Anzac Test

Kiwis squad:

Roy Asotasi
Adam Blair
Greg Eastwood
David Fa'alogo
Nathan Fien
Bronson Harrison
Lance Hohaia
Jeff Lima
Issac Luke
Simon Mannering
Benji Marshall (capt)
Jason Nightingale
Sam Perrett
Frank Pritchard
Jerome Ropati
Jeremy Smith
Iosia Soliola
Manu Vatuvei

Choice of captain is very interesting

what position is Benji playing?

hopefully he can pull out some magic like last week's game..

herald says benji is captain

So does gummi_bear's post

Question marks over Pritchard and Smith though with injuries.

Not a bad team. What are the betting odds? This is surely the strongest we've been on paper, comparitively, for a while. Looking forward to seeing what Tim Sheens can do with the Aussie team as well though. Should be a cracker of a game

1. Billy Slater
2. Israel Folau
3. Greg Inglis
4. Justin Hodges
5. Darius Boyd
6. Darren Lockyer (C)
7. Johnathan Thurston
8. Petero Civoniceva
9. Cameron Smith
10. Steve Price
11. Anthony Laffranchi
12. Paul Gallen
13. Glenn Stewart

Interchange

14. Kurt Gidley
15. Brent Kite
16. Luke Bailey
17. Anthony Watmough

Hmmm, pretty surprised that Sheens has stuck with so many players from last year's WC tbh.

Pretty sure we have the better fwd pack going into this too

^ A Queensland backline and front row...sheeeeit!

LOL at Benji telling Sheens (his NRL coach) that the Kiwis are gonna flog Australia by so much that Sheens will be insta-dumped



Benji will surely play stand off, purely because he is the only player in that squad capable of doing so. Fien will be half. Very exciting looking Kiwi line up with no obvious weaknesses, Kangaroos will be favs but SURELY we wont have to endure one iof those 40 point capitulations this time

hmmmm

whats hmmmm about it you NRL n00b!

Yeah, Benji at standoff for sure. He played there in the WC anyway didn't he? I'd rather have Isaac Luke in the halves than Fien though, leave him at hooker.

WTF? You'd rather have a half turned hooker play hooker and have a hooker who's never played in the halves play in the halves?


That's a shocking call.

Leave Isaac Luke where he's best at.

Isaac Luke is a hooker/halfback and he's generally a better player than Fien.. although having posted that earlier I had forgotten that Fien played in the halves in the WC final, which obviously worked out alright. Kearney was saying just last week that he wanted to convince Stacey to get back in there, lol!

oh, my hmmm wasn't negative or anything...

I was just acknowledging the answer I got...

Man, that Aussie team is killer. And they'll be fired up for this one.

There's only one thing harder than beating the Aussies in league - beating them 2 times in a row.

Here's a great story by Eric Young that was in the Sunday Star Times.

'I Showered With Kevin Tamati'...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/sport/2380482/Eric-Young-I-showered-with-Kevin-Tamati

Classic.

ffs, isaac luke is being charged for striking and may miss the test.

He'll miss it even if he pleads guilty.

Fuck you Australia

They do this to us every fuckin time. Yet the "special circumstances" they roll out every time one of their star players gets cited before a rep game is ridiculous. I'm sick of this one way bullshit.

Luke wasn't even put on report during the game; a fucking match review committee charged him after watching the replay

I feel a potential change could be to shift Fein to hooker, Hohaia to five eighth and Perritt to fullback bringing Nightingale onto the wing.

on the news here, they're saying benji is still sick and that he's not gonna play...

That's what Tim Sheens said but Benji has laughed it off.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10570424

Paul Gallen got off his charge, and he's got the worst record in the NRL.

Pritchard out too

Benji will play 5/8th, he aint sick. Hopefully the harsh ruling on Isaac Luke will provide some much needed motivation to smash them off the park.

According to this:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10570366

Benji very much wants the halfback position for his own.


I would want a specialist player at hooker, so Fein and not Halatau who is a converted loose forward.

True, wtf. Who's going to play stand-off then?

Hohaia!


I'll make the call right now. If Luke doesn't play, Hohaia will play five/eighth and Perrit will switch to fullback.

As per your earlier comment then, ha ha. I guess if Benji is really calling the shots as to where he's playing then all that would make sense.

If Luke ends up suspended I reckon they should just say "Fuck you, we're playing him anyway. He can be suspended for a Rabbittos game instead". Then see what their reaction is.

Marshall said on the news last night he is going to play halfback because hes enjoying playing half for the Tigers.
Hohaia and Fien can both play hooker and stand off, but so long as they take some pressure off of Benji I dont think it matters too much. I dont see another player in the squad they picked that can play hooker or in the halves so its just a case of which one of those 2 plays where. I agree with Dale, its more likely gonna be Hohaia at stand off.

At the end of the day if our forwards dont get on top of theirs they might as well have MC Hammer and Mary Poppins playing in those positions.

exactly





no

ffs We finally have a balanced squad with a reasonable amount of depth, we dont NEED to fuck about getting tricky playing guys out of position. Matai @ stand off anyone? Lance is an impact bench player who covers half the backline and that is where he will stay

lol @ listening to what that little imp Benji is saying to the press. "Im captain. Im sick. Im halfback. We're gonna thrash Australia" lol

Losing Pritchard is painfull, Manu is a pretty good replacement thou8gh

Hohaia started off as a five eighth, I don't think playing him in one of the positions that he covers is exactly playing him out of position.

And yes, we did have a nice balanced squad until it was fucked with by having Luke get cited. I explicitly stated in my post that shifting Hohaia to five eighth is ONLY if Luke is suspended.

FFS.

Buy why? So you can juggle around other guys? Its unsettling and counter productive. And whats with "switching Perret to fullback" anyway? He was always fullback surely. Im either being obtuse or this thread has gotten weird





PS You do know what the half/stad off combo was for the WCF dont you



ffs imo

Like Dalai said his first position as a Warrior was stand off!



When did he say that? in the news I heard him say he was happy to be captain and he was going to play half. He was having Tim Sheens on in saying that oz were gonna get beaten so badly he was gonna have his job taken off of him after 1 game, he never actually said were gonna thrash them other than when he was taking the piss with his club coach



Yes I agree, he had a great world cup until he fucked his eye socket

You do know what the fullback/wing combo was for the WCF dont you?

# Where Hohiai started his career is almost irrelevant, hes a specialist bench impact player. One of the best in the NRL. You just dont throws guys into stand off for a test match vs Australia




beaten so badly/thrashed. This paragraph is weird


ffs I cant BELIEVE you guys want to fiddle with our WC winning halves combo, Id panick except I sincerely doubt Kearney is as nutso as you fuckers

Definitely prefer the Marshall at 6, Fien at 7 combo for the test

Thing is Maestro, those players haven't been playing in those positions since that game. So by reverting them back to the same jerseys they had in November, you are in effect, playing them out of position.

Dalai....that is a non issue and you know it. Benji has played either position all his career, and Fien has also had enough experience at halfback including the whole of the WC campaign and most of last years NRL. ie these guys are hugely experinced in their WC winning jerseys so they_are_not out of position. The only player being mooted as playing plainly out of position is you and komo's notion of Lance at stand off, who hasnt played there in kin-years. Which wont happen ffs btw

and Benji is at it again yesterday....giving the Roos a "4 more years boys" taunt ....heh is is such a shit stirrer

Big ups to ummm Richardson? The CEO of Souths anyway paying big $$ to contest this charge when he could have easily just told Luke to pleade guilty and he would have had the 1 match ban for the test and been available for Souths next game. You gotta love Souths, more kiwis than the Warriors. And they have Russell Crowe, who had promised the boys a trip overseas if they just make the top 8. Over seas where? The Playboy Mansion of course. Fuck yeah!! the WAGS will love him

I finally saw the Luke "striking charge" last night, looked pretty innocous,

Exactly! Fien hasnt been halfback all season (wait maybe he started that first game when Stacey came off the bench, but other than that...)
He has been the bench player to cover hooker/halves. Lance has been hurt and kinda thrown wherever he was needed (covered fullback for a few games once he came back from injury then was back up hooker last week).
At the end of the day both Fien and Hohaia can cover hooker/halves so its not like im suggesting we play Roy Asotasi at fullback and Jason Nightingale at prop!
THAT would be playing someone out of position, or as you say, 'Nutso'.

Your the fucker, fucker

i reckon that's awesome. we got bragging rights so brag away benji. rub it in their faces.

FFS THEY ARE NOT OUT OF POSITION. THIS IS A TEST MATCH NOT A FUCKIN NRL GAME

The point about this seasons nrl games is bullshit. This team has been together a long time now, and I mean the entire sqaud. There are no new guys in the team, so all those trainings and the WC etc etc they have been running around with Benji at s/o and Fien half.

So now you guys for this one off test ....want to suddenly switch them around? Just so you can run with some wacko idea to play the NRL's best impact bench player in a position he hasnt played since for ever and wasnt very good at to begin with? RU FKN SERIOUS

My Starting team would be;

1. Sam Perrett
2. Jason Nightingale
3. Iosia Soliola
4. Jerome Ropati
5. Manu Vatuvei
6. Nathan Fein
7. Benji Marshall (capt)
8. Roy Asotasi
9. Issac Luke
10. Adam Blair
11. Simon Mannering
12. David Fa'alogo
13. Jeremy Smith



14. Greg Eastwood
15. Lance Hohaia
16. Jeff Lima
17. Sika Manu

The way the halves position is played nowadays, the number on your back is irrelevent IMO.

I think Luke will get off, if he is banned, Ropati into 6 and Mannering into centres with Hohaia staying on bench.

IMO FFS MY2C

Yeah.. got to agree with all this.

Right. Except you yourself want to change the team around by puttin Perritt at fullback when he was on the wing last year and Hohaia to the bench when he was fullback.

You can't have your cake and eat it too buddy.

I'm not gonna even start on Nacoa's idea of putting Ropati at five eighth.

You guys realise that when Hohaia comes off the bench, he and Fein share the halves/hooker duties right?

So it's not like Hohaia has been banished from the halves and to even compare the Hohaia of today with the Hohaia of 2002 is ridiculous! RU FKN SERIOUS

I wouldn't play him as a playmaker 6, would put Benji into a floating 1st receiver. Doing this would strengthen our defence against a pretty potent Aussie backline. Would be more in the Inglis type no.6 role. catch pass run, no kicking or anything fancy.

But this is last resort, think Luke will get off.

I would rather have him off bench as well, he ain't to creative enough to play 6 a whole game IMO... he is an awesome individual player that makes stuff out of nothing for himself, with his quickness and strength around tired/slow players, hence why he plays so well as a hooker or fullback.

Get him trying to create for others he is average IMO

Totally an impact player.

And the team is

Kiwis: Lance Hohaia, Sam Perrett, Simon Mannering, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Nathan Fien, Benji Marshall (captain), Roy Asotasi, Issac Luke, Adam Blair, David Fa'alogo, Bronson Harrison, Jeremy Smith.

Interchange: Greg Eastwood, Jeff Lima, Jason Nightingale, Iosia Soliola.

Starting Mannering in centres

I'm gonna go back and requote myself here and say that I'm not advocating fucking with the halves/hooker combos just for the hell of it but only if Luke is suspended.

FFS.

Maestro. If Luke is out, how would you rather have the positions play out then?

Why is it bullshit? This is where they have trained and played since the pre-season. The WC final was 6 months ago fool!!!!

And as for they have been together a long time now? WTF???
Yes they were together for a month or 2, that was 6 months ago and plenty of footy has been played since, alot of it IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS! Now all of a sudden your suggesting to put effectivley play them out of position.

I agree Lance hasnt had number 6 on his back in years, but like Dalai said he shares the hooking/half role when he comes off the bench. And like Nacoa said stand off/halfback have very little difference with the exception of who feeds the scrum.

I was gonna rip on Nacoa for his idea to have Ropati at stand off but his further explanation makes sense.

Ha! Fuckers. "Perritt was always going to be fullback unless this thread has gotten weird".

I've been the only sane motherfucker in this thread.

Well one of the only sane motherfuckers.

I had assumed thats what you meant, and thats what I had meant too.

If he plays (chances are those aussie cunts will suspend him) Lance is either on the bench or at fullback, Fien and Marshall are the halves.

Yeah im curious too Maestro, who would you put where if theres no Luke?

That's a solid team.

Would've prefered Soliola starting in the centres though, with Mannering on the bench.

Pffft, how can you be sane AND support Queensland???

You had to bring up origin.

I forget, who has won it the last few years??

Ummmmm Dene Halutua perhaps? YKnow....the hooker? I think i'll play him at..............well, hooker. obv ffs u guys r diks imo


Well the side has been named without being position specific ...but that line up structure would normally have Benji at halfback yes? I guiess we will have to wait until after the test to be actually played for this to be settled. Lance sure as hell isnt playing stand off I know that much

fuck you guys crack me up


I agree with everything The Maestro has said ITT for what it's worth

Halatau is a loose forward who sometimes plays hooker. We've used him there in the past but not with great success. I'd prefer Fein there to Halatau.

That lineup looks pretty position specific to me. Marshall at halfback, Fein at stand off, Hohaia at fullback, Perritt on the wing. Just admit when you're wrong you grumpy old man.

Well you're a cracker too then.


You'd prefer to play players in positions they haven't been in for six months just because they played a bunch of games in those positions last time the Kiwis played?

Gummi... You disappoint me...

wtf! You hairy little bastard! How the fuck are you declaring victory here?


quote="dalai"]


Hohaia!


I'll make the call right now. If Luke doesn't play, Hohaia will play five/eighth and Perrit will switch to fullback.[/quote]

FFS. That's IF LUKE IS SUSPENDED. What the fuck is wrong with your reading ability????

I'm claiming victory because you got the team totally wrong, you didn't even think Hohaia would be at fullback, hence your puzzlement at switching Perritt back to fullback, you're showing your obvious ignorance of the game of rugby league thus proving me right and justifying my right to be the Supreme Allied Overlord of all things Rugby League. ^_^

Just listen to me and take my word as gospel in the future huh?

Well. He STILL IS fkn suspended. That team has been named with Luke playing, so explain to me again how Ive got the team wrong./... Mr Fuckwit Queensland trainspotting overlord of league or w/e the fuck you call yourself

My comment re Perret was just throw away, I am more interested in the Benji half/stand off debate, and pouring cold wayer on idiotic notions that Lance is an international standard number stand off


gummi...Im glad you are enjoying yourself

No he's not. He's been cited, the call on whether or not he is playing is tonight.

So Benji is halfback, you're wrong on that one.

And think about it, if Lance comes off the bench like you are calling for, then he covers the halves and hooker which means that HEY! He's playing stand off at an international level! Numbnutz.

m8 like I said....we dont really know that Benji IS halfback until the game is over and we can see how often he fed the scrum Regardless of the number on his back when he runs out Im still picking he will spend most his time at stand off, especially considering Fein at stand off is just as bad, if not worse, than having Lance there

He has the same lawyer defending him that got Gallen off last week, if he can get Gallen off with the record he has surely he can get Luke off!!

We all know your views on Fein. And we all know that they have nothing to do with his footballing skills.

To be honest, barring any forced changes, I think it's reasonable to expect the Kiwis to play a looser structure. The two backs on the bench gives that away. Mannering will swap between centres and second row, Hohaia will swap between fullback, the halves and hooker. Fein will swap between the halves and hooker. In fact, I too would be surprised if (barring forced changes) that lineup runs out onto the field on friday night. I'm picking Harrison to go back to the bench, Mannering to move to second row and Soliola to start.

The Hohaia to stand off call is a big one. I know this. I strongly believe though, that we'll see Hohaia back starting in the halves in the not too distant future. He's grown a lot as a player and he is definitely not the player he was back in 2002 which is why the whole: "he wasn't that good there to begin with" call is rubbish. He's our Kurt Gidley/Shaun Berrigan type of player and both those players all swapped around in their careers but ended up back in the halves too... And then swapped back around again...

Isaac Luke has been ruled out. What a load of fukn bullshit!

Urgh

So Luke gets a one match ban, misses out on a test match, and can turn out for Souths the next day. The club doesn't suffer at all.

It's so fucking retarded eh...

It really fucks me off that it wasn't even an incident put on report during the game... I still haven't seen it, but everything I've heard about it suggests there wasn't too much in it.

Absolutely absurd. There was barely anything in that. Being denied playing for your country is an insane punishment for a slightly badly directed fend that the guy he did to thought was nothing. Nobody complained, the refs didn't see anything in it ...yet those tossers reckon one of the key NZ players should miss out for it.

I hope the Kiwis use this to really fire up and smash those fucks this weekend.

I propose that the Kiwis management watch every NRL game carefully and ensure every similar incident is brought to the attention of the judiciary (and the media) to ensure similar punishments are handed out for all.

Ridiculous. Can't believe it.

Agree entirely with the above two posts. That Bulldogs dude just got off for a chicken-wing tackle, yet Luke's 'offence', to which the 'victim' has even said was nothing, cops him a ban? Time for NZ to start making a scene, fuck it.

Yeah...except they wont. League has been this way ever since Ive been watching. NZRL brass arent a patch on Aussies.... plus Aus holds the power

So much for the hot shot lawyer, 75% success rate and he cant defend THAT charge? He either never stood a chance or he's in on it

ul for Luke but we still have a team, plus what someone said about motivation. Bring on Friday. This will make smashing them so much sweeter

and if the kiwis do lose then you can't just adopt the south african attitude (even if we lose, we're still world champs)

Total bullshit, although I cant say im surprised by the cheating cunts.

The poor dude seemed really upset holding back tears... 2 ex internationals on the panel, how are they not going to be biased.

If they weren't cunts, they wouldn't be biased. Regardless of whether they were ex-internationals.

Which day was Luke originally cited?

If he was already with the Kiwis squad at that time and they were doing their build up already, then I think logic dictates you shouldn't be able to disrupt an international teams buildup to such a game.

If they want to impose bans on players for an international, then it has to happen at least a whole week out from a test.

Is it possible to be racist towards Australians?

I seriously hate them.

At least we get to see who Kearney agrees with regarding the halves for this game ^_^

Obviously Fien/Marsall btw

He's already called up Halatau for a straight swap.


But I think the structure is going to be a little looser than that. As soon as Nightengale comes on, Hohaia will go to the halves/hooker role with Fein.

Thats the problem Harvey, we can look at it with logic. God knows what that nation built on convicts use...

Yes, because I am too. Although the chicks are usually pretty deace.

:>

gc.

Jeremy Smith has been ruled out. Mannering to lock and Soliola starts at centre. Sika Manu comes to the bench to play his first game of 2009.

So typical. The Kiwi players have been firing all year and then the week before the game we lose three players to injury and one to suspension. Fucks sake.

Once, just once, in my lifetime I'd like to see a full strength Kiwis team play Australia.

This always fucking happens. Beyond painful.

Well to be fair, that's only indicative of lack of depth. Australia aren't usually "full-strength" either.

Ya I dont really feel like we have exactly been decimated here, Mika is an animal, and he will bring a different dimension to the pack. Halatua is pretty decent on defence. Certainly better than Luke, I think our biggest loss is Matai closely followed by Franky

Despite the setbacks we can still win this.

Kiwis by 7.

Matai wasn't lost, he just wasn't selected. Hasn't been in form this year due to his injury lay off. Sika Manu is playing his first game this ear and Luke's defence is fine. His hits on the opposition are some of the hardest in the team!

We should spare a thought for Wade McKinnon too. He's playing for a sky blue jersey tonight for City in the City V Country game...

I'm glad Soliola is starting. He offers more on attack than Mannering and he was our best player in last years Anzac test.

Still gutted that Luke isn't playing. Was looking forward to seeing him in the haka.

Switching sides eh

Is that on before the test? Crazy that they scheduled it on a test match day. I know the ARL/NRL doesn't give a shit about internationals, but this is ridiculous.

I actually think they've done it so they can justify giving more guys a run. With the test players out of action, there's no need to play them in the City-Country match, and opens up a few more spots for younger or newer guys to take a step up.

I doubt it's an attempt to sabotage.



gc.