Auckland Nines preview part 3: Waiheke (green) group

The teams in the Waiheke group for this year’s Auckland Nines are the Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers, North Queensland Cowboys and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The squads are as follows:

Melbourne Storm
Young Tonumaipea, Kenny Bromwich, Will Chambers (c), Kurt Mann, Richie Kennar, Dayne Weston, Cameron Munster, Hymel Hunt, Tim Glasby, Marika Koroibete, Travis Robinson, Christian Welch, Ben Hampton, Billy Brittain, Francis Tualau, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Suliasi Vunivalu, Shaun Nona.

Penrith Panthers
Brendan Attwood, Christian Crichton, Joshua Jay, Isaac John, Apisai Koroisau, Kieran Moss, Andy Aunders, Nathan Smith, Tupou Sopoaga, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Adrian Davis, George Jennings, Kevin Kingston, Sika Manu, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Chris Smith, Will Smith, Isaah Yeo.

North Queensland Cowboys
Michael Morgan, Justin O’Neill, Tautau Moga, Kyle Feldt, Matthew Wright, Ray Thompson, Robert Lui, John Asiata, Rory Kostjasyn, Kelepi Tanginoa, Gavin Cooper (c), Ethan Lowe, Jason Taumalolo, Jake Granville, Zac Santo, Coen Hess, Javid Bowen, Ben Spina.

South Sydney Rabbitohs
Joel Reddy, Bryson Goodwin, Dylan Walker, Matt King, Chris McQueen, Issac Luke (c), Adam Reynolds, George Burgess, Angus Crichton, Ben Lowe, Jason Clark, Tom Hughes, Dave Tyrrell, Aaron Gray, Kyle Turner, Cameron McInnes, Chris Grevsmuhl, Setefano Taukafa.

The draw for the Waiheke group (all times New Zealand local time):

Game 3 – Melbourne Storm versus North Queensland Cowboys @ 1:20pm on Saturday January 31
Game 4 – Penrith Panthers versus South Sydney Rabbitohs @ 1:45pm on Saturday January 31
Game 11 – Melbourne Storm versus Penrith Panthers @ 5:15pm on Saturday January 31
Game 12 – North Queensland Cowboys versus South Sydney Rabbtohs @ 5:40pm on Saturday January 31
Game 19 – Melbourne Storm versus South Sydney Rabbitohs @ 12:00pm on Sunday February 1
Game 20 – North Queensland Cowboys versus Penrith Panthers @ 12:25pm on Sunday February 1

The Waiheke group will feature four of the top teams from last year’s NRL season, including premiers South Sydney and last year’s Auckland Nines winners the Cowboys.

The Storm have named a squad that doesn’t look to have the legs to go anywhere in the tournament. None of their big guns are playing and it seems to be squad full of youngsters who will be hoping to make an impression, but against some of the other big name teams will ultimately come up short.

Captained by Will Chambers, the Storm will be relying on players such as Kenny Brromwich, Marika Koroibete and Ben Hampton. The other problem the Storm will face with their squad is who will do the goalkicking. It could be a long weekend for the Storm and their fans.

For the Panthers, Kevin Kingston is briefly coming out of retirement for the Nines. Isaac John, exciting new recruit Apisai Koroisau and young half Will Smith are the other names featuring.

In a very week group the Panthers have a massive shot at getting through to the quarter-finals.

The Cowboys no doubt are looking to hang on to their trophy from last year. Despite missing big names like Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and James Tamou it is still a squad that should be run away winners of the Waiheke group. The Cowboys will be captained by Gavin Cooper and will have other experienced players on their side such as Michael Morgan, Justin O’Neill, Tautau Moga, Matthew Wright, Ray Thompson, Robert Lui and Jason Taumololo, as well as promising youngsters Ethan Lowe, Javid Bowen and Kyle Feldt. The Cowboys have one of the strongest squads.

The Rabbitohs will be captained by Issac Luke, and he will add creativity and organisation. George Burgess, Chris McQueen, Ben Lowe, Dylan Walker and Bryson Goodwin will also be making the trip to Auckland, with Burgess and Waker the Rabbitohs’ x-factor players. Burgess will have a job to tear through opposition defensive lines, and Walker is proving to be one of the best centres in the competition, so his linkage with Burgess could be crucial if the Rabbitohs are to succeed.

My prediction
No one should be able to beat the North Queensland Cowboys and so they are my first picks to go through to the quarter-final stage. The other team I am tipping are the South Sydney Rabbitohs.