{"id":273122,"date":"2025-11-09T11:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T11:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/273122\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T11:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T11:33:11","slug":"dylan-brown-joseph-tapine-erin-clark-star-in-comeback-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/273122\/","title":{"rendered":"Dylan Brown, Joseph Tapine, Erin Clark star in comeback win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Led by $13 million Newcastle recruit Dylan Brown, the Kiwis had a galaxy of stars in their 36-14 victory<\/a> over Samoa in the Pacific Championship final on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brown, Keano Kini, Erin Clarke, Joseph Tapine and many other Kiwis covered themselves in glory at CommBank Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Mole rates every New Zealand player’s performance from the decider.<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS: ‘Machine’ wows again; teammate ‘very disappointing’<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Unstoppable Kiwis rip title away from Samoa<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Two Kiwis binned in brutal clash as Jillaroos win title<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Keano Kini<\/p>\n

Superb at the back, running for a game-high 219 metres and creating wave after wave of attack. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

2. Jamayne Isaako<\/p>\n

Had few chances with the ball but earned his keep with six goals from all angles. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Kiwis celebrate winning the Pacific Championship title.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

3. Matthew Timoko<\/p>\n

A mixed game. Ran for more than 100 metres but badly missed his assignment in defence when Samoa scored their first try. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

4. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad<\/p>\n

Usually a fullback, revelled closer to the play, running well and scoring the final try of a memorable win. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

5. Casey McLean<\/p>\n

Unlucky not to score in the first half. Came up with two tries in the second. A genuine try-scoring machine. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

6. Dylan Brown<\/p>\n

The most dangerous player on the field, running the ball brilliantly to create three tries. Get ready, Newcastle, here he comes! Rating: 9.5<\/p>\n

\"Dylan<\/p>\n

Dylan Brown and his Kiwi teammates pictured after a try.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

7. Kieran Foran<\/p>\n

In his final game, threw an intercept but made amends with some smart attacking plays. Well played, Foz. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

8. James Fisher-Harris<\/p>\n

The Kiwi pack’s leader was down on his usual metres (86) but his mere presence was a factor. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

9. Phoenix Crossland<\/p>\n

Tidy at dummy-half but needs to run more to put the defence in two minds. Had one run for two metres. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

10. Moses Leota<\/p>\n

Solid in the heart of the defence but made a couple of errors that cost the Kiwis when Samoa were on top in the first half. Rating: 5.5<\/p>\n

11. Briton Nikora<\/p>\n

Bombed one try but made amends with a strong running game and by topping the Kiwis’ tackle count. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

12. Isaiah Papali’i<\/p>\n

Super impressive with his wide running, scoring two tries through sheer determination. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

13. Joseph Tapine<\/p>\n

Brought his Raiders’ 2025 form to the final with 160 run metres and some big plays at key moments. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

14. Te Maire Martin<\/p>\n

Only got 10 minutes when the game was already won for the Kiwis, doing little. Rating: 3<\/p>\n

15. Naufahu Whyte<\/p>\n

Combined with Clark to change the momentum of the game from the bench, scoring a crucial try and running with real venom. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

16. Erin Clark<\/p>\n

One of the best bench players in the league. Set up a try and then scored one himself with three players hanging off him. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

17. Xavier Willison<\/p>\n

The Broncos giant was also strong off the bench, bending the line back several times in his 30-minute stint. Rating: 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Led by $13 million Newcastle recruit Dylan Brown, the Kiwis had a galaxy of stars in their 36-14…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-273122","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}