Kangaroos Squad for October 14 test

[Titanium_BD1103]

From: RugbyLeagueLive.com

The Australian selectors have announced the first 20 included in the Kangaroos train-on squad, in preparation for the October 14 Test match against New Zealand.

The players are from the teams not participating in the NRL finals series and more names will be added as the teams are eliminated from the finals race.

The current Kangaroos train-on squad is:

Sharks - Greg Bird, Paul Gallen, Luke Douglas

Titans - Anthony Laffranchi, Scott Prince, Luke Bailey

Knights – Danny Buderus, Steve Simpson, Kurt Gidley

Panthers – Luke Lewis, Trent Waterhouse

Dragons – Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper, Ben Creagh, Jason Ryles

Roosters – Braith Anasta, Craig Wing, Anthony Tupou, Nate Myles

Wests Tigers – Robbie Farah


The train-on squad will undergo medicals and a light training run on September 12th and 26th at the Sydney Football Stadium, at 12.30pm.

Squad members are eligible for Prime Minister’s XIII selection which will be will be announced on Tuesday 11th September.

Congrats to Princey, Bull and Anth who all deserve a run in this squad, it's great to see they got it....

There is some really nice talent in the train on squad there, the likes of Gaz, Wingy, Robbie, Gids, Birdy and Bedsy along with the 3 Titans boys will give the team, even with all the finals boys back in the squad, a real shake IMO...

[RLfan]

If Bird is "knocked out" as much as he is in the NRL, he won't handle a test match aganist NZ. Dallas Johnson deserves he lock position more anyway.

[Queenslander]

Its good to see the Titans trio there.....no Raiders players though. I would have expected Neville Costigan to get into the squad :duh:

[Capital_Shark]

Nate Myles?! WTF?

Great to see Luke Douglas there, he's been outstanding this year, backing up a great debut season last year. I hope we've got this kid signed in blood for the next decade. Still 5 years till he should be hitting his straps as a prop too.

[Kelvinator]

If Bird is "knocked out" as much as he is in the NRL, he won't handle a test match aganist NZ. Dallas Johnson deserves he lock position more anyway.

if greg bird can't handle it, then i don't think there are many players who can. he is one tough homre.

[Steelers]

Nate Myles?! WTF?

The selectors had to meet their Roosters quota...

[Darren Lockyer]

I wouldn't of minded to see mark minicello there. he has been in great form all year and deserves his spot

[jenny]

Bird best man to replace Lockyer: Gallen
September 3, 2007

Stand-in Cronulla skipper Paul Gallen claimed Sharks teammate Greg Bird was the standout choice to fill Darren Lockyer's boots in the end of season rugby league Test against New Zealand.

Gallen and Bird joined young Sharks teammate Luke Douglas in earning call-ups to the Kangaroos train-on squad ahead of the October 14 clash in Wellington.

Most interest centres on who will fill the Australian No.6 jumper for the one-off clash after Lockyer was ruled out until 2008 due to a knee reconstruction.

Bird is vying with the likes of Sydney Roosters pivot Braith Anasta - the man he replaced as NSW pivot for the final game of the State of Origin series - and Gold Coast skipper Scott Prince for the role, the latter two also named in the train-on squad.

Melbourne's Greg Inglis and St George Illawarra star Mark Gasnier will also come under consideration for the role though it is likely they will be picked to play in the three-quarter line.

While admitting he may be more than a little biased, Gallen said he believed Bird was the right man for the job.

"Birdy's done a really good job at five-eighth," Gallen said.

"Besides Braith in those four or five weeks when (the Roosters) went on their winning streak - and with Lockyer being out - I think Birdy's the No.1 five-eighth at the moment.

"He's really worked on his running game and his last few games have been out of sight - I don't know if they'll go with him there but I think he'd be the best option there.

"He killed it when he played there for NSW."

Gallen admitted the chances of he and his Sharks teammates gaining selection in the final Test squad had been harmed by Cronulla's inability to make the finals.

Douglas was the bolter in the train-on squad but Gallen said the 21-year-old was ready to make the step up into representative football.

"He's such a great young talent and I'd go as far as to say he wouldn't be out of place in the final Test side," Gallen said.

"He's obviously been blooded for the future but he's probably ready now."

Every team bar Canberra had a player named in the squad, which will be added to as teams are omitted from the NRL finals.

The final Test squad will be named the day after the grand final with members of the train-on squad also eligible to play for the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea on September 23.

? 2007 AAP

[quins rl]

Have they picked Robbie Farah to stop him playing for Lebanon??

[Coaster]

Have they picked Robbie Farah to stop him playing for Lebanon??

Lebanon can still pick him for the world cup.

If they havnt concreted all there fields by then, after the game he can go play golf in Lebanon largest golf course. 12345342345 holes

[jenny]

Lebanon can still pick him for the world cup.

If they havnt concreted all there fields by then, after the game he can go play golf in Lebanon largest golf course. 12345342345 holes

LMAO...your on fire tonight....Thats GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Coaster]

LMAO...your on fire tonight....Thats GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hehe not sure why, had a shocking 14 hour day. and everyone in house seems to be avoiding me like the plague

[jenny]

Hehe not sure why, had a shocking 14 hour day. and everyone in house seems to be avoiding me like the plague

Well grab a slab and get yourself over here to Carrara lol.
We think your hilarious

[jenny]

Lockyer gives Anasta Test nod

By Laine Clark
September 06, 2007

ONCE he was cruelly dubbed the NRL's most overrated player. Now Sydney Roosters playmaker Braith Anasta has been rated as the man to replace Darren Lockyer in the Australia side - by the injured five-eighth himself.

But Lockyer made it abundantly clear he didn't want Anasta to get too comfortable with the idea of wearing the Australian No.6 jersey with the 2008 World Cup on the horizon.

Lockyer gave his strongest hint yet that the World Cup would be his representative swansong - if he makes a full recovery from his season-ending right knee injury.

"The World Cup, for a lot of players at the end of their representative career, is pretty important - I want to be there next year," Lockyer said. "Obviously there is a lot of water to go under the bridge in terms of coming back from a knee injury and making sure I am playing good football.

"But I want to be there next year along with guys like (departing Brisbane prop) Petero (Civoniceva)."

National selectors keep an eye on the NRL finals as they brainstorm for the Australian team to play New Zealand at Wellington on October 14. But Lockyer did not have to look further than a preliminary Kangaroos train-on squad to find his next Australian pivot.

"Braith Anasta has been in good form. He would be the frontrunner at this stage," Lockyer said.

Anasta is expected to vie with fellow train-on squad members Scott Prince of the Gold Coast and Cronulla's Greg Bird as well as Melbourne livewire Greg Inglis and perhaps UK-based Trent Barrett for the pivot spot vacated by the injured Lockyer (knee).

While NRL finals form will go a long way to filling the holes left in the Australian team by injuries and UK-bound players, Lockyer hinted that Anasta could seal an international recall at the unlikely location of Papua New Guinea.

From the preliminary 20-man train-on squad featuring players not involved in the finals, a Prime Minister's XIII will be selected next Tuesday to play against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on September 23.

An Australian Test squad will later be announced for the one-off Test against the Kiwis.

"The finals might dictate who that's going to be (replace him at five-eighth) but they've picked a train-on squad and there is a team that plays in PNG," Lockyer said.

Australian selection would cap a reversal of fortunes for Anasta who finally relinquished his "Most Overrated Player" tag taken away by Manly's Jamie Lyon in July in the infamous Rugby League Week Players' Poll.

Lockyer today left for PNG as part of an NRL contingent promoting rugby league in the country before the annual Kumuls-PM's XIII match. As a result, he will miss Sunday's grand final re-match against the Storm.

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Lockyer who has returned from England where he was promoting the World Cup and took in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

He has two years to run on his Brisbane contract but hinted again that ending his career in England was tempting.

"I thought Suncorp (Stadium) was great but Wembley probably takes the cake," he said. "When you go there and experience the atmosphere and the event itself, it's pretty hard not to think you'd be able to do that one day.

"There was a number of Australian players over there who were in the game and commented on how special a day it was, so maybe one day."

Lockyer hoped his UK promotional stint would help lure rugby league's equivalent of the "Barmy Army" over for next November's World Cup in Australia.

AAP

[Queenslander]

Broncos join Test squad

September 10, 2007

FOUR Brisbane Broncos players have been added to the Australia train-on squad for next month's Test withith New Zealand in Wellington.

Tonie Carroll, Petero Civoniceva, Justin Hodges and Sam Thaiday have all been included in the squad, and will be eligible for selection in the Prime Minister's XIII side which will be announced tomorrow.

But incumbent centre Hodges may be robbed of his Test spot, with the NRL match review committee to today investigate a high tackle in Brisbane's season-ending loss to Melbourne Storm yesterday.

The Test train-on squad will assemble in Sydney on Wednesday for medicals and a light training run.

AAP