uchiha clan kiwis team,,,
1 kevin locke
2 manu vatuvei
3 krinan inu
4 SBW
5 jason nightingale
6 kieran florean
7 shaun johson
8 ben matulino
9 isaac luke
10 warewa hargraves
11 frank paul nuuausala
12 simon mannering (c)
13 alex glenn
14 jesse bromwhich
15 sam kasiano
16 greg eastwood
17 thomas leulai
Sasu...looks like you're saving Tuivasa Shek for the Aussies.
....the way i see it is the Rooster players were rested for that warm up game but they'll get a run against Samoa. Kearney will probably retain the core that played Cook Is though?.
He has some great options to chose from and no doubt we'll lose players through injury maybe even first up against Samoa...Samoans like Matai are infamous for their hits and no doubt target the palagi Samoans in the Kiwi team. I'm sure the Kiwis will give as good as they get though.
....some are saying SBW will be used as a 2nd rower instead of centre but difficult to know what Kearney is thinking in that regard .
Not a big fan of Mannering either or Locke...My picks are probably way out but i'll have a crack...
Another configuration might look like...
NEW ZEALAND
Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne Storm), Greg Eastwood (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Kieran Foran (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles), Alex Glenn (Brisbane Broncos), Bryson Goodwin (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Josh Hoffman (Brisbane Broncos), Krisnan Inu (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Shaun Johnson (New Zealand Warriors), Sam Kasiano (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Thomas Leuluai (New Zealand Warriors), Kevin Locke (New Zealand Warriors), Issac Luke (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Simon Mannering (New Zealand Warriors), Ben Matulino (New Zealand Warriors), Sam Moa (Sydney Roosters), Jason Nightingale (St George Illawarra Dragons), Frank-Paul Nuuausala (Sydney Roosters), Frank Pritchard (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Elijah Taylor (New Zealand Warriors), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Sydney Roosters), Manu Vatuvei (New Zealand Warriors), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Sydney Roosters), Dean Whare (Penrith Panthers), Sonny Bill Williams (Sydney Roosters)
Saffex South Africa want to host the next Rugby League World Cup in 2017.
Funny as coz they haven't even got a team in this years event.
Maybe they want to showcase the sport as there's too many soccer players in SA.
AUSTRALIA is in line to co-host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup with New Zealand.
The joint proposal was approved yesterday by the Rugby League International Federation, which also approved an expression of interest from South Africa.
Formal bids are due to be submitted next month, with a final decision to be made by next January.
"The Rugby League World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport and is essential to the development of the game at every level,' said RLIF deputy chairman Nigel Wood, who will chair the sub-committee hearing the bids.
"It is fantastic to see three nations all with an active interest in hosting the next tournament that clearly demonstrates a growing, global interest in rugby league."
10 more reasons to watch the 2013 RLWC....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185
Sasu.. not a big fan of any of the warriors players except maybe Johnson- even vatuvei has had some real shockers...Make Foran captain and dump Mannering too lol
...bit of a conundrum for kearney in the centres who to pick out of Inu, Whare and Goodwin, Glenn alongside SBW - one of the reasons why SBW will probably be used as a second rower due to that oversupply of centres... So i think you might have to change yr selections again and put SBW in the forwards...
Leuleuai might need replacing while yr at it as he's not traininig - also hammy probs so maybe locke will take his place...?
Plenty of wingers too but Tuivasa Shek won the Dally M so i'd rate him above Vatuvei as he's not the sharpest tool in the toolbox ,defensive errors,hamstring problems etc
Looking forward to the team being announced to play Samoa though. I see Samoa are at a bit of a loss as to what happened with Asotasi ??? He was supposed to be the captain and he baled lol.
Who do you reckon is strongest out of Samoa and Tonga? I see Tongas got a star studded team and they beat Samoa earlier in the year.
Sasu looks like Nightingale and Inu have missed out in the team to play Samoa.
It was always a case of who was gunna get left out though. Kearney wants to capitalise on the Roosters energy by the looks after their NRL win so they're all in.
Did'nt realise Matai was'nt in the Samoan team. So without players like him, Asotasi and Lima missing Samoa's not as strong as i thought it would be. Tonga looking stronger than Samoa you would think. Still Samoa's a team packed full of NRL and Super League players so not to be taken lightly.
Leuleuai is also out for the Kiwis with a groin strain. SBW looks to be playing in the second row - pretty strong forward pack all round for the Kiwis.
Team named to play Samoa
KIWIS: Josh Hoffman, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Dean Whare, Bryson Goodwin, Manu Vatuvei, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Issac Luke, Jesse Bromwich, Frank Pritchard, Sonny Bill Williams, Simon Mannering. Interchange (from) Elijah Taylor, Sam Kasiano, Sam Moa, Frank-Paul Nu'uausala, Greg Eastwood, Ben Matulino.
In other league news Jamaica has been awarded full member status of de Rugby League International Federation at de annual meeting of de general assembly in Cardiff. Can imagine there'd be able to produce a few speed merchants.
Just shows league is really growing as a global sport.
Russia and the Ukraine also awarded full membership status while Canada, Latvia and Malta were accepted as affiliate members of the European Federation.
SAsu... i was just trying to talk up league as a global sport so help me out here lol. At least you did'nt mention soccer. But all the engine room forwards you mention Waerea Hargraves , Bromwich and Matulino are all named in the forwards to play Samoa so not sure what you mean by not gunna cut it?
I see our main weakness is in the backs with the absence of Benji not helping. Don't know if we have got enough flair to compete one on one with the Aussies. Our defence is gunna have to be rock solid.
Poms did'nt play too badly against the Aussies either so they are also a team that could give us problems.One game at a time though....
Yea Hakwa but don't be fooled by the poms. They play a suprisingly fast paced game.
Firstly that warm up game was England fielding 24 players players to give everyone a run.
Secondly against OZ they had two tries up on the Aussies at 10 -0 before the Aussies knew what even hit them so gave them a fright before the Aussies fought back.
Thirdly they're playing in whats near enough to in their own backyard.
Fourthly our record is'nt that great against England so it;s all uphill.
There is also the NH interpretation of the rules and shorter in-goal areas that might affect things.
Minnichello brothers for Italy were awesome in their game against England though and yesterday starred in the demolition of Wales so the Italian team are no slouches either.
Anthony Minnichello and Aidiann Guerra are the Italian Sydney Roosters connection and scored a few tries.
Italy's even got a Maori in their team i think Dean Parata (Parramata)sounds like a Maori name anyway also scored against England as hooker and impresses with his runs out of dummy.
Man of the match for Italy yesterday though was Mantellato the tall goal kicking backup winger from the Newcastle Knights . So Italy is packed with Super league and NRL players and one of the minnows but dangerous.
Sasu...The game plan for the Kiwis is high completion , low penalty. Building pressure and force mistakes, lots of inside passes and abit of the old 'smash em bro'.
We can't play the Aussies game but we got the human wrecking balls to break the line like Sam Kasiano aka Dogzilla - 1.96m and 130kgs , Roosters hitman Jared Waerea Hargraves also knocking on 130 kgs i think - not to mention SBW who should also rattle a few bones and slip a few good passes . Can't leave out Frank 'the Tank' Pritchard - boy so much agro in our team i hope no one gets suspended lol...
See one of the Burgess bros faces suspension and might get done after smashing Sam Thaiday high yesterday so we gotta be careful...
Was a bit like watching a Warriors game against Samoa . Mannering and Vatuvei are playing well so i take back what i said about Warriors players. Not an eighty minute performance though by the Kiwis so bit like the Warriors in that respect.
Kearney is to give the rest of the team a run against France so Vatuvei will probably be giving his ankle a rest and Nightingale will be able to show his wears. Speaking of Knights wingers,Akuila Uate just got a hattrick for Fiji against Ireland.
Nu'uausala also took a knock and will get a rest. Otherwise given all the big hits we were lucky not to have more injuries.
Kearney is hinting that the centre combo is not the best defensively leaking tries and some players have put their positions at risk. I'm picking Goodwin is gone. Whare got man of the match so i'd say he's fairly safe at centre.
Makes you wonder what difference missing players Asotasi, Lima and Matai would have to the Samoan attack.
So it will be a different looking Kiwi team that plays France giving Kearney another chance to experiment with combinations before we meet England. No use thinking about Australia until we can put the poms away though. Speaking of poms, I see Burgess is suspended for one game against Ireland for his swinging arm that left Sam Thaiday semi concussed.
Looking good in the OZpicks comp at this stage ranked 2/550. Don't tell me thats you Sasu thats ahead of me???
Expected to take a big hit after the Bravehearts rolled Tonga but looks like 549 other people picked Tonga to win as well lol... those canny Scots you cannae ever right them off.Definitely a strip in that last Tongan try though...and a half adozen others disallowed a bit suspect but Tonga also far too laid back.
If the USA doesn't beat the Cook IS in a couple of hours then no doubt the ranking will take a big dive.
I see Sonny Bill Williams has been left out of the Kiwis side to play France in Avignon on Saturday morning as coach Stephen Kearney continues to rotate his squad.
Kearney has kept his promise to give every player a run in the first two games of World Cup, but the absence of Williams - arguably one of the tournament's biggest drawcards - is sure to disappoint spectators who have bought tickets for the game.
The Kiwis team is significantly different from the one that overcame Samoa with a scratchy performance in Warrington last Monday. When it comes to the All Blacks "rotation" is a dirty word, but for the Kiwis it's a case of necessity as Kearney attempts to settle on what he hopes will be winning combinations for the latter stages of the tournament.
All seven players who missed the 42-24 win over Samoa come into the team, while Williams and six others drop out.
"The idea right from the start of the tournament was to give everyone an opportunity to stake a claim for a position and that hasn't changed because of the performance against Samoa on Sunday (Monday NZT)," Kearney said.
In regards to Williams, Kearney felt it was best for him to skip the game.
"He will be better for the performance (against Samoa)," he said. "He picked up a couple of bumps and bruises. He would have been right to play on Friday, (local time) but I wanted to give Alex Glenn an opportunity and also get some more time into Frank Pritchard."
Thomas Leuluai was due to play his first game of the tournament, partnering Warriors teammate Shaun Johnson in the halves having missed the warm-up game against the Cook Islands and the Samoan test because of a groin injury.
But having pulled up in training and his World Cup participation now in doubt, he was been replaced in the line-up by Kieran Foran.
The wings are the most contentious spots for the Kiwis with Jason Nightingale and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck getting the nod ahead of Manu Vatuvei for the French test.
"Manu picked up knock to the knee and ankle (against Samoa) and he might not be able to train fully this week," Kearney said.
"It was always my intention to give Jason Nightingale a run this week. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a good game against Samoa and it will be good for him to have another game this week."
As for the centres, Krisnan Inu gets a run while Bryson Goodwin has another chance to impress.
"Krisnan didn't play last week and I was always going to roll him out," Kearney said.
"I know Bryson didn't have the best of games on Sunday and I wanted to give him the opportunity to try to fix that."
For the final pool game, against Papua New Guinea next week, Kearney is likely to mix it up again before settling on his best 17 for the quarterfinals.
New Zealand: Kevin Locke, Jason Nightingale, Bryson Goodwin, Krisnan Inu, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Ben Matulino, Issac Luke, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank Pritchard, Alex Glenn, Simon Mannering. Interchange: Elijah Taylor, Sam Kasiano, Frank-Paul Nu'uausala, Greg Eastwood.
- © Fairfax NZ News
