Youth always gets me excited. No matter the sport, when I see young players step up and dazzle it gets me going and it's the same when I know that young players are going to play a key role in the fortunes of their team. That's the case with this Kiwis team as there's a strong group of younger players which has me eagerly anticipating this tour of England. The presence of youth though can be a major hindrance as well and balance is always needed.

This is an interesting Kiwis tour because the absence of experienced, battle hardened professionals like Simon Mannering, Kieran Foran and Manu Vatuvei has opened the door for young players to step up. The door has also been opened to other players to step into leadership roles and to lead this Kiwis team, something which was evident in coach Stephen Kearney's decision to name Issac Luke and Adam Blair as co-captains.

Luke and Blair are the only players in this Kiwis squad who have played more than 30 Tests for the Kiwis, which makes them the perfect choice to skipper this team. Luke is an interesting choice as he hasn't had the best season of his career in 2015 with the Rabbitohs and a lot of that had to do with his fondness for the NRL judiciary. Luke also endured a tough patch with his former club coach Michael Maguire who dropped him to the bench after Luke returned from the Kiwis ANZAC Test and decided to move to the New Zealand Warriors for the 2016 season. 

If this Kiwis team was selected purely on form and what players have done this season, then you could argue that Luke shouldn't be in the squad let alone be a co-captain. Luke has however earned credits thanks to years of service to the black and white jersey as well as building a reputation as one of the best hookers in the game and I see his promotion to a top dawg leadership role as being a reward for that. Kearney's got the faith yo.

Blair is also an interesting yarn as he spent a few seasons in the NRL wilderness with the Wests Tigers after leaving the Melbourne Storm. Blair had effectively lived up to the idea that former Storm players aren't as good when they leave the Storm and Craig Bellamy's guidance, which obviously saw Blair's stocks as a Kiwi drop dramatically. This coincided with the emergence of this current Kiwis forward pack;  forwards who are faster, stronger and more skillful now dominate the Kiwis team. 

It would be extremely rude however to ignore Blair's season with the Brisbane Broncos where he has enjoyed great success bringing the ruckus in the middle of the field. Blair was an edge back-rower with the Storm but under Wayne Bennett, Blair now works in tandem with Sam Thaiday as they chop down, slow things down and do all those other little dirty jobs that lesser players don't want to do.

I couldn't really listen to any argument saying that Blair doesn't deserve to be in this Kiwis team - such was his form this season and with Simon Mannering's pulling out the Kiwis need that dude who is going to clean shit up and take tough carries. The Kiwis can't be all out power, off-loads and razzle dazzle as they will be going to battle against a strong English forward pack featuring James Graham and Tom Burgess and will need to be able to limit England through the middle. Blair does a great job of simply doing his job and he will set the tone for his team to follow.

Blair and Luke won't be the two old dudes at the University bar though as there is a low key impressive experienced core that will hold this squad together. Jason Nightingale has 25 caps and is the perfect player to have in your squad as he is the perfect team man while Ben Matulino is also a regular in the Kiwis and has 20 caps to his name. Jesse Bromwich, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Dean Whare and Alex Glenn all have more than 10 caps, but more intriguing for me is how players like Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (8), Peta Hiku (6), Martin Taupau (6), Kevin Proctor (8) and Tohu Harris (7) have quickly gained experienced in the Kiwis jersey, which goes back to Kearney giving them an opportunity when people questioned his decision to go with youth over experience. 

There's a large group of debutants in this Kiwis squad and while there are certainly some big names missing, the Kiwis won't be lacking leadership. More importantly, there is a large pool of players who have seen a fair bit of international rugby league lately and they will now be expected to play some sort of role in ensuring that the Kiwis culture and way they go about their business is upheld in England.