This is the twelfth instalment of 2018 in review. As usual, now the Raiders' season is done, we are reviewing all 25 players who pulled on a green jersey in first grade in 2018. So far, we've looked at Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric, Jarrod Croker, Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Sam Williams, Junior Paulo, Sia Soliola and Josh Hodgson.
Siliva Havili was recruited to the Raiders on a one year deal in December last year, after he made a good showing for Tonga in the World Cup. It was part of the club's response to the ACL injury suffered by Josh Hodgson in England's World Cup semi final in Auckland, which put him on the sideline for just under eight months.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the tackle on Hodgson when he suffered the injury - but it was ironic that the Tongan tacklers were Havili and another Raiders recruit in 2018, Ata Hingano, who joined mid season from the Warriors.
The fans' expectations of Havili - and another hooker recruit, Craig Garvey - were kept in check over the off season by coach Ricky Stuart. But at the same time, Stuart laid down a challenge for the two players.
"I've got two young hookers in there, but they've got a long way to go before they're first-grade ready," Stuart said, as the pre-season kicked off. "They're not first-grade fit and they're not first-grade football ready yet, so we have a lot of work to do before February for our first trial."
Havili didn't play a single NRL match for his former club, the Dragons, in 2017 and was without a contract for 2018. He freely admitted he had no idea he would be doing before the Raiders came calling.
"Probably working or something, I wouldn’t have a clue. Having to play part-time footy and having to work I would say, but I wouldn’t have a clue," Havili said when asked about his initial prospects for this year.
But such was his success at the club, Havili was re-signed for a further two years in July, keeping him with the Green Machine to the end of 2020.
Havili ended up playing every game of the season for the Raiders, the first 14 rounds at starting hooker and most of the remainder off the bench - with one match at lock. With the return of Hodgson to the field, he played a lot of time in the back row - but I think it is fair to say that he made most impact at dummy half. He started the season playing 30 minutes against the Titans - scoring an impressive try - and by Round 12 demonstrated he could play the full 80. However, after the return of Hodgson, his minutes declined to around 20 per match. He averaged around 40 minutes per match over the season.
I rated him an average of 5.9/10 through the season. He produced two man of the match performances in Fans' Choice voting. In the Round 6 victory over the Eels, he made nine runs for 103 metres gained, 23 post contact metres, three tackle breaks, one line break, 30 tackles and 33 kicking metres. Then in Round 8 against the Cowboys, Havili scored one try and delivered one try assist, three runs for 14 metres, four tackle breaks, one line break, one line break assist and 42 tackles. I gave him an "8" rating in both games. He was consistently good as a starter, but towards the end of the season, he scored a few "4" ratings and quite a few "5"s.
Given Havili played half a season at dummy half, and another half in the forwards, it is a little difficult to make statistical comparisons. Amongst the Raiders forwards, he ranked equal third for total try involvements and fifth for total points scored. As a dummy half, his relative strength was his running game, rather than as an organiser or a kicker. He was just behind Josh Hodgson for dummy half runs and fifth at the club. In addition, he was equal fourth for line breaks and third for tackle breaks in the Raiders forwards. His offloading wasn't bad, ranking equal second in the Raiders fowards, alongside Joe Tapine and behind Junior Paulo.
In defence, his tackle efficiency rate (91 per cent) was in the top three players at the Raiders. He was also top five for total tackles made at the club, while missing an average of just one per match. He had just four try causes, and was a very tidy player in terms of errors and penalties conceded.
Clearly, Havili is no Josh Hodgson, but very few hookers are. Hodgson is, at least, amongst the top three hookers in rugby league today. Nor is he one of the top forwards at the club. But he showed a lot of courage, heart and determination in season 2018. He really stepped up in Hodgson's absence. He's been deservedly selected for the 21 man Tongan squad to meet Australia in the upcoming Test match in Auckland - where he'll probably share the hooking duties with Sione Katoa. A solid 2018.
How did you rate Siliva Havili's 2018? Tell us below.
Siliva Havili's 2018: 5.5/10
2018 Statistics: (Stats from Fox Sports Lab)
Games: 24
Average minutes: 43.7
Points: 12
Tries: 3
Try assists: 2
Try contributions: 1
Total try involvements: 6
Total kicks: 10
Kick metres: 240m
Average kicking metres per match: 10
40/20’s: 0
Forced drop outs: 0
Kicks dead: 2
Kick errors: 1
Total runs: 110
Dummy half runs: 25
All run metres: 1206
Average metres per carry: 11m
Average metres per game: 50m
Tackle breaks: 32
Offloads: 15
Line breaks: 5
Line break assists: 2
Tackles: 533
Average tackles per game: 22.2
1 on 1 tackles: 30
Missed tackles: 27
Average missed tackles per game: 1.1
Tackle efficiency: 91 per cent
Try causes: 4
Errors: 7
Penalties conceded: 8
