New Zealand vs. Papua New Guinea

[Big Pete]

New Zealand Team
1. Lance Hohaia
2. Jason Nightingale
3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
4. Junior Sau
5. Sam Perrett
6. Benji Marshall
7. Nathan Fien
8. Sam McKendry
9. Thomas Leuluai
10. Frank-Paul Nuuausala
11. Sika Manu
12. Simon Mannering
13. Jeremy Smith

14. Issac Luke
15. Jared Warea-Hargreaves
16. Bronson Harrison
17. Greg Eastwood

18. Ben Matulino
19. Lewis Brown

 

[Perth Red]

It's going to be a bruiser! Can't see this lot stepping away from the niggle.

 

[cleary89]

How do fights go for suspensions in international games? 1 games will only mean they miss the dead rubber.

 

[mikail-eagle]

Will Benji dummy and run sideways towards SKD and Nightingale like he did against England ?

If he does he'll run straight into Menzie "Jukebox" Yere.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

We really should of rested Benji.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

We really should of rested Benji.

Agreed. Mannering for captain.

 

[Perth Red]

yeh you don't want the jukebox testing that shoulder of his! I'd be writing on his wrist band, don't run to the right!

 

[Titanic]

Second half capitulation ... Kiwis by heaps.

 

[Perth Red]

out of interest why is this game in Rotura and not Christchurch? Given the good turn out for the Warriors in Christchurch and the pop difference between the two cities I'd have thought there'd have been more chance of a bigger crowd there?

 

[Meth]

We should have rested Benji and Lance at least.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

out of interest why is this game in Rotura and not Christchurch? Given the good turn out for the Warriors in Christchurch and the pop difference between the two cities I'd have thought there'd have been more chance of a bigger crowd there?

Peeps probably can't afford it after the earthquake.

 

[shinobi]

We really should of rested Benji.

Maybe hes playing so all his fam from Whakatane can go watch him

 

[The 18th Man]

PNG will be better for their run last week, unfortunately for them, so will NZ.

 

[ethos]

PNG

1. Ryan Tongia
2. Michael Mark
3. Jessy Joe Parker
4. Emmanuel Yere
5. Elijah Riyong
6. Glen Nami
7. Dion Aiye
8. Makali Aizue (vc)
9. Charlie Wabo
10. James Nightingale
11. Rodney Griffin
12. Johnson Kuike
13. Paul Aiton (c)

14. Benjamin John
15. Rodney Pora
16. Pidi Tongap
17. Nickson Kolo
18. Alex Haija
19. Richard Kambo

http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=20149

I think they'd be better served with Aiton at either hooker and halfback, as the player with the best credentials, he's needs to touch the ball as much as possible.

 

[ghoti]

I think they'd be better served with Aiton at either hooker and halfback, as the player with the best credentials, he's needs to touch the ball as much as possible.

Agreed. They mentioned last week that Aiton thought he could do more good from lock which is complete bullsh*t. PNG desperately needed better service from dummy half. They also really need a halfback with confidence. Their halves were as good as non-existent last week.

 

[Bman26]

Adam Blair suspended or dropped?

 

[ethos]

Adam Blair suspended or dropped?

"Rested" would probably be the appropriate word.

So yeah, dropped for one game.

 

[Meth]

Rested

 

[cleary89]

I've taken NZ - 44.5

Meant to be sunny in Rotarua, hopefully they put on a big score.

 

[Wilson1]

out of interest why is this game in Rotura and not Christchurch? Given the good turn out for the Warriors in Christchurch and the pop difference between the two cities I'd have thought there'd have been more chance of a bigger crowd there?

I think they wanted to spread rugby league around the whole country. There was a good crowd of 8,000 in Rotorua last year for the game against Tonga so they would be hoping for a similar crowd against a similar team. Putting a largely meaningless game in a big city always creates a risk of apathy which we saw in Sydney last week. Besides, Christchurch will get the ANZAC test next year.