Aotearoa Kiwis vs Samoa Preview
Aotearoa Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has named his first team since the World Cup headlined by Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad sealing the fullback role and Fa'amanu Brown starting at hooker in his Kiwis debut. Matthew Timoko is named to make his debut at centre forming an enticing centre pairing with Joseph Manu, while Griffin Neame and Leo Thompson will come off the bench for their debuts.
Here's how the top-17 breaks down by region...
Northland: Dylan Brown, James Fisher-Harris
Auckland: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Matthew Timoko, Moses Leota, Isaiah Papali'i, Kieran Foran
Waikato/BOP: Joseph Manu, Briton Nikora
Hawke's Bay: Leo Thompson
Wellington: Jahrome Hughes, Joseph Tapine, Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Christchurch: Jamayne Isaako, Fa'amanu Brown
Greymouth: Griffin Neame
All three South Island players selected in the Kiwis squad are named for this game with Neame and F-Brown joining Jamayne Isaako. F-Brown is a funky lad to ponder as he has signed with Hull FC and will depart for the Super League after these international Tests, so who knows when this opportunity will swing his way again.
F-Brown also had a weird season and was a victim of Bulldogs shenanigans. After playing 54 minutes in round tahi as a starter, F-Brown was then dropped to the bench and played 30-odd minutes in back to back Bulldogs wins. For no clear reason the Hornby junior only grabbed 15mins off the bench in round four and was cut from the Bulldogs top-17 until playing again in round 20 against broncos. Then came a move to Knights where F-Brown played 16mins and 65mins (starting hooker) in back to back wins in round 26 and round 27.
While he was apparently not good enough to hold down a top-17 spot for a losing Bulldogs team, the stars aligned for F-Brown to enjoy a winning flurry with Knights and now he's starting hooker for Aotearoa Kiwis. Also interesting is that F-Brown has started at fullback, both halves positions, hooker, edge forward and lock forward in his career.
With F-Brown starting at hooker, Kieran Foran grabs a bench spot to provide dummy half cover. Foran is now the grizzly Kiwis kaumatua and after making his Aotearoa debut at centre back in 2009, then featuring as a starting half for most of his Kiwis career, Foran has settled as the leading bench utility under coach Maguire.
Dylan Brown and Jahrome Hughes are the starting halves. Both provide dynamic running threats and while D-Brown offers a kicking option along with F-Brown out of hooker, expect Hughes to handle most of the kicking. Hughes usually operates on the right edge where he is likely to join Briton Nikora, while D-Brown and Isaiah Papali'i could flex their Eels combo from a few years ago on the left.
How Timoko and Manu line up will be interesting as both are usually right centres in the NRL. With Timoko making his debut, it may be slightly easier for him to adpat to Test footy by staying in his right edge slot. Coach Maguire has alternated between Nicoll-Klokstad and Manu at fullback/centre, with Nicoll-Klokstad usually operating on the right edge for NZ Warriors in attacking shape.
This could leave Manu out on the left edge, possibly alongside D-Brown. The interesting wrinkle here will be how Manu roams as he probably won't be locked down to his centre role and whether it's a dummy half run or popping up in attacking shape, expect to see Tokoroa's finest in funky positions.
The middle forward trio of James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Joseph Tapine may be the best Aotearoa has rolled out in the past few decades. In true Panthers fashion, other NRL props and middle combos generate lots of buzz but Fisher-Harris and Leota routinely dominate them to win championships. These two have started in all three NRL Grand Finals that Panthers have won and their greatness is already certified.
Most importantly, the mana of Fisher-Harris and Leota sets the benchmark for Griffin Neame and Leo Thompson. Both are likely to play through the middle in limited minutes and with Nelson Asofa-Solomona also named on the bench he may be deployed at edge forward. Storm coach Craig Bellamy and coach Maguire have both played Asofa-Solomona at edge forward over the last two years, offering a hefty dose of x-factor for Aotearoa.
Despite kiwi media chatting up how some of the Samoan team were born in Aotearoa, Toa Samoa only have two Kiwi-NRL juniors in their team to face Aotearoa. Daejarn Asi is an Aranui junior from Christchurch which means there will be three players from Christchurch in this game and all three are kiwi-usos. Connelly Lemuelu is named to start on an edge for Samoa as a product of Tangaroa College and Papatoetoe Rugby Club.
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