Stat Attack: Hiku solves Warriors' centre problem

He doesn't say much, but Peta Hiku's teammates say his actions speak far louder than words.

Centre has long been a problem position for the Auckland club, particularly finding one who could be relied upon defensively.

Not since Brent Tate left the club in 2012 has there been genuine stability on the right edge.

But ask Shaun Johnson and he'll tell you that void has finally been filled by Hiku, a Warriors junior who rejoined the club this season after five seasons in the NRL with Manly and Penrith and a brief stint in England.

"Collectively that right edge have done an awesome job so far this year and Peta has been a rock there for us," he said.

"He never shies away from a tough carry and for me, defending inside him, he is always into me about where to be and that. He has helped myself, Tohu (Harris) and David (Fusitu'a) a lot."

Hiku has always been known as a solid defender, but he has shown flashes of brilliance with ball in hand this season and he is a big reason why Fusitu'a sits atop the Telstra Premiership's leading try-scorer list.

The 25 year-old is averaging 131.3m per game and has three clean line breaks to go with his pair of try assists.

Hiku admits to being "more or less" pleased with his personal form, but says there is still a lot of room to improve.

"Attacking wise, I feel like I'm going alright but I'm not satisfied with my defence just yet so that is something I will continue to work on," he said.

"Nobody can do it on their own. If there is one person slacking off it throws the whole defensive line so if we can all just key in and do our jobs individually, we should go all right on Friday against a tough Dragons side."

The Warriors were enjoying a record-breaking five wins on the trot to start the season before being upset 27-18 by the Brisbane Broncos last Friday at Mt Smart Stadium.

"The streak was never an issue for us, everyone has a loss in their season, we haven't done anything different this week in terms of our preparation," Hiku said.

"We just all need to bring the energy this week because we know we were off  (against the Broncos)."

 

 

 

 

 

Author: 
www.nrl.com