Blake Green: New Zealand Warriors' NRL signing of Kodi Nikorima can only be a good thing

Kodi Nikorima will now be in Warriors colours, instead of playing against them. Photo / Getty

COMMENT

I'm thrilled Kodi Nikorima is joining the Warriors and it's a good move for the club.

The news yesterday was a real boost, and something that is only going to benefit us.

I've played against Kodi a few times and he's always a challenge; the kind of player opposition teams analyse a lot because he can hurt you in different ways.

I remember being at the Melbourne Storm when Kodi first came into the NRL and he used to make coach Craig Bellamy really nervous when he came off the bench and played dummy half.

Back then, we were always wary of his impact; we were twitching at how fast he could get out of there, and skip past defenders.

Obviously speed is his biggest asset. He's a runner of the footy and puts back rowers under pressure.

That is such a big part of the game these days; "four in" defenders are so important, in terms of your edge defence. If they are a bit jumpy and make some bad decisions it puts the whole line under pressure.

Kodi makes people nervous, just because of how fast he is. He's also the New Zealand halfback; at 25 years old he has already played 13 tests for the Kiwis, which is pretty impressive.

It's a bonus that he already knows a lot of players in our environment — he's really close to Adam Blair, but also knows all of the Kiwis guys. So he will adapt quickly, and it will be easier for him to fit in.

It also creates competition within the halves at the club and as we have seen this year with the amount of muscle injuries throughout the NRL, you need to have three or four options in all positions.

I have to add that we are lucky to also have a young player such as Chanel Harris-Tavita at the club.

I've only played with him once, but watching him in the other three games I've seen a lot of really good signs.

The most important thing is that no one puts pressure on him to be the next big thing.

That's unfair. He's a talented player but it takes time to develop your complete game in the NRL, especially as a half.

After my injury problems in recent times, training has been fine this week and I can't wait to play. I completed my first back to back sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, which was a good feeling.

There will be a lot of focus on Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga this weekend, which is fair enough — he's a special player with immense talent. He's so quick at skipping past defenders, has good ball skills and great feet.

He did a good job at five-eighth for the Knights but he gets more chances at broken field running in the No 1 jersey.

Obviously we need to do our best to limit his chances, but we are ready for that and can't wait for tomorrow.