As youngsters from Aotearoa roll through every NRL/NRLW pipeline and the group of top-tier rugby league players from Aotearoa continues to grow, remember that New Zealand Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns finished last year with wins over Australia. The NRLW competition started a few weeks ago and Kiwi Ferns will be boosted by various wahine moving to NRLW from rugby union, meanwhile the NZ Kiwis squad has been grinding through another strong season.

The only pocket of the NZ Kiwis team who beat Australia 30-0 last year that will definitely change is the dummy half rotation. Kieran Foran and Fa'amanu Brown gave tremendous service to Aotearoa last year as they combined to cover dummy half, a service that should never be forgotten as they helped Aotearoa churn out impressive wins.

NZ Kiwis have Brandon Smith and Jeremy Marshall-King as the leading hookers who should both feature in the squad if they are available. With Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown as the best halves combination, there isn't much room for Foran in the top-17 NZ Kiwis outfit but Foran's mana is ideal for the squad and a matua role. Foran has played 31 Tests for Aotearoa and his enthusiasm for representing our wee nation makes him a fabulous leader to share his mana with younger lads.

The abundance of exceptional forwards for NZ Kiwis is again on show, with no reason to tweak the forward pack that defeated Australia. James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Joseph Tapine started in the middle with Isaiah Papali'i and Briton Nikora on the edges. On the bench were Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Griffin Neame and Leo Thompson.

Naufahu Whyte was 18th lad for the Test vs Australia and he has enjoyed a development bump with Roosters after being in the NZ Kiwis squad last year. Wiremu Greig was also in the NZ Kiwis squad and he could feature again if someone is out of action, however Xavier Willison has overtaken Greig this season with more footy and better mahi.

Another middle forward who could be in contention is Erin Clark after he made a shift to prop this season. Clark has impacted winning for Titans with his speed, power and aggression offering a different style of middle forward. While he still sits outside the top-17, behind Whyte and Willison in the NZ Kiwis depth chart, it would be fun to see an NZ Kiwis bench with Clark and Asofa-Solomona; two different sizes that deliver the same oomph.

The edge forward mix features Briton Nikora, Isaiah Papali'i, Scott Sorenson, Jordan Riki and Marata Niukore. Sorenson and Niukore weren't part of the NZ Kiwis squad last year but they are strong options to plug a hole if required, while Riki is still yet to debut for NZ Kiwis. Younger edge forwards who could emerge as deep cuts are Connelly Lemuelu who is from Otara and Jacob Laban from Wellington, who can also represent Samoa.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Keano Kini should again be selected in the NZ Kiwis squad as fullbacks. Nicoll-Klokstad offered 277m, 101 post contact metres, 4 offloads and 100% tackling while playing injured in the win over Australia. This effort amplified his NZ Kiwis mana and with Kini offering a different style of fullback mahi, they provide ample depth at fullback.

Jamayne Isaako and Ronaldo Mulitalo are still the best NZ Kiwis wingers. Will Warbrick continues to improve for Storm and this should see him earn NZ Kiwis squad selection, giving Aotearoa three strong wingers to chose from. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak outlined his desire to play for Tonga last year and Christian Tuipulotu is likely to stick with Tonga. Greg Marzhew will probably play for Samoa again and Sebastian Kris has already covered most backline positions for NZ Kiwis so he can be an option if required.

The most intriguing bracket for NZ Kiwis squad selection is centre. Matthew Timoko is locked in as a long-term centre for NZ Kiwis and Joseph Manu is a certainty if he hasn't moved to Japanese rugby by the time NZ Kiwis are called to action. It seems likely that Manu will dip out of rugby league once the NRL season is finished and this opens up a bunch of curious eligibility cases.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Deine Mariner are both eligible for Samoa. At this stage of his career, Tuivasa-Sheck may decide to play for Samoa and Mariner hasn't shown any indication of his representative vibe. Mariner didn't hit up the NZ-A camp and game last year which may have been due to injury, while Storm centre Jack Howarth was a funky inclusion in the NZ-A stuff last year.

As noted at the time, Howarth and Benjamin Te Kura were joined by Trey Mooney in playing for NZ-A after playing junior footy for Queensland and New South Wales. All three were born and raised in Australia as well. Te Kura and Mooney aren't quite at the NZ Kiwis level just yet as they aren't consistent top-17 NRL players, plus Aotearoa has ample big bopper depth.

NZ Kiwis may need a centre though and Howarth has settled into a groove at centre for Storm after a slow-brew development process. Howarth has doubled up on NZ-A and Aotearoa Maori footy over the past year and while it seems crazy that he and someone like Te Kura would pick Aotearoa over Queensland/Australia, the need for a centre and Howarth's new appreciation for Aotearoa could see the stars align.

The centres for NZ-A last year were Rocco Berry and Bailey Simonsson, both of whom are out injured. Aside from Kini, Warbrick, Greig and Howarth one notable player from the NZ-A squad who has stepped up to regular NRL minutes this season is Joe Chan for Storm. There isn't much room in the NZ Kiwis squad for another forward but Chan is playing edge and middle for Storm, which could make him a useful squad member if others are unavailable.

NZ Kiwis Wider Squad Mixer

Fullbacks

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Auckland), Keano Kini (Auckland)

Wingers

Jamayne Isaako (Christchurch), Ronaldo Mulitalo (Auckland), Will Warbrick (Kawerau)

Centres

Joseph Manu (Tokoroa), Matthew Timoko (Auckland), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Auckland) Deine Mariner (Auckland), Jack Howarth (Mackay)

Halves

Jahrome Hughes (Wellington), Dylan Brown (Northland), Kieran Foran (Auckland)

Middles

James Fisher-Harris (Northland), Joseph Tapine (Wellington), Moses Leota (Auckland), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Wellington), Griffin Neame (Greymouth), Leo Thompson (Napier), Naufahu Whyte (Auckland), Xavier Willison (Taharoa), Erin Clark (Auckland), Wiremu Greig (Northland)

Edges

Briton Nikora (Tauranga), Isaiah Papali'i (Auckland), Scott Sorenson (Sydney) Marata Niukore (Auckland), Jordan Riki (Christchurch)

Hookers

Brandon Smith (Waiheke Island), Jeremy Marshall-King (Whakatane)

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