Our final edition of the series takes us to Paul Rowley’s late addition to the 2024 squad, Jayden Nikorima.
Many see the slick operator as the final piece of the jigsaw, with his running ability akin to the type of players who enjoyed incredible success at halfback in the past.
Explosive, skilful and intelligent, Nikorima has all the tools to become one of the best players in his position, and with a settled full season ahead, there’s definitely more to come.
After his time with Catalans Dragons was cut short, our Head Coach and his team were quick to meet with Nikorima when afforded the opportunity – that being our meeting with the French outfit in Perpignan.
In his first interview with the Club upon completing the switch to England, Nikorima was quick to point out that the team’s family-first mentality was a huge draw for him.
He also discussed the squad’s promising potential, how much he was looking forward to linking up with Marc Sneyd and what he wants to achieve during his time here – watch now by clicking below.
Nikorima made his debut against Castleford Tigers in Round 19, where he showed plenty of promising signs of what dynamism he can bring to the team.
That came to the fore in our next outing against Leeds Rhinos. In a tightly contested fixture, with plenty of playoff implications, Nikorima broke open the game with a neat short-side play.
Combining with hooker, Joe Mellor, the halfback weaved his way through the Rhinos line and slipped his teammate back inside to score the game-winning try.
He scored his first two for the Club in a pivotal victory over Huddersfield Giants a few weeks later.
The first started in typical Rowley fashion; from deep inside our half, Kallum Watkins afforded Nikorima the space to release Ethan Ryan, who unselfishly played the ball back on the inside for the halfback to slide over.
His second was a thing of beauty. Collecting a pass from Mellor, he used that nimble footwork once more to beat five Giants defenders and bag a brace.
Fullback, Ryan Brierley picked up Player of the Match for a sensational hat-trick, but Nikorima can’t have been very far behind.
Bouncing back from defeat against Hull KR, the New Zealand-born halfback had a personally sweet moment against the Dragons by scoring an opportunistic try in Round 25.
A mix-up from Sneyd’s kick return allowed Mellor to pick up the pieces, and slip in Brierley, who in turn released Nikorima to go sliding under the sticks.
Alongside his three tries, Nikorima contributed with four try assists in his nine appearances for the Reds. Not a bad record for a player who is merely settling into life at Salford.
No doubt there’s much more to come from such an exciting player and a full pre-season will help him become more and more settled into the team’s patterns of play.
NIKORIMA’S 2024 IN NUMBERS
Appearances: 9
Tries: 3
Try assists: 4
Linebreaks: 6
Tackle breaks: 32
PAUL ROWLEY ON JAYDEN NIKORIMA’S DEBUT
“Definitely more to come. I thought he built his game on solid D first and foremost, and a willingness to run the ball.
“I think with Kallum (Watkins), Nene (Macdonald) and Ethan (Ryan) at the side of him, he’s got some striker power there, and they’ll compliment one another.”
