I'll save y'all the full Benji Marshall yarn again, but it needs to touched on now that Kieran Foran's ruled himself out of the World Cup. First, Foran though and while it's a bit of a bummer that one of the best halves to ever represent Aotearoa won't be available for this World Cup, there's a weird sense of 'all goods' when pondering the impending absence of Foran.

On the field, Foran endured his worst season in 2017. And that's strictly on the field as he's dealt with his off-field issues as well as being forced to miss many games through injury. Injuries and off-field issues resulted in 2016 being a fairly crappy year for Foran, so 2017  was a great year for Foran as he was zoned in on merely getting back to what he loves. Let's keep things in perspective and recognise that 2017 was about Foran slotting back into footy and sussing his life out. He achieved that and as that was stage tahi, to expect Foran to be super awesome was a bit unrealistic.

Foran was however - even with that perspective - a wee bit underwhelming. Still, you can forgive the bloke as the emphasis was on restoring his life, not being peak, top-five NRL halves Kieran Foran. From a Aotearoa Kiwis viewpoint, I wasn't overly confident in Foran's ability to lead the Kiwis to glory at the World Cup; he's not the same player right now, he's played injured all season, he was mediocre for the Kiwis earlier this year and Australia easily shut down Foran, Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in that Anzac Test.

From every angle, including that of the Bulldogs, this is a wise move.

The ramifications of Foran's absence are now excessivley funky, like nek level funky.

Coach David Kidwell hasn't done a whole lot right as Kiwis coach and distancing himself from Benji Marshall's selection now looks rather silly. Kidwell highlighted the experience of Foran and Johnson and that he'd been in constant contact with them both, which combined with the work of two young halves who like Marshall have been playing Finals footy (Kodi Nikorima and Te Maire Martin), saw Kidwell brush over Marshall's possible inclusion.

Surely Kidwell would have had some insight into Foran's availability. Like, if he was in constant contact with Foran, surely there'd be some discussions that Foran was at the very least, no certainty. In saying 'nah bo' to Marshall, Kidwell appears to have shown that he didn't know of Foran's possible absence.

I've stated my case for Marshall's inclusion in-depth previously, inclusion in the squad and not specifically the best 17. Now the Kiwis are in a situation where they have lost Foran's experience and while Nikorima and Martin have been playing in NRL Finals, that doesn't mean they are the best lads for the job.

Nikorima and Anthony Milford struggled against Melbourne Storm as they lacked organisation. Both are razzle dazzle halves who run the footy and produce moments of magic, neither are conductors of the team, neither has showcased the ability to control a footy game and steer their team around the park. That sounds exactly like Johnson, who has rarely played with a classic No.7, controlling the game, thus allowing Johnson to do what he does best.

Nikorima x Johnson as the Kiwis halves combo is bloody exciting and they could offer an attacking master-class. They are awfully similar though and the lack of a conductor, with experience and class is what troubles me. That, combined with Nikorima's impact off the bench where he explodes out of dummy half and oozes x-factor. Brisbane Broncos reached the 2015 Grand Final with Nikorima playing the bench hooker role and the Kiwis have looked lethal when Nikorima comes off the bench, so why chuck Nikorima in the deep end when you have an experienced half ready to steer the ship?

Martin is playing in a Grand Final and I'm worried that this will be a key point in selecting Martin to partner Johnson. Yes, Martin has been part of an awesome Cowboys team, his role is however extremely limited. Martin doesn't do much kicking and he gets a quarter of the touches that Michael Morgan and Lachlan Coote get. If Martin's playing for Aotearoa in the halves, Johnson would be tasked with full control and Aotearoa don't have the all-round ability of Coote at fullback; Coote plays as a half, Tuivasa-Sheck is a dynamic runner.

And when Jonathan Thurston returns next season, Martin might not even be in the best Cowboys 17.

Without Foran, the most logical halves combination is Marshall and Johnson, with Nikorima coming off the bench. Even if Nikorima comes off the bench to play as a utility, with Issac Luke on the field as well, thus giving the Kiwis an extra play-maker; cool. I view Marshall's experience and leadership as mandatory now that Foran's out, yet I have zero confidence in Kidwell and his old-boys club selectors.

Peace and love 27.

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