Aotearoa Kiwis Team To Face England
You gots the mana?
Having delayed naming his first Aotearoa Kiwis team for 24 hours, Michael Maguire has now settled on his team of 17 to face England in Denver on Sunday morning. There a couple interesting calls from Maguire and the two players to miss out in Jordan Kahu and Isaac Liu can feel a wee bit unlucky, although it's also hard to argue with what Maguire has rolled out.
The spine is as expected, with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak at fullback, Te Maire Martin and Kodi Nikorima in the halves and Issac Luke at hooker. Jamayne Isaako and Ken Maumalo not only offer standard try-scoring nous and Isaako's got a handy goal-kicking boot, both are strong runners of the footy, which when combined with the running fizz of Watene-Zelezniak should give the Kiwis plenty of punch in kick-returns/early tackles.
Esan Marsters' form for Wests Tigers always felt undeniable, making the battle between Peta Hiku and Jordan Kahu the major backline selection conundrum for Maguire. I prefer Kahu and their offensive abilities are fairly similar, obviously Maguire believes that Hiku can do a defensive job at centre and given that Hiku averages 3.4 missed tackles/game for the Warriors (2nd to Mason Lino's 4.2mt/game), Hiku must have made an impression in camp.
Kahu only recently came back from injury though and Hiku has played 14 games to Kahu's 5 games, plus Hiku has been part of a Warriors right edge that has produced plenty of Warriors points. What's funky here is that Marsters plays right centre for the Tigers as well, so whether the versatile and more experienced Hiku shifts to the left to allow for a smoother transition for Marsters will be interesting.
While I thought James Fisher-Harris would get the nod to start (he still may), Maguire has understandably gone with three experienced middle forwards. That's a wise move and regardless of how England are favourites, or how you feel about the Kiwis chances, this trio of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Martin Taupau has size, power, plenty of mobility and all sorts of offloading potential.
As Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Joseph Tapine were the only certified edge forwards selected in the squad, no surprises that they have been selected to start there. Fisher-Harris can offer edge cover, but both Faitala-Mariner and Tapine get through 80 minutes in the NRL so there shouldn't be any need for Fisher-Harris to get them a break.
Fisher-Harris, Herman Ese'ese and Leeson Ah Mau will get middle minutes off the bench. I'm excited to see Fisher-Harris unleashed in a smaller stint off the bench, adding all sorts of aggression and energy. Ese'ese offers a powerful running style and mobility that is similar to Taupau, then there's the footwork of Ah Mau; different body shapes, sizes and skillsets in the forward pack.
Liu has been great for the Roosters leading up to this Test and you could make a case for him getting a bench spot ahead of Ese'ese. The power of Ese'ese is an asset though and as Maguire will carry Slade Griffin on the bench, there's no room for Liu.
With regards to Griffin and Luke, I'll be keeping a close eye on the injection of Griffin and whether he replaces Luke or perhaps plays alongside Luke as a middle forward. Griffin giving Luke a break is the logical option, don't sleep on Maguire going smaller in the forward pack though as this different look through the middle could trouble England; with Luke and Griffin playing alongside a couple offloaders, the Kiwis could switch the style and play a higher tempo.
Now that Maguire has named his 17, I'm excited to see how he has brought the group together and how the players respond to Maguire's coaching. They are still the underdogs, but regardless what you hear about the players who are missing from the Kiwis squad, this looks to be a fun team who are definitely capable of an upset.
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Peace and love 27