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Last week saw the return of international footy to Australia and, after a slightly jarring start, it turned out alright in the end.
After 30 minutes of the Jillaroos’ win over the Kiwi Ferns, prospects were not looking good with Australia seemingly cruising. By the end, they were happy just to win.
Similarly in the men’s game, the Kangaroos blew the doors off Samoa, but were then made to fight tooth and nail for their victory after a stirring recovery from the Pacific Islanders.
Now we get the entry of the Kiwis, who seem to be playing out Australian rugby league’s favourite psychodrama – Origin v internationals – on their behalf.
New NSW coach Michael Maguire remains the old Kiwis coach, and will get a huge occasion at Eden Park this Saturday afternoon as a homecoming.
Before that, we see the Ferns again with a much-improved looking Tonga as opponents, and on Sunday, Fiji are back for their first run out since the World Cup against the Cook Islands in Port Moresby. It should be exciting stuff, so let’s get into the meat of itl
The big question in this Pacific Championships is the same one that hangs over every international rugby league competition: can anyone beat Australia?
To that end, a second question: is it better to know their level or to get a warm-up to test your own?
We might get an answer to that on Saturday in Auckland, because the Kiwis’ scheduling has them face Samoa – hardly a gimme – and then run into the Kangaroos next weekend in Melbourne.
The ideal situation would be that New Zealand win, then get to have a long look at Australia – winning or otherwise – before taking them down in the Final, which will be on home turf in Hamilton.
The squad that Maguire has named is, largely, what you might have expected but still has plenty of question marks.
Joey Manu, best player in the world at fullback last year, is in the centres this time around. Much as Madge will point to the form of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, the stats are pretty clear that someone playing 1 will touch the ball about a third more than anyone playing 3, and generally, getting your best player more footy is a positive thing.
Faa’amanu Brown is also named at hooker, and while we could sit and debate his efficacy or otherwise, given injuries to Brandon Smith and Jeremy Marshall-King, it’s certainly an area in which depth has been tested.
With that in mind, Kieran Foran on the bench, doesn’t make a whole heap of sense. Is he the back up dummy half? If he isn’t, who is?
Brown averaged 34 minutes per game for Newcastle, so that’s a lot of time being filled elsewhere. Danny Levi is in the extended bench but currently not in the 17, so it will be interesting to see where that lands come kick-off.
With both of these conundrums, the good news is that they have a margin of error against Samoa, which they can work out ahead of next week.
Not that Toa Samoa are anything like pushovers, by the way. On paper, this is probably the best match-up of the whole tournament, with NZ ripe for a boilover in what will likely be a stadium packed to the gills with hymn-singing, hyped-up Samoans.
The Kiwis come in cold, with Dylan Brown a full seven week’s removed from his most recent NRL appearance and others between a few weeks – the Penrith front row and Warriors cohort – to over a month, in the case of the players who missed finals, from match fitness.
Samoa have that out of the way, and indeed, just got a swift reminder of the best team in the world. They’ll be raring to go from the first whistle.
There’s two ways of looking at last weekend’s defeat: either they were blown away so early that their mini-revival wasn’t that important, or they competed for an hour with the Kangaroos and looked decent.
If that hour had come from the kick-off, we’d be talking about a great contest.
Coach Ben Gardiner was proud of the spirit and the way his side responded to a poor start. Now, they get to prove they have learned from it, and on the best possible platform.
The squad is largely the same with only Marion Seve brought into the run-on for Young Tonumaipea, assuming they stay 1-17 as before. Consistency clearly matters.
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Plenty of key position players in this team will be better for last week.
Stephen Crichton will be confident after his first run at 6 and will get more chances than he did. Daejarn Asi was a little underwhelming against an admittedly excellent Australian defensive line, and you’d back him to improve too.
Gordon Chan Kum Tong ended the game well, while Justin Matamua, who swapped on game day to start, is also young and needs experience at this level.
Above all, of course, is fullback Sua Faalogo. He’d do well to improve on Saturday night’s performance, given he was pretty much man of the match in defeat, but the crucial part with young players tends not to be talent, rather consistency.
The best can do it every week, and that’s the task for Faalogo now. Australia might have underestimated the debutant with a solitary NRL appearance to his name, but having seen his showing in Townsville, there’s no chance that New Zealand will.
Everyone knows what is coming. He’s going in against CNK, one of the best fullbacks this year, and potentially also Manu, the reigning Golden Boot. Time to back it up.
The Kiwi Ferns put in a pretty decent showing to push the Jillaroos last week, but only after undergoing serious surgery on their spine mid-game.
Kudos to coach Ricky Henry for realising what needed to be done and not being to proud to do it, and then for recognising what had happened in the post-match review to pick a different side this time around.
Raecene McGregor is exceptional at halfback, but against Tonga, we’ll get a new fullback, five eighth and a rejigged backline.
Tyla Nathan-Wong, who was a big improvement coming on as a 14, is now the starting 6, while Shanice Parker gets the 1 jumper after moving there from centre during their Jillaroos loss.
Annessa Biddle, who was on the wing, is now a backrower and Abigail Roache goes to Parker’s centre spot, with Cheyelle Robins-Reti debuting on the wing.
As for Tonga, they were thrashed in the midseason game in 2022, but have a stronger squad this time around with players who were playing Origin in that weekend back on deck.
Their halves will be Tiana Penitani and Cassey Tohi Hiku, both more regularly centres, with Maroons star China Polati and former Jillaroo Vanessa Foliaki also in.
It should be a lot closer than last year – and pave the way, hopefully, for Tonga v Samoa next time around.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Our other fixture in the men’s Pacific Championships is the Cook Islands v Fiji, giving us our first look at the Bati after their World Cup exit – somewhat unfortunately – at the hands of New Zealand in Hull last year.
They should have plenty too much for the Kukis, so what will be more interesting will be how their backline works, especially with Sunia Turuva usurped from the fullback role.
Tito burst onto the scene in last year’s midseason Pacific Tests, winning man of the match from fullback in defeat to PNG, and consolidated that with this year’s Rookie of the Year award as a winger with the Panthers.
Now, with Jahream Bula installed as a fullback for Fiji, Turuva gets to show his versatility again with a centre slot.
That might be to his benefit: with Stephen Crichton leaving Penrith and Taylan May returning from an ACL, there’s competition on the wing and a spot in the centres up for grabs. A good performance for the national team could start his case for a spot infield early.