Spring Internationals: Junior Kiwis Squad
Having named a rather aggressive Junior Kiwis wider squad, the actual Junior Kiwis squad named by coach Ezra Howe resembles a far more realistic Junior Kiwis group. We don't know which players were unable for selection via injuries etc, so you can never judge the future of Aotearoa rugby league from a Junior Kiwis squad, yet this squad does present a bunch of youngsters who have climbed through NZRL pathways to this point.
This is most evident in eight players from last year's Aotearoa Under 18 team moving into this year's Aotearoa's Under 20s team (Junior Kiwis); Hayze Perham, Mawene Hiroti, Paul Turner, Sean Mullany, Kelma Tuilagi, Jordan Riki, Peter Hola and Steven Marsters. Both Marsters and Pere played in the Junior Kiwis last year as well, with Marsters starting at fullback and Pere starting at prop.
Moeaki Fotuaika and Manase Fainu were also in last year's Junior Kiwis squad and were both named in the wider squad this year. This was just one example of the aggressive selections in the wider squad as Fotuaika was also named in Tonga's wider squad to face Australia, after being selected in Tonga's squad that played against Samoa earlier this year. Fotuaika could easily jump into a Junior Kiwis team, or be in the mix for a Kiwis squad spot but he looks likely to stick with Tonga and I'd expect Fainu to follow suit when his time comes.
The naming of Moses Suli in the wider squad was slightly rediculous and it's no surprise to not see Suli's name in the Junior Kiwis squad. The same goes for 2018 New South Wales Under 20 prop Oregon Kaufusi; making any major judgements from the Junior Kiwis wider squad named, would have been excessively silly given the players named. Or Pasame Saulo, from Newcastle Knights who was born in Australia and has represented Australia Schoolboys and NSW Under 18s.
There were however, players in the wider squad with legit claims to further Junior Kiwis selection. Cruz Topai-Aveai went from rugby union with Shirley Boys High School in Christchurch to South Sydney Rabbitohs and has been a notable performer through the middle for Cronulla Sharks this season. Another example is Rory Ferguson who moved from the deep south where he was at John McGlashan College, to Brisbane Broncos and spent much of the seaosn playing Under 20s with Souths Logan in Brisbane while also playing four games for Souths Logan's Intrust Super Cup team.
Obviously, there are many more examples of players named in the wider squad who are not only legitimately eligible for Aotearoa, but who also will only be eligible for Aotearoa in the future. I'm making a point of referring back to that wider squad, just to reinforce how borderline bonkers that squad was and that is wasn't a fair reflection of the player pool for the Junior Kiwis.
Of course, from an NZRL perspective they may as well name who ever is slightly eligible and see what happens. That's NZRL being proactive, being on the front foot and aggressive. Clearly, the proof is in the pudding and none of those players went on to be named in the Junior Kiwis though.
Also keep in mind that Junior Kiwis selection isn't the be all and end all in terms of future representative footy. Many Junior Kiwis have gone on to represent Samoa or Tonga; Fotuaika and Jarome Luai are the most recent examples from last year's Junior Kiwis team. Then we have Corey Harawira-Naera and Jahrome Hughes, who didn't play for Junior Kiwis but have been named in the Kiwis squad for spring international footy.
The selection of Dean Blore also adds some weird funk and only confuses the eligibility stuff further as his younger brother Shawn Blore has been named as an edge forward for the Junior Kangaroos.
Each year, I put together a 'Meet the Junior Kiwis' thing and I'll crack on to that to offer everything you need to know about the young men selected in this year's squad. This get rolled out later in the week, but to finish with here, I want to plant a seed that will form another piece of writing soon about the coaching pathways for kiwi coaches.
Ezra Howe is the Junior Kiwis coach this year, taking over from Nathan Cayless. As was recently announced, Cayless has been snapped up by Aotearoa Warriors as their reserve grade coach and Cayless has/is moving through the kiwi coaching pathway. That's where I'll go deep in my upcoming yarn, but Howe is a fine example of the coaching journey and how it combines with Aotearoa's best young talent.
Having had a long history (way back to 2009) with Canberra Raiders, Northland's Howe was instrumental in the NZRL Taurahere initiative as coach of the team made up on Aotearoa eligible youngsters living in Australia. That started in 2013 and during that time, Howe has also been involved in various Junior Kiwis camps and was last year the head coach of the Aotearoa U18 team; hence there's a nice crossover between last year's U18 team and this year's Junior Kiwis.
Now, Howe has moved up to head coach of the Junior Kiwis. Howe paid his coaching dues as a junior coach with Canberra Raiders, then got involved with various NZRL teams or camps and worked his way through the pathway to now get the Junior Kiwis gig. As the #KiwiNRL takeover rolls on, I continue to celebrate the pathways on offer for the players and now we are seeing that these now can apply to coaches as well.
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Peace and love 27.