Kiwi squad announced.

[Rich102]

New Zealand Kiwis squad

1. Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Melbourne Storm)
2. Dylan Brown (Parramatta Eels, Newcastle Knights)
3. Erin Clark (New Zealand Warriors)
4. Phoenix Crossland (Newcastle Knights)
5. James Fisher-Harris (New Zealand Warriors)
6. Kieran Foran (Gold Coast Titans)
7. Jamayne Isaako (The Dolphins)
8. Keano Kini (Gold Coast Titans)
9. Sebastian Kris (Canberra Raiders)
10. Moses Leota (Penrith Panthers)
11. Jeremy Marshall-King (The Dolphins)
12. Casey McLean (Penrith Panthers)
13. Ronaldo Mulitalo (Cronulla Sharks)
14. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (New Zealand Warriors)
15. Briton Nikora (Cronulla Sharks)
16. Isaiah Papali'i (Penrith Panthers)
17. Scott Sorensen (Penrith Panthers)
18. Joseph Tapine (Canberra Raiders)
19. Mattew Timoko (Canberra Raiders)
20. Naufahu Whyte (Sydney Roosters)
21. Xavier Willison (Brisbane Broncos)

 

[Rich102]

I am sorry to see the person in position 1.
Brings no honour to the KIWI's.
He's a grub. (In my opinion.)

 

[JJ]

I am sorry to see the person in position 1.
Brings no honour to the KIWI's.
He's a grub. (In my opinion.)

with Leota, Tapine, JFH and Paps he shouldn't be in the starting 17 imo

 

[Matua]

I am sorry to see the person in position 1.
Brings no honour to the KIWI's.
He's a grub. (In my opinion.)

I like that he's loyal to the Kiwis, he does his grubby suff at the Storm so I blame Victoria for that.

No PI defections which is good and Willison has gone with NZ and not the Cooks.

No Riki is a bit of a surprise.

Hopefully Foran to lead us to a Pacific Championship as a career send off.

 

[Izz]

Leka and Vaimauga named for Tonga

 

[Beavers Headgear]

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Serious strike in that Tongan backline

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

Serious strike in that Tongan backline

In the pack too. Their whole squad is fking wild.

Samoa missing out on Tino and Hammer, and Crichton being injured has certainly curtailed what could've been for them... as it stands they are pretty clearly behind both Tonga and the Kiwis right now, even with the Terminator joining upfront.

 

[JJ]

tough series...

 

[Matua]

Leka and Vaimauga named for Tonga

It's very annoying having to worry about Leka.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

In the pack too. Their whole squad is fking wild.

Samoa missing out on Tino and Hammer, and Crichton being injured has certainly curtailed what could've been for them... as it stands they are pretty clearly behind both Tonga and the Kiwis right now, even with the Terminator joining upfront.

Iongi/Hopoate
Hopoate/Alamoti
Koula
Toia
Tupou
???
Katoa
AFB
Havili/Luke
Utoikamanu
Katoa
Wong
Taumalolo

Fotuaika
Kaufusi/Vaimauga
Halasima
Havili/Luke

They may throw Hopoate or Iongi into 6 potentially, or 1 of the hooking options

 

[Izz]

It's very annoying having to worry about Leka.

EDIT: lol totally misread your intent, i think (i'm still in club land not country land), so if you saw my response before, just ignore it

Yeah, he's gonna rip us a new one

 

[Grizzman]

It looks like a seriously competitive series.

 

[Big Marn]

All these sides are stacked with elite players. I like the chances of all 3.

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

A mate and I just wasted an hour of the work day coming up with game day squads:

Kiwis: 1-Kini; 2-Isaako; 3-Kris; 4-McLean; 5-Mulitalo; 6-Brown; 7-Foran; 8-Fisher Harris; 9-Marshall King; 10-Tapine; 11-Nikora; 12-Papalii; 13-Clark; 14-Crossland; 15-Leota; 16-Asofa Solomona; 17-Whyte

Tonga: 1-Iongi; 2-Alamoti; 3-Toia; 4-Koula; 5-Tupou; 6-Hopoate; 7-Katoa; 8-Fonua Blake; 9-Havili; 10-Utoikamanu; 11-Katoa; 12-Halasima; 13-Taumalolo; 14-Luke; 15-Vaimauga; 16-Fotuaika; 17-Wong

Samoa: 1-Tuivasa Sheck; 2-Mariner; 3-Tago; 4-May; 5-To'o; 6-Talagi; 7-Luai; 8-Haas; 9-Ioelu; 10-Paulo; 11-Nanai; 12-Su'a; 13-Tevaga; 14-Harris Tavita; 15-Papalii; 16-May; 17-Sasagi

We debated a few – NAS over Willis for instance but I pushed for NAS for his aggression and experience against a couple of good island packs, especially the Tongan boys. Could backfire of course, but IMO worth the risk.

I lost the argument over Terrell May though. Personally, I wouldn’t have him in the 17 and would take Molo or Mariota instead. He puts out big numbers but IMO he’s the least impactful front rower across all 3 teams and I can see the Kiwi pack especially monstering him. He does have an offload in him though, so could add value that way at least.

A few big names missing across all the teams which is a shame... Nikorima, Hughes, Olakauatu, Crichton, Leniu are all big outs.

But otherwise should be a good few weeks of test footy. Cant wait.

 

[Blair]

I like that he's loyal to the Kiwis, he does his grubby suff at the Storm so I blame Victoria for that.

Yeah, during our time in Hades, in 2017, big Nelson went extra hard in the haka against Tonga. It was real pride in the jersey stuff and I always welcome him back because of it.

He did, however, flirt with Samoa a year or two ago. Nothing came of it by the looks of things.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Crossland our best choice at hooker?
Jordan Riki injured?
Kaeo Weekes not looked at?

 

[Matua]

Crossland our best choice at hooker?
Jordan Riki injured?
Kaeo Weekes not looked at?

Marshall-King is our best hooker.
Not sure about Riki.
Weekes wants to play Origin.

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

Marshall-King is our best hooker.
Not sure about Riki.
Weekes wants to play Origin.

According to the NZRL release only Nikorima and Hughes weren’t considered due to injury, so Riki appears to have just been overlooked.

Guess that means TMM was similarly passed over.

 

[Matua]

According to the NZRL release only Nikorima and Hughes weren’t considered due to injury, so Riki appears to have just been overlooked.

Guess that means TMM was similarly passed over.

I forgot about TMM ... if we have an injury to Foran or Brown and CNK winds up at 6 I'm dropping Stacey from my greatest ever Kiwis team (Gary Freeman will be pleased to hear that.)