Kiwis hit reject button on Asotasi
FORMER Test prop Mark Carroll claims loyalty in New Zealand rugby league is dead after former captain Roy Asotasi was snubbed by selectors for the second time in a week.
A shock omission from the Kiwis' 24-man Four Nations squad named last Tuesday, Asotasi was again overlooked yesterday following the late withdrawal of Eels prop Fuifui Moimoi with a broken arm.
The Souths captain is in the midst of the greatest challenge of his career at both club and international level.
Instead of offering Asotasi a belated recall, New Zealand officials plucked little-known Penrith prop Sam McKendry from obscurity.
McKendry, 21, has played 27 games for the Panthers.
"I don't know what the go is because his form over the last four weeks of the season was tremendous," Carroll said of Asotasi.
"He's come back from a knee reconstruction this year and I thought he'd really found some form in the back half of the season.
"I don't know mate, loyalty in Australia is a lot different to the Kiwis. We're a bit different.
"Things are a bit crook when you go from captain to not even making the squad. When would that happen here?
"Maybe they're going for youth and maybe Souths not making the top eight this year hurt him."
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney said the decision to overlook Asotasi was a contentious one.
"It was a very tough call," Kearney said. "He wasn't too far off the mark, but for me it was always a matter of picking the best side available. I'll talk to him again in mid-November about what will help him going forward."
Rejection by the Kiwis isn't the only challenge facing Asotasi, with South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson forced to back the 28-year-old to remain club captain.The Sunday Telegraph has learned that influential figures at Redfern have raised the prospect of appointing a new skipper.
Sam Burgess, who is considered a future England captain, would be the front-runner for the position if Asotasi lost the job.
It has also been suggested Asotasi could stand down from the captaincy in a bid to return to the form of two seasons ago, when he was rated the game's best prop.
"Roy Asotasi is captain for next season, end of story," Richardson said. "I can't be any more clear."
The call for change emerged after the Rabbitohs failed to make the finals for a third straight year.
"We're disappointed for Roy that he hasn't made the Kiwi side, but from a South Sydney point of view, it means our captain will be fresh and ready for a big year in 2011," Richardson said.
Source: The Daily Telegraph