Australia and New Zealand have named their sides for the first match of the four nations.
Holden Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens has today named the following squad to play in the Four Nations match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, 25 October.
No. |
Player |
NRL Club |
Junior Club |
1. |
Greg Inglis |
South Sydney Rabbitohs |
Bowraville Tigers |
2. |
Josh Mansour |
Penrith Panthers |
St Johns/Kingsgrove Colts |
3. |
Michael Jennings |
Sydney Roosters |
St Marys/West City Tigers |
4. |
Dylan Walker |
South Sydney Rabbitohs |
Mascot Jets |
5. |
Daniel Tupou |
Sydney Roosters |
Berala Bears/Guildford Owls |
6. |
Daly Cherry-Evans |
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
Mackay Brothers |
7. |
Cooper Cronk |
Melbourne Storm |
Souths Acacia |
8. |
Aaron Woods |
Wests Tigers |
Leichhardt Juniors |
9. |
Cameron Smith (c) |
Melbourne Storm |
Logan Brothers |
10. |
Sam Thaiday |
Brisbane Broncos |
Townsville Brothers |
11. |
Beau Scott |
Newcastle Knights |
Picton Magpies |
12. |
Ryan Hoffman |
Melbourne Storm |
Campbelltown Collegians |
13. |
Greg Bird |
Gold Coast Titans |
West Maitland Red Dogs/ Maitland Pumpkin Pickers |
14. |
Robbie Farah |
Wests Tigers |
Enfield Federals/Leichhardt Wanderers |
15. |
Aidan Guerra |
Sydney Roosters |
Townsville Brothers |
16. |
Josh Papalii |
Canberra Raiders |
Logan Brothers |
17. |
Corey Parker |
Brisbane Broncos |
Logan Brothers |
18. |
Boyd Cordner |
Sydney Roosters |
Old Bar Pirates |
19. |
David Klemmer |
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
All Saints |
20. |
Sione Mata’utia |
Newcastle Knights |
Raymond Terrace/South Newcastle |
Blockbusting forward Jason Taumalolo and teenage wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak have been named for their NZ Kiwis debuts in the 2014 Four Nations opener against Australia at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Coach Stephen Kearney has also re-united Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson in the halves, with veteran utility Thomas Leuluai starting at hooker.
Watene-Zelezniak’s inclusion is subject to a fitness test on a foot injury picked up in training early this week. He continues a proud family tradition in the Kiwis – great-grandfather Steve Watene is a former national team captain and lends his name to the NZ Player of the Year award.
“Dallin is an exciting young prospect, who we think will play many tests for the Kiwis in the future,” says Kearney. “He’s brought a lot of youthful energy to the camp this week, but we’ll have to wait and see how his foot mends up.”
Taumalolo finally gets his chance to take the field for the Kiwis, after filling a non-playing role at the 2012 Anzac Test.
“His performances over the past year, but particularly over the last two months of the NRL, have been very consistent,” says Kearney.
“Jason’s always been there or thereabouts. He had an opportunity to get picked for the Anzac Test before he injured a shoulder and he’s also been a Junior Kiwi.”
Utility Lewis Brown also returns to the side, coming off the bench, after a three-year absence.
“I feel like this group has a good balance about it and we’ve certainly trained very well over the last couple of days, so you can feel the combinations starting to come together.” says Kearney.
The full squad line-up for Saturday’s encounter (6.45pm Queensland time) is:
1-Peta Hiku, 2-Jason Nightingale, 3-Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 4-Dean Whare, 5-Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 6-Kieran Foran, 7-Shaun Johnson, 8-Jesse Bromwich, 9-Thomas Leuluai, 10-Adam Blair, 11-Simon Mannering (captain), 12-Kevin Proctor, 13-Jason Taumalolo
Interchange: 14-Lewis Brown, 15-Greg Eastwood, 16-Martin Taupau, 17-Tohu Harris, 18-Suaia Matagi
