Second Announcement of Kiwis RLWC Train-On Squad

Second Announcement of Kiwis RLWC Train-On Squad

Auckland, September 18, 2013 – Following the weekend's results in the NRL finals, five players from the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and two from the North Queensland Cowboys have been added to the Kiwis train-on squad for the Rugby League World Cup.

The five Bulldogs are Greg Eastwood, Krisnan Inu, Sam Kasiano, Sam Perrett and Frank Pritchard. All have played for the Kiwis in the last two seasons and all were NRL grand finalists last year. Perrett has been the leading Kiwi try-scorer in the NRL this season with 18. The two from the Cowboys are Jason Taumalolo and Antonio Winterstein.

There are now 24 players in the Kiwis train-on squad. The national selectors - Richie Barnett, Ivan Cleary, Stephen Kearney and Tawera Nikau - along with the convenor of selectors Tony Iro, will add to the squad in the coming weeks as teams are eliminated from the NRL finals.

2013 KIWIS TRAIN-ON SQUAD (at September 18):

Brisbane Broncos: Alex Glenn, Josh Hoffman
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: Greg Eastwood, Krisnan Inu, Sam Kasiano, Sam Perrett, Frank Pritchard
North Queensland Cowboys: Jason Taumalolo, Antonio Winterstein
St George Illawarra Dragons: Bronson Harrison, Jason Nightingale
Penrith Panthers: Lewis Brown, Sam McKendry, Dean Whare
Vodafone Warriors: Shaun Johnson, Thomas Leuluai, Kevin Locke, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Sam Rapira, Elijah Taylor, Manu Vatuvei
Wests Tigers: Adam Blair, Tim Simona

Unavailable: St George Illawarra Dragons: Gerard Beale; Wests Tigers: Benji Marshall

A Kiwis squad of 24 for the Rugby League World Cup will be named on October 8. The squad has a warm-up game against the Cook Islands in Doncaster on October 20, before the Kiwis open their World Cup defence on October 27 in Warrington against Samoa. The tournament finishes at Manchester’s Old Trafford on November 30.

Every match from the Rugby League World Cup will be shown live on SKY Sport in New Zealand.

2013 KIWIS MATCH SCHEDULE (UK dates)
October 20 – vs Cook Islands (Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster)
October 27 – vs Samoa (Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington)
November 1 – vs France (Parc des Sports, Avignon)
November 8 – vs Papua New Guinea (Headingley Carnegie, Leeds)
November 15-17 – Quarter-finals
November 23 – Semi-finals (Double-header at Wembley Stadium, London)
November 30 – Final (Old Trafford, Manchester)

ENDS

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