The 2023 Aotearoa Kiwis squad has been named by coach Michael Maguire with rugby league's rise in Aotearoa on display in the depth of talent and where these players come from. The niggliest thing about international rugby league is not knowing who is available and who wants to play for what nation. While international rugby league needs more clarity around selections and availability for fans to connect with these teams, assessing these squads is all about working with what we are given.

What we, as rugby league fans in Aotearoa, have been given is a squad with three lads from Northland, two kiwi-usos from Christchurch and a bloke from Greymouth rounding out three lads from the South Island. Four players are from Wellington and the sneaky rise of rugby league throughout Aotearoa's regions is also evident in three players coming from the emerging heartland of Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Hawke's Bay.

Aotearoa's rugby league mana is also present in how every player named in this squad grew up in New Zealand. Players like Scott Sorenson or Reimis Smith for example are both willing Aotearoa Kiwis representatives who were born and raised in Australia and Aotearoa Kiwis teams have always featured these players. Moses Leota is the only player selected who doesn't have a clear junior background in Aotearoa but he grew up in Auckland before moving to Sydney.

Depth is also a key factor in this squad. NZRL listed 11 players who were unavailable in their Instagram post and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was the only bloke who was apparently iffy on his desire to play for Aotearoa. That's 10 players who have Aotearoa Kiwis as their leading representative choice and this group does not include Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, Jordan Rapana, Peta Hiku or Isaac Liu (Rapana may feature in the Cook Islands squad which hasn't been announced at the time of writing).

A bunch of players in this squad are ranked 25-30 in a imaginary depth chart and there is an Aotearoa 'A' squad to come as well. Aotearoa Kiwis have ample depth and this reflects the quality of Kiwi-NRL youngsters who are entering the mixer. All of whom have had the Kiwi-NRL Spotlight treatment in the last year and there is no excuse for not knowing who these lads are....

Griffin Neame, Wiremu Greig, Matthew Timoko, Leo Thompson and Naufahu Whyte are all Kiwi-NRL juniors with direct links to domestic footy in Aotearoa. There was intrigue about Siua Wong's representative future and while he has opted to represent Tonga in the upcoming window, this makes for an interesting comparison with Roosters homie Whyte.

Roosters recuited Whyte just like the recruited Wong from Auckland and many other Kiwi-NRL juniors currently in their system. Wong moved to Sydney via Roosters to embed himself in their junior ranks. This generated lots of buzz around Wong but Roosters also had Whyte in their system while he was playing league and union at Kelston Boys High School. As soon as Whyte finished school, he followed the path of Joseph Manu and Sitili Tupouniua to shine in the junior ranks for Roosters. Everyone thinks Wong is a top-notch youngster and Whyte has similar pedigree.

The hooking equation is another quirky pocket. Brandon Smith and Jeremy Marshall-King are unavailable, so Fa'amanu Brown and Danny Levi have chosen to enter the Aotearoa Kiwis mixer. Levi has already played for Aotearoa Kiwis and is a Randwick junior from Wellington. Brown is a Hornby junior who has endured an almighty battle with injuries after Sharks recruited him from Christchurch.

After a stint in England, Brown returned to Australia and was playing for North Sydney Bears before coach Maguire recruited him to Tigers mid-season. Brown quickly earned a top-17 role at Tigers and commanded a gig with Bulldogs for this season, but in typical Bulldogs fashion, Brown was soon brushed aside and he made a switch to Knights. Brown and Levi are another example of Kiwi-NRL abundance as they come from Christchurch and Wellington respectively, with hearty connections to their grassroots clubs.

Heres how the squad breaks down by region with grassroot clubs listed or their local area...

Northland

• Dylan Brown: Hikurangi/Whangarei

• Wiremu Greig: Whangarai

• James Fisher-Harris: Kohukohu

Auckland

• Kieran Foran: Ellerslie

• Moses Leota: Mt Roskill

• Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: City Newton

• Ronaldo Mulitalo: Ellerslie/Otara

• Isaiah Papali'i: Te Atatu

• Matthew Timoko: Otahuhu

• Naufahu Whyte: Bay Roskill

• Keano Kini: Northcote

Waikato/BOP

• Joseph Manu: Tokoroa

• Briton Nikora: Tauranga

Hawke's Bay

• Leo Thompson: Napier Marist

Wellington

• Nelson Asofa-Solomona: Upper Hutt

• Jahrome Hughes: Harbour City

• Joseph Tapine: Harbour City

• Danny Levi: Randwick

South Island

• Jamayne Isaako: Aranui

• Fa'amanu Brown: Hornby

• Griffin Neame: Suburbs Greymouth

There is plenty of versatility to cover positions mid-series and it is also likely that players could be promoted from the Aotearoa A squad in an emergency. Manu and Nicoll-Klokstad cover fullback and centre, with Kini covering fullback and Timoko likely to start in one of the centre slots. Mulitalo and Isaako are the leading wingers. Northland Brown is the most versatile player in the squad and he could be a starting half who has also played centre in the NRL.

Northland Brown can genuinely cover most positions and even Christchurch Brown has scope to play as a middle forward as well as hooker. Hughes and Foran are halves, who along with Northland Brown and perhaps Kini can ensure quality in these play-making positions. Christchurch Brown has also played in the halves at Test level for Samoa as well as in the NRL, but he is likely to share dummy half minutes with Levi.

Fisher-Harris, Leota, Asofa-Solomona and Tapine are now the leaders in the forward pack. Nikora and Papali'i are the best contenders to fill the edge forward roles. Thompson, Neame and Greig are middle forwards who will compete for minutes off the bench. Whyte has played edge and middle in the NRL which could boost his case for selection.

This isn't the strongest possible Aotearoa Kiwis squad but it represents the standing of rugby league in Aotearoa. This was on display last year as Aotearoa Kiwis defeated Tonga with no players from NZ Warriors and now there is a chance that Aotearoa Kiwis play with at least two players from Northland and the South Island in the same team. Having four players from Wellington hasn't happened too many times before, certainly not in the last decade or so. The young players come from regional Aotearoa as well as Auckland and this squad is a celebration of all the grassroots mahi done by rugby league communities around Aotearoa.

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