Alex Glenn ain't no saviour, that's not his style on the field and nor does that vibe apply to this situation. Aotearoa Kiwis coach David Kidwell could have saved himself a few headaches and simply rolled out a better team though if Glenn was selected in this Kiwis Rugby League World Cup squad. That wasn't the case before Tohu Harris pulled out via injury and Manu Ma'u opted to play for Tonga, afterwards though, Glenn was the only cuzzie left standing as a specialist edge forward.

Winner of the Brisbane Broncos' Most Consistent Award is Alex Glenn!
— Eden Richards (@Eden_Richards) October 6, 2017

Maybe Glenn made himself unavailable as well, who knows. There's no point in buzzing about that any further though and energy is better spent in trying to suss out how Kidwell goes about plugging those two edge forward roles from the squad that has been selected. From the Kiwis squad, the options for those edge forward spots are Simon Mannerning, Elijah Taylor, Kenny Bromwich and Joseph Tapine.

Kidwell could do something crazy - BE PREPARED FOR KRAZY KIDWELL FOLKS - and move Adam Blair to an edge or even slide Peta Hiku in there after Hiku spent a few cheeky minutes there for Penrith Panthers this season. Don't rule out any crazy antics, but the logical pool of players competing for those edge spots are the four mentioned.

What do those four players have in common?

All four spent the majority of the season playing through the middle.

All four also played on an edge at various stages and have played on an edge previously though, just no to any great extent recently. Mannering is the most interesting option, not because of what he offers the edges but because what moving him out of the middle would then mean in terms of the middle forwards. To think that Mannering was close to not being selected was absolutely bonkers as he's currently the best lock option and the best edge forward option in the squad; he can only play one position though yo.

If Mannering plays on an edge, this would mean that Aotearoa would need to start with Adam Blair, Martin Taupau, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or Russell Packer as the middle forwards. That's not all that crazy considering that Blair is a defensive/niggler/offloader and not a metre-guzzling prop, which is a handy replacement for Mannering. Don't trip on what jerseys these guys wear as it means nothing, as long as there are three middle forwards who have complimentary skill-sets, all good.

Taupau could very easily be a direct replacement for Jason Taumalolo and shout out to #KiwiNRL depth because that doesn't sound terrible. In fact, it's bloody exciting. I'm eager to see what Taupau can do as a starting forward, just as much as I'm eager to see Taupau come off the bench with Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

The low key bloke to watch is Isaac Liu, who was fantastic this season through the middle for the Roosters. Liu spent much of the season consistently playing lock and as he's a wee bit better suited to starting - with NAS coming on either side of half-time - he could very well be an option here. Whether it's Liu or Taupau who gets the promotion, or even any other middle forward, Aotearoa has the options available to cover Mannering playing on an edge.

That's one edge sussed, so who ya got on the other edge?

Again, this is closely related to the middle forwards as all three are handy middle options and this could depend on whether Taylor, Bromwich or Tapine is the best middle option. Bromwich is the bloke to watch for me here and that's based largely on what happened in the Anzac Test; Bromwich replaced Kevin Proctor on the right edge.

Bromwich has flexed his skill-set through the middle this season for Melbourne Storm and offers powerful carries, nimble footwork and nifty skills. He's mobile enough to handle outside backs and edge forwards, while also having played centre in the NRL previously. Also, Bromwich is more dynamic in attack than Taylor which gives him an advantage there and although I love Tapine as an edge forward, the prospect of Tapine rollin' off the bench through the middle with NAS is fairly funky.

(I don't have Taylor in my strongest 17)

Not only is Bromwich best equipped to do the RLWC job, putting him on an edge is also best for the team in my mind. You kinda need to have Bromwich in the 17 to cover various positions and this is going to be a low key narrative to keep tabs on during RLWC as we've seen in the NRL that you need outside back cover with the focus on concussions.

Here's two variations on how my Kiwis forward pack would look with Mannering and Bromwich on the edges:

Blair, Taupau, Waerea-Hargreaves, Leuluai | Nikorima, Asofa-Solomona, Tapine, Packer.

Blair, Waerea-Hargreaves, Liu, Leuluai | Nikorima, Asofa-Solomona, Taupau, Packer/Tapine.

Peace and love 27.

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