Aotearoa's Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns face Australia on Saturday night with an almighty chance of two wins, perhaps even a signal of the changing tides in rugby league. Defeating Australia is always tricky and despite a hearty effort a few weeks ago, Kiwi Ferns were reminded of why wins over Australia a rare. Kiwi Ferns now have a chance to rectify that loss in Townsville while the Kiwis will be eager to make a statement in the first of their two Tests against the Aussies.

Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has named the same team that started against Samoa. Kieran Foran started at hooker in the #14 jersey and he will start once again against Australia, this time rocking the #9 jersey. Foran laid out his mana in 58 minutes of dummy half mahi last weekend before Fa'amanu Brown was injected into the game.

33-year-old Foran made 31 tackles @ 91% against Samoa and even had 3 dummy half runs for 23m @ 7.6m/run. F-Brown had a sneaky influence in Aotearoa blowing Samoa away to reach 50 points as his crisp dummy half service kept the attack flowing, which included a delightful short pass for Briton Nikora's try. F-Brown also popped up in the right spots to pounce on a bumbled kick-off, make a fabulous tackle on Aotearoa's try line to snuff out a Samoan set and then set up Ronaldo Mulitalo's second try by lurking on the left edge to receive a dummy half pass from Dylan Brown.

For all the huff and puff from Samoa, specifically directed at F-Bown and the kiwi-usos, F-Brown had a low key role in Aotearoa blowing Samoa away. Samoa could have mustered some pride by limiting the damage late in this game, instead they were rolled. Foran built foundations for this with his grizzly performance and F-Brown's class, plus his natural footy ability ensured that Samoa got 50 points put on them.

Everything else was fairly typical for Aotearoa Kiwis. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad mainly operated on the right edge in attacking shape with similar plays to his NZ Warriors distribution. There are running threats throughout the Kiwis backline. Matthew Timoko rolled out the same dynamic running that saw him average 159m/game for Raiders this season, up from 109m/game last season and 111m/game the season prior.

D-Brown and Jahrome Hughes were equally as potent running the footy as they were setting up shape. Hughes did all the kicking for Aotearoa Kiwis halves with 15 kicks while D-Brown had none, yet D-Brown's footwork and solid defence is equally as important. Hughes will be a defensive target for Australia but Kiwis have Briton Nikora offering support and D-Brown's top-notch running/tackling package seems perfect for Test footy.

Most notably, Aotearoa Kiwis have a fantastic forward pack. Australia has rotated their forward pack for this game as they appear to be aiming for the return game in Hamilton and Aotearoa will be fizzed up to blow away this Kangaroos pack. James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Joseph Tapine and Nelson Asofa-Solomona could be the best quartet of forwards in the world right now. Add in the exciting efforts of Griffin Neame and Leo Thompson for a never-ending wave of oomph.

While unlikely, there could be a sneaky inclusion of Naufahu Whyte who was 18th-lad vs Samoa. Kiwis coach Maguire may want to give Whyte a taste before the Oceania Championship final in Hamilton and while Whyte's rise has snuck under the radar for many, youngsters from Aotearoa don't shine for Roosters by accident.

After losing to Australia in Townsville, this Kiwi Ferns team named by coach Ricky Henry offers intrigue for the rematch. Unfortunately Amelia Pasikala won't be playing and she is a top-17 talent for Aotearoa, which was on display in a brief stanza before suffering a horrible ankle injury; Pasikala's powerful run from dummy half to score early in the second half against Tonga swung that game in favour of Aotearoa.

19-year-old Pasikala's absence is intriguing when packaged with the absence of Alexis Tauaneai. The 18-year-old from Wainuiomata was one of the best forwards in NRLW this season for Dragons but she missed the last few games due to injury which then saw her dip out of Kiwi Ferns contention. Regardless of what happens against Australia, know that Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns have two of the best young forwards in the world stashed away.

That crew of talented young wahine also includes 21-year-old Annessa Biddle who started the NRLW season on the wing for Sharks before settling at centre. Now Biddle has commanded selection as an edge forward for Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns and this opens up space in the backline to fit Leianne Tufuga, Mele Hufanga, Abigail Roache and Shanice Parker in the same team. Along with Biddle, all five spent most of their NRLW minutes at centre this season.

Having powerful runners like Biddle and Otesa Pule as edge forwards is a boost against Australia. Opening up space for Roache's inclusion is the best wrinkle here as Roache flashed her class against Tonga, floating through Tonga's defence for tries while also putting in some of the biggest defensive hits from the Kiwi Ferns. Hufanga is a genuine superstar and the most exciting wahine in Aotearoa rugby league/union at the moment, Roache is also excellent.

Kiwi Ferns also have sneaky impressive defenders in the middle. Brooke Anderson has earned the starting dummy half role after 29 tackles @ 100% with crisp dummy half service against Australia, then 26 tackles @ 89% against Tonga. Meanwhile, Georgia Hale has made 86 tackles in two Tests with four missed tackles.

Along with Biddle moving to edge forward to open up space for Roache, Kiwi Ferns will have Tyla Nathan-Wong starting in the halves alongside Raecene McGregor. Nathan-Wong came off the bench in the loss to Australia and now swaps with Ash Quinlan who is likely to cover dummy half, but could come into the halves with Nathan-Wong moving to dummy half.

Either way, defeating Australia will require the best performance of Nathan-Wong's league career. The stats don't offer many insights here, this is about Nathan-Wong's class and winning experience as a legend of Aotearoa sport. Kiwi Ferns have rarely had a player of this calibre in key play-making positions and if Kiwi Ferns manage to upset Australia, expect Nathan-Wong to be a key figure.

Join the Niche Cache Patreon whanau to support our kiwi sports content straight up, get a karma boost and find extra podcasts.

Every Monday and Friday we fire off an email newsletter with bonus content. Sign up here!

Peace and love.