Selecting a Kiwis World Cup team, or squad is all fine and dandy but as we move towards the end of the NRL season and the World Cup, things are always changing. Earlier in the year we had the Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor situation which led to them being told that they wouldn't be required come World Cup time  and now Shaun Johnson's doubtful. Even Dean Whare went and did some damage to his jaw a few weeks ago, so now we're left watching the waters of change shift in and out.

There's a lot to touch on, but I want to start back with Bromwich and Proctor now that we've seen Origin play out. When David Kidwell announced that these two wouldn't be considered for World Cup selection, I thought it was a bit dramatic. They weren't charged with any criminal activity and swiftly made their way back on the park with their respective NRL teams, then the difference between Queensland's Origin set up and that of New South Wales smacked me in the face.

Regardless of your perception of Bromwich and Proctor's shenanigans, or those of Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson, the action taken by the Kiwis follows on from what Queensland did when their young guns 'played up' in an Emerging Origin camp. The Kiwis had two options in retrospect; do what Queensland would do, or do what New South Wales would do. Kidwell drew a line in the sand, outlined the standards and made an example of two veteran Kiwis, opting to follow the Queensland way of thinking. Ain't no complaints about that.

I've followed this narrative ever since, contemplating who is the best option to replace Bromwich at prop. Proctor is easily replaced by moving Simon Mannering to right edge - which he'd have to do anyway with Jason Taumalolo at lock - while I'd prefer Bromwich to be replaced like-for-like by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. A World Cup isn't the time to be giving young blokes a chance and assuming that Waerea-Hargreaves wants to be in the mix, his form in a hot Roosters team has him ahead of Russell Packer, then the young crop.

And I reckon the young crop could leap-frog Pakcer to push him off the bench of a best-17 - remember that a World Cup requires a hefty squad. In recent weeks we have seen James Fisher-Harris and Sio Siua Taukeiaho return from injury and looking the goods in the process, while Addin Fonua-Blake has been strong off the bench for Manly as well. 

We can't forget Ben Matulino either and he's been low key impressive for the Warriors over the last few weeks. The lack of experience in losing Bromwich and Proctor could provide an opening for Matulino and much of this depends if Kidwell wants to roll with more grizzly veterans, or younger blokes. Here are possible older and younger forward packs - Nelson Asofa-Solomona is a mandatory selection either way...

Grizzly Vets

Starters: Waerea-Hargreaves, Luke, Blair, Harris, Mannering, Taumalolo.

Bench: Nikorima, Matulino, Taupau, Asofa-Solomona.

Younger

Starters: Taupau, Luke, Blair, Harris, Mannering, Taumalolo.

Bench: Nikorima, Tapine, Fisher-Harris, Asofa-Solomona. 

Obviously the ideal situation is a balanced forward pack, the above are two extremes. I'd strongly consider Kenny Bromwich as a bench forward - Nikorima, Taupau, Asofa-Solomona, Bromwich - as he's been in nice form with Melbourne. Kenny has been playing through the middle for Melbourne during the middle stanza of the season where his footwork and ball-playing ability shine. He can also cover the edge if need be and he'd compliment the size of Taupau and Asofa-Solomona nicely.

Luke, Blair, Harris, Mannering, Taumalolo and Taupau are certainties - Harris needs to be healthy though. I'm rolling with Asofa-Solomona as a certainty as well, leaving us with the following group of forwards to keep a close eye on as the NRL season hits a climax, ramping up the importance and relevance of performances...

Fisher-Harris, Tapine, Waerea-Hargreaves, Packer, Taukeiaho, Bromwich, Matulino, Manu Ma'u, Issac Liu, Elijah Taylor, Bodene Thompson, Kenny Edwards, Corey Harawira-Naera, Alex Glenn.

The halves conundrum is an obvious issue and picking Shaun Johnson without any NRL game time would be a huge call, so I've got it narrowed down to Te Maire Martin vs Benji Marshall. Benji is my preferred option as he's experienced, has won a World Cup before and has a similar x-factor to Johnson which will be beneficial when the Kiwis need a try in the last 5-10 minutes.
Despite his form not really warranting an automatic selection, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will be the top-dawg fullback. The major hole is at centre and even if Dean Whare is fully fit, Jordan Kahu doesn't demand selection at centre, leaving us with plenty of funk in that position. 

We've got plenty of wingers and Kahu is similar to David Fusitua in that while they can play both with relative ease, their best work comes on the wing. Kahu and Fusitua are joined by Jordan Rapana and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, don't overlook the benefit of selected Jason Nightingale in the squad either as he'll be a great lad to have in camp. That's five jokers competing for two spots and one would assume that Shaun Kenny-Dowall would struggle to work his way into contention given his dramas with the white.

Kahu, Fusitua and Watene-Zelezniak can play centre and that's my order of preference. Brad Takairangi is someone to keep a very close eye on as he and Whare are legit NRL centres, not wing/centres and Takairangi's playing centre in a well-performing Parramatta team. Gerard Beale is a safe option and can cover wing as well, he's not much of an attacking threat but does a sound job and would be a reliable selection. 

We've also seen Esan Marsters emerge with Wests Tigers, although he's a youngin' who is a few years away from demanding a call up.

I'm incredibly intrigued by Solomone Kata, who has represented Aotearoa at centre before. There's no right or wrong in choosing to represent Aotearoa or Tonga (major and minor nation) and while many try to boil this down to financial benefits, they ignore the value of someone like Konrad Hurrell representing Tonga. Hurrell and Kata are effectively the same beings as they both came to Aotearoa to play schoolboy rugby union from Tonga, became NRL centres and one opted to represent the country that gave him a professional pathway and the other went on to represent and uplift his home nation.

No right or wrong, just different perspectives. 

Sure you can earn more money playing for the Kiwis but someone like Hurrell's already put himself in a great position business-wise and can turn down NZRL money to be a genuine Tongan hero. Money is money, money doesn't make you a cultural icon and leader.

Hurrell could follow in the path of his Tongan heroes Manu Vatuvei and Jonah Lomu in representing Aotearoa but I suspect he'll continue to play for Tonga and etch his name into Tongan sporting greatness. Kata has already laid his cards down and while there's financial gain to that, the mana and enthusiasm Kata has shown in performing the haka doesn't scream "I'm only here for the dosh!" 

The Kiwis veterans put Kata at the front of the haka because he's there to represent Aotearoa and as Kata is playing centre week in, week out, he's got the front-running to start at centre. Kata will compete against Takairangi for that centre spot and if Whare's struggling to stay fit, they could both start. A lot will depend on whether Kidwell wants specialists (Kata, Takairangi) or if he thinks Kahu and Fusitua can do a job. 

From this point on, the #KiwiNRL season takes on a vastly different meaning. Performances earlier in the season helped blokes earn selection for the Anzac Test, now it comes down to performances under pressure and those who are doing a fine job in top-eight teams suddenly enjoy a favourable position. Stay tuned to the #KiwiNRL Encyclopedia each week as this is where I'll break down who to keep an eye on in the Kiwis World Cup context, especially when cuzzies are doing battle against each other.

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