Mad respect to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and the Watene whanau for nod to captain Aotearoa, however when you look past the captaincy funk and suss out the Aotearoa Kiwis team, as well as how they match up against Australia, there's many low key reasons to be optimistic as a Kiwis fan. Coach Michael Maguire has had a pretty difficult job so far as Kiwis coach, evident in the difference between the two teams he has had to select thus far.

While there are some niggly selections for this Test vs Australia, they are niggly selections and not David Kidwell-level of bonkers. Niggly in the sense that personal opinion could definitely have you scratching your noggins about Maguire's choices, yet once you simmer down and suss out the context, it's all good.

The backline has Maguire going with Ken Maumalo ahead of Jamayne Isaako and Kodi Nikorima starting in the halves alongside Shaun Johnson. Those two are the most contentious selections as Watene-Zelezniak, Jordan Rapana and Shaun Johnson are starting certainties from the players available, while Esan Marsters and Joseph Manu are the hottest #KiwiNRL centres of 2018.

Isaako hasn't been selected in the 18th/19th man spots, leading me to believe that he may not have been available for whatever reason for this game. Even if fully fit and healthy though, Maumalo is a fantastic wing option at this level now that he has shown improvements in defusing bombs and his agility through the middle. Aotearoa will need power to start their sets and with Rapana's awkward footwork, combined with the hard and fast running of Watene-Zelezniak; Maumalo compliments the others via his size and footwork combo.

I'm not sure which side Maumalo will play on. To be honest, it doesn't matter because both Marsters and Manu are as skillful in distributing the footy, as they are dynamic in running the footy. There is a lot of buzz around Manu right now and fair enough, I warn youz not to sleep on Marsters though and we could be witnessing the birth of Aotearoa's greatest centre pairing ever, honest to Jah.

As for Nikorima, this is simply the most sensible option. I'm not convinced by Nikorima as a half with Brisbane Broncos and always prefer him in as a bench utility at this level, however Maguire was never going to select Jahrome Hughes in the halves ahead of Nikorima. Hughes is one of my favourite #KiwiNRL players, yet he only got limited opportunities in the halves for Melbourne Storm and that's not enough to oust a player who is building international experience as a half.

The Watene-Zelezniak/Johnson/Nikorima combo will be interesting to watch as I don't think we've seen this specific combo before. That's always a bummer for the Kiwis as there isn't much consistency or chemistry built up. Hopefully these three can gel quickly to roll out a smooth performance against Australia, then develop their combo over the next month.

Brandon Smith starts at hooker and as mental as that is, it's also quite calming. Mental in the sense that Smith is a young buck with limited NRL experience at dummy half, calming in the sense that Smith spent 2018 playing as a middle forward off the bench for the Storm and that ruthless role should have prepared him well for international hooking duties.

I don't believe Kenny Bromwich has been selected as a dummy half on the bench, although I do expect Kenny to play some minutes at dummy half. Smith could play 80mins - that's a very real possibility - my prediction is that Kenny will come off the bench to play the same middle forward role as he plays for the Storm, with a 10-15min overlap of Smith getting a break and Kenny plugging the hole at dummy half.

Maguire has opted for the veterans; Jesse Bromwich, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Kevin Proctor. That's fine, especially when balanced out by the selection of James Fisher-Harris to start in the middle as well. There's a bit of aggression, energy and ruthlessness which I like and with Kenny, Leeson Ah Mau, Martin Taupau and Adam Blair coming off the bench, the variety in sizes, body shapes and skillsets is an asset.

Proctor and Isaac Liu start on the edges. Remember that Joseph Tapine is still coming back from injury which ruled him out of the back-end of Canberra Raiders season and I have Tapine ranked behind Tohu Harris for Aotearoa's edge forwards. If healthy, Tapine starts and that kinda means that Proctor and Liu will be competing for that other edge forward spot when Tapine returns.

Swing this back to not knowing what edge Marsters and Manu will play on; Liu spent much of this season at right edge for Sydney Roosters where he was alongside Manu. This is why I believe Maguire is gone with Liu as he and Manu already have a Premiership winning combo, yet things get weird when you consider that Marsters, Manu, Liu and Proctor are all predominantly right edge players in the NRL.

Compare that to Maumalo and Rapana, who play left and right wing respectively in the NRL. Maguire didn’t have much choice here so I don't blame him and even with Tapine returning, Tapine plays right edge for Raiders in the NRL. Oh and when Blair was playing edge for the Warriors, he was mainly on the right with Isaiah Papali'i on the left; guess which edge Tohu Harris played on this season?

Guess which edge Johnson plays for Warriors?

Guess which edge Nikorima plays for Broncos?

Right and right-o. My guess is that Liu and Manu will line up on the right, Proctor and Marsters on the left. Then we'll have to keep a very close eye on the Johnson/Nikorima combo because I reckon we could see them switch things up, move away from the right-left halves scheme that most NRL teams operate.

This could result in Nikorima playing as his #7 jersey suggests, sticking to first-receiver and playing a distribution/organisation role. Nikorima can then use that dynamic running game which I've already said is beautifully suited to an x-factor bench dummy half role, in running the footy against tired middle forwards. Push Johnson out two, or even three passes wide of the ruck on either side and let him get busy with more time and space.

It's safe to say that there is an abundance of wrinkles, nuance to this Kiwis team and how they play. To wrap this all up, I want to highlight that Australia will be playing without Billy Slater, Jonathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and/or Cameron Smith for the first time in a long time. With any one of those dudes in the Kangaroos, everything changes as they simply know how to win at this level.

Now we have an Australian team stacked to the brim with younger talent. I love how the new wave has come through for Australia and while there has been plenty of noise about the new look Kiwis, this is a vastly different Aussie team to what we are used to. As a Kiwis nerd, I'm used to those OG legends of Australia dominating Aotearoa and despite the talent Mal Meninga has selected, the prospect of facing a Kangaroos team without those four legends (and Greg Inglis) has me simmering away with anticipation, excitement and optimism.

Hit an ad to support the Kiwis content.

Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache directly, we drop bonus stuff for the Patrons and take care of the homies.

Peace and love 27.