Aust side for NZ Test announced

[Anonymous]

Australian Rugby League chairman, Colin Love has announced the Kangaroo Test side which will take on New Zealand at Aussie Stadium, Sydney on Friday 25 July at 7.30pm.

1. Darren Lockyer (Brisbane Broncos)
2. Matt Sing (Nth Queensland Cowboys)
3. Brent Tate (Brisbane Broncos)
4. Jamie Lyon (Parramatta Eels)
5. Anthony Minichiello (Sydney Roosters)
6. Shaun Timmins (St George Illawarra Dragons)
7. Andrew Johns (c) (Newcastle Knights)
8. Luke Ricketson (Sydney Roosters)
9. Dane Carlaw (Brisbane Broncos)
10. Gorden Tallis (Brisbane Broncos)
11. Shane Webcke (Brisbane Broncos)
12. Danny Buderus (Newcastle Knights)
13. Luke Bailey (St George Illawarra Dragons)

Interchange:
14. Bryan Fletcher (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
15. Craig Wing (Sydney Roosters)
16. Willie Mason (Bulldogs)
17. Petero Civoniceva (Brisbane Broncos)

 

[kaon]

I don't know how Carlaw or Fletcher made the side. Carlaw has been anonymous all season and fletcher played 10 minutes in Origin two and was part of a pack hammerd in Origin 3. The kiwi selectors seem to be on the same pills by picking Talau at 5/8th.

 

[Anonymous]

Kiwi side:

FULLBACK Vaealiki (Eels)
WING Utai (Bulldogs)
CENTRE Vagana (Bulldogs)
CENTRE Toopi (NZ Warriors)
WING Meli (NZ Warriors)
STAND OFF Talau (Bulldogs)
HALFBACK Jones (NZ Warriors)
LOCK Guttenbeil (NZ Warriors)
2ND ROW Kearney (Storm)
2ND ROW T Puletua (Panthers)
PROP Rauhihi (Cowboys)
HOOKER Swain (Broncos)
PROP Wiki (c) (Raiders)

BENCH: Betham, L Swann, Seu Seu, Lauitiiti (NZ Warriors)

Travelling reserves:
Sione Faumuina (NZ Warriors) and Joe Galuvao (Panthers)

 

[El Diablo]

Carlaw, Fletcher, Mason and Tallis :shock:

What a joke.

 

[Cupid Stunt]

Tate, Carlaw & Mason are the one's that I cant explain. Tate was shut down all Origin when it counted, Carlaw has done nothing extraordinary to warrant selection this year & Mason is just a big sook. In all honesty I think N.Hindmarsh has done more in the 4 or so games he's played since returning then Mason has all year.

Was Tahu left out due to injury? If not then I think he has been robbed blind. Minichiello is a class act but in all fainess he makes most of his yards on kick returns & runs holes due to being able to roam anywhere. Tahu earnt his stripes playing in position & I think should be rewarded for it.

The Kiwis surprises for mine were the Panthers backrowers not getting a start together. They really are a force to be reckoned with & if current form was the criteria for selection then something went amiss there. Also picking Freshy at fullback? I'm an Eels Fan but hell even I'm not THAT bias towards my team. :lol:

 

[JoeD]

Fullback is the only worry for me, I haven't seen much of Parra this year but is Vaealiki fully fit? I don't mind Talau at stand off, its a bit of a copy of Timmins playing there and everyone seems to think that was a success. Only worry is lack of game time recently but I think he'll play well.

 

[AliN]

What gives with having an Aussie ref??

So much for neutral umpiring.

I spose at least the Kiwis know Billy, but it's a bit of a joke.

It'll still be a good game :roll:

 

[CanadianSteve]

On the NZ side, was there any consideration of bringing Robbie Paul down to play? I don't know if there are any other good Kiwis in the ESL. I thought a few years ago the Paul brothers flew down to play in a test like this.

Also. about a year ago there was talk of a tri-nations series with GB as the 3rd team. Has there been any progress on this?

 

[CanadianSteve]

I just found the answer to my own question on LU. (Maybe I should check out LU more often.) There was an article quoting the Kiwi coach saying he was unlikely to pick any ESL players, due to the time and travel constraints. Too bad these games aren't scheduled after the club season so the Kiwis could field a stronger side.

 

[AliN]

Yes Steve, both Paul brothers came down for a test, and they both looked very flat.

Robbie has a broken bone somewhere, his leg if my bad memory serves me correctly, so that has put him out anyway.
And no ESL players were considered for the reasons you found out

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Looks like Gulavao will probably get a run after all, with Lauiti'iti getting suspended, you have to wonder if Ali's selection was really just a ploy by Ando so that he could work off his suspention before the Warrior's next match. I'd have been pissed off if Frances Meli had been suspended but I don't think we lose anything from Lauiti'iti's abscence.

 

[AliN]

Yes he's a clever bugga is our Daniel, Ali is nowhere near match fit, but now he can front up against the Storm.

Go Joe

 

[JoeD]

Anybody over there going to the game? What have ticket sales been like?

 

[Anonymous]

No idea about the ticket sales Joe... they usually talk up pre-sales but haven't heard anything this time. I reckon it'll be pretty big though, what with all the extra buses being directed to Bondi.

It's something I thought Moffo would go to.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I'll be going, will probably book my ticket tonight.

 

[ozbash]

good onya spacey, wish i was there too.

gonna be a great week for kiwi sport.

netball
league
union

 

[CanadianSteve]

I saw on the Lockyer injury thread that he was slated to play in the test Friday and a club match Saturday? Is this the case with all the players?

 

[JoeD]

Speaking of Lockyer, is this the same injury he played on with through the Origin series? If so what does that say about the attitude of the players towards international football?

 

[kaon]

I saw on the Lockyer injury thread that he was slated to play in the test Friday and a club match Saturday? Is this the case with all the players?

Yes, all the players do have to back up for their clubs. It's a ridiculous situation that happens 5 times every year (3 origins, 1 test, city/country). When I used to play schoolboy Rugby League it used to take about 3 days to get over the bumps and bruises, I can't even imagine the torture first graders put their bodies through week in, week out.

Another case of player burn out is that the top players play about 40 games of Rugby League every year plus pre-season training. For a full body contact sport, it's about 1/3 too much.


All this adds up and is the reason why the top players in our game only reach about 200-250 games in their careers. In other sports some players easily make it over 400.

 

[salivor]

Speaking of Lockyer, is this the same injury he played on with through the Origin series? If so what does that say about the attitude of the players towards international football?

What bullshit Joe, Lockyer is as committed as the next footballer. It does happen to be the same injury but its gotten worse as he twisted it in the Melbourne game. He was going to play two days in a row on that ankle but an MRI scan ruled that there was more damage than first suspected and hes now going to miss a whole month of football, hes not just sitting out the one test match.