played a minimum of 8 games during the season.
This is our list of the best Australian rookies of 2017.
5. Wharenui Hawera (Brumbies)
New Zealand-born Hawera was picked up the Brumbies after a steady 2016 campaign with Southland in the Mitre 10 Cup. With Matt Toomua playing overseas and Lealiifano battling leukemia, he was thrust into the starting line up and played all 16 games for the Brumbies.
Playing in the most critical position on the pitch, he guided the Brumbies to the playoffs and top of the Australian conference.
His role in the Brumbies system is more about organising structure rather than playmaking, but playing 10 in any Super team is a tough ask. As a rookie, he took over the majority of the kicking duties – goal kicks, exit kicks, out-of-hand kicks – directing the team around the park with the boot.
Defensively, he will be looking to improve his tackle efficiency of 69%. Despite missing the most tackles of any pivot in the competition, he also made the most tackles of any 10, indicating he has a heavy defensive workload and isn't shied away from frontline duties.
Hawera will be looking to become more of an attacking threat with ball in hand as he matures at Super level - he had a low line break rate (4.21%) and low line break assist rate (2.78%). He finished the season with two tries, one try assist, four line breaks and nine line break assists.
All-in-all it was a solid season for rookie flyhalf and worthy of the fifth spot on our list.
4. Izaia Perese (Reds)
Izaia Perese is pound-for-pound the most powerful runner in Super Rugby. The 20-year-old looks slight but has proven to be one of the hardest men to tackle in the NRC, starring at centre and wing for Queensland Country since 2015.
Often thought too small for Super Rugby, Perese debuted in 2017 on the wing for the Reds and proved he could take it to the next level – his tackle bust rate of 0.53 per run is top 10 in the competition and higher than that of Chiefs dynamo Damian McKenzie (0.51).
He just needs the ball more.
Almost starved of possession on the wing with only 3.75 runs per game, Perese scored three tries in 12 games in his debut season also registering one try assist and three line breaks.
Defensively he will want to improve on his tackle efficiency rate of 62% but his attacking power cannot be questioned. With first choice 13 Samu Kerevi becoming captain in 2017, it is unlikely that Perese will get to play centre for the Reds but it is definitely something we want to see.
3. Jake Gordon (Waratahs)
The Waratahs have uncovered their successor to incumbent halfback Nic Phipps, with debutant Jake Gordon having a dynamic rookie season. The 24-year-old earned the NRC’s player of the year award in 2016 and carried that form into his first Super season.
He is a half with a dangerous running game, he seems to know when to have a snipe and when not to – he had the highest line break success rate (18.42%) of any halfback in the competition and lodged seven line breaks (2nd most of any halfback) on the season. Gordon also scored five tries (2nd behind TJ Perenara) and registered two try assists.
He offers the Waratahs a different kind of halfback to Phipps and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them build more plays around Gordon in the future. At 24-years-old Gordon is the future for the Waratahs spine.
2. Isaiah Naisarani (Force)
Naisarani was a great signing by the Force, who picked up the loose forward after a breakthrough NRC season with Brisbane City in 2016. He was voted Australia’s Super Rugby’s Player of Year in 2017 despite being a rookie but misses out on the top spot on our list.
It has been a massive 24 months for Naisarani, who was even playing club rugby in Brisbane last year, and is now set to join the Brumbies following the exiling of the Force.
He was a solid fit for the Force playing all 15 games, giving them a ball-carrying flanker/number 8 who is also a lineout jumping option. Naisarani was a decent ball carrier but most impressive was his defense, finishing fourth in the competition in tackle efficiency (90%).
A reliable defender who offered carries, but he didn’t have the same impact as our number one rookie. The 22-year-old will no doubt continue to impress next year at the Brumbies and push for Wallaby selection.
1. Amanaki Mafi (Rebels)
Our Australian rookie of the year is Japanese international Amanaki Mafi. Mafi had the advantage of experience at the highest level, but it was still his first taste of Super Rugby and he delivered for the Rebels playing in all 15 games.
His role with the Rebels was to provide power carries and a high work rate in defence. No loose forward ran as many times as he did – he took 184 carries outstripping the next best in his position by 53 carries and still averaged 7.49 metres per run, the third best in his position.
He made 12 line breaks (most in his position) and six line break assists (most in his position) and scored one try and assisted on two others, offering the Rebels not just a battering ram but an attacking weapon.
Defensively he had one of the highest work rates of any loose forward, his 166 tackles were the second most in his position, and top 10 for loosies. His tackle efficiency was a high 79% but more impressively he accounted for 15 turnovers either from pilfering the ball or forcing a ruck penalty.
This was double the next best in his position and third most of any loose forward behind fetcher specialists George Smith (17) and Chris Cloete (16).
He was the most dynamic two-way loose forward in the whole competition, offering a high work rate in attack and defence proving he could be a game changer on both sides of the ball making it an easy choice over Naisarani for Australia’s best Super Rugby rookie of 2017.
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