RLWC17 squads

[adamkungl]

We can dream can’t we?

Sure can but I'm not gonna hinge my 6 weeks on it nor 4 years of legacy

 

[East Coast Tiger]

And Tonga being mildly more competitive but still not good enough is going to do f**k all, especially when it ensures there is no contest for the trophy. The legacy of the WC at this rate will be Australia winning easily as expected and low crowds in NZ.

 

[Ari Gold]

Fiji/PNG/Italy will be fielding vastly stronger squads... and are one or two quality players away from the top tier.

Positives outweigh the negatives at the moment

 

[Clarkent]

And Tonga being mildly more competitive but still not good enough is going to do f**k all, especially when it ensures there is no contest for the trophy. The legacy of the WC at this rate will be Australia winning easily as expected and low crowds in NZ.

Australia were always gonna win it easy... Taumalolo wasn't gonna change that... But him playing for Tonga helps grow the game... All the kids in Tonga looks up to him and him playing for Tonga will make them wanna play for the smaller nation even more

 

[morningstar]

Some of the reaction in here is a bit OTT.

Samoas halves pairing will be Roberts/Brown/Lino. Tonga's will be Lolohea & Hingano. You can have all the muscle you want but if you have no one to get them into field position/scoring opportunities it is useless. Tonga were rudderless in RLWC13 & Samoa barely fired a shot against England in May.

I'm more worried about Scotland!

Tomorrow's Kiwis presser should be fun. NZRL & Kidwell will be rightly grilled. How they respond will be telling.

 

[Rory]

Some of the reaction in here is a bit OTT.

Samoas halves pairing will be Roberts/Brown/Lino. Tonga's will be Lolohea & Hingano. You can have all the muscle you want but if you have no one to get them into field position/scoring opportunities it is useless. Tonga were rudderless in RLWC13 & Samoa barely fired a shot against England in May.

I'm more worried about Scotland!

Tomorrow's Kiwis presser should be fun. NZRL & Kidwell will be rightly grilled. How they respond will be telling.

Well the Scots spine would be 1.Coote/ 6.Wallace or Brierley/ 7.Brough and theres Kavanagh,Addy,Wardle that can play 13. Tough group for the Scots, but wouldn't be too worried, if scoring power is what your talking about.

 

[Rory]

To add, with the loss of Proctor, Bromwhich, Harris and Taumalolo, wouldn't be surprised if we see a weaker Samoan forward pack. The likes of Kasiano,Matagi and Ese'ese would surely be in contention for NZ now.

 

[Clarkent]

Some of the reaction in here is a bit OTT.

Samoas halves pairing will be Roberts/Brown/Lino. Tonga's will be Lolohea & Hingano. You can have all the muscle you want but if you have no one to get them into field position/scoring opportunities it is useless. Tonga were rudderless in RLWC13 & Samoa barely fired a shot against England in May.

I'm more worried about Scotland!

Tomorrow's Kiwis presser should be fun. NZRL & Kidwell will be rightly grilled. How they respond will be telling.

Yeah there's gonna be some close games in that pool... Scotland does have the spine against the island nation but they lack the forwards or fire power in the back line... Scots are a very dangerous side tho anything can happen and that goes for the kiwis now as well

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Don't know if things have gotten that bad that we're looking at Kasiano, Matagi etc

Can still cobble together a half decent pack from...Mannering, Tapine, Matulino, K Bromwich, JWH, Taukeiaho, Ma'u, Blair, NAS, Taupau, JFH, CHN, Packer, Glenn, Taylor

Won't win it, but we're not at the bottom of the barrel just yet.

 

[Charlie124]

 

[Ari Gold]

View attachment 15762

Haha

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Fifita now! Switching to Tonga.

According to reports.

The dumb f**k probably thinks he can do a Taumalolo and come back.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...p/news-story/a90db5df261cb7a5dbea2050e3541e98

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Fifita now! Switching to Tonga.

According to reports.

The dumb f**k probably thinks he can do a Taumalolo and come back.

Are we surprised though? NZ don't really have the depth to make a stand for the rest of Taumalolo's career, but Australia will inevitably win which will give them the "loyal to the incumbents" line to fall back onto.

Dugan's made an international career out of that line, don't see why Fafita's replacement can't either.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

So if RCG comes in that weakens Fiji. If Fiji had named their team yesterday, what happens? It's only a matter of time now before someone is pulled from one squad into another, and not just in a situation like Fifita being a dumb merkin.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Campbell-Gillard now confirmed.

I didn't think I'd have to edit the OP to account for players switching squads AFTER they've been named. f**k me.

 

[Jim from Oz]

Fifita out and Campbell-Gillard in makes Oz a stronger team !!!

 

[adamkungl]

So the rule is dual-eligible players must be picked by tier 1s before the 3-week cutoff or they are only eligible for tier 2. (Oct 6).
I believe the final cut-off for squads is 2 weeks? (Oct 13).

There is no rule for squad 'swaps' before either of these cutoffs. Should there be? Intuitively I'd think that nations should be aware of players availability/declaration before naming them, and that once they are named in a squad they can no longer play for another nation.
Basically Fifita should have declared before squads were named, and this issue is entirely avoided. Both this time, and back in the May tests.
Since NZ never named Taumololo, and Fiji never named RCG, I don't see any problem there, aside from it being disappointing for the nations that missed out, particularly Fiji.

This is the first year run of the new rules, perhaps we will see some changes to iron out teething problems after the WC.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Some Tongan bloke who was going to be named today has had a line put through him.

Maybe Jennings can switch to Fiji after all and complete the farce...I mean swap.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Tonga

• Andrew Fifita
• Mahe Fonua
• David Fusitu’a
• Siliva Havilli
• Ata Hingano
• Will Hopoate
• Konrad Hurrell
• Michael Jennings
• Solomone Kata
• Sione Katoa
• Samisoni Langi
• Tuimoala Lolohea
• Sika Manu
• Manu Ma'u
• Sam Moa
• Ben Murdoch Masila
• Joe Ofahengaue
• Tevita Pangai jnr
• Ukuma Ta'ai
• Sio Siua Taukieaho
• Jason Taumalolo
• Peni Terepo
• Daniel Tupou
• Manu Vatuvei