Nikora is New Zealand-born and left his homeland to play for Keebra Park High on the Gold Coast before becoming an elite back-rower in the NRL, a mirror image of the path former Maroons hitman Te'o took.
Te'o is an assistant coach in Maroons camp and glad to be working with the Cronulla creator of chaos.
"Briton has developed into a phenomenal first grader and I think he has changed the game for what a back-rower can look like," Te'o told AAP.
"He's a leaner build, quick and while there isn't too much of him in terms of body mass he holds his own and is probably the best line runner in the competition."
Nikora, 28, weighs in at 94kg and played centre as a youth but when he moved to the forwards he decided to master the art of line running.
"I am not so big and there are back-rowers who are huge," Nikora told AAP.
"I just felt like the faster I could run into a hole with timing and depth the more times I would go through the defensive line."
Nikora, who has played 16 Tests for the Kiwis, travelled across the ditch with family when he was nine and attended Keebra Park High, where there were images of Te'o and other NRL representatives who had walked the corridors.
He moulded his game on 2014 premiership-winner Te'o's physical style.
"I loved Benny and looked up to him just for the way he played and he used to be one of my favourite players when he was back-rower at the Wests Tigers and Souths," Nikora said.
"He could bang, he could run holes, he was aggressive and put his body on the line. All those traits I try and take into my game."
"As a coach in Maroons camp I just enjoy the way he looks at the game and the detail in the way he teaches and talks."
Te'o said Keebra Park High was a great school for setting young men a compass to chart their futures. He is also proud of how Nikora emerged at Cronulla as a force of nature.
"He was a young kid who chased his dream and left his comfort zone on the Gold Coast and his family to go down to Sydney and take an opportunity. I did that myself when I went to Wests Tigers and it can be the making of you," Te'o said.
Nikora's heritage and culture are rooted in his land of birth but Queensland gave him his rugby league opportunity as a youth.
It is why he was proud to make his debut in game one of this year's series before being elevated to start at the MCG where he shone in a 44-24 win in game two. He is ready to do whatever it takes in the Origin decider on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium..
"I was honoured just to be in the Queensland squad. I would be the water boy for this team," he said.
"It gave me heaps of confidence going into game two knowing that Billy Slater and all the greats and GOATS of not just Queensland but the whole of rugby league had faith in me to do a job starting.
"I will never take that lightly."
12°C