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Anxious wait for Maguire

Tony Smith

IThere’s been a Kiwi in the NRL grand final since 1998, but national coach Michael Maguire will be hoping none of his men get injured before the Rugby League World Cup. reports.

f you see a balding bloke in the bleachers peeking behind splayed fingers at Stadium Australia tomorrow it could be Kiwis coach Michael Maguire.

Maguire will be nervous about the welfare of seven potential key players in his Rugby League World Cup squad when he assesses the title decider between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels.

The NRL grand final is always compelling viewing in New Zealand, not only because it is the ultimate entertainment amongst oval ball sports, but because there is, inevitably, a Kiwi connection.

There have been New Zealanders in every NRL grand final since 1998 – no surprise given 45% of the NRL player base has Mā ori or Pasifika heritage.

The peak Kiwi content was 15 in 2011 – 13 Warriors and two Manly men (Steve Matai and Kieran Foran).

Maguire knows all about drama on grand final day. He was South Sydney’s coach when the Rabbitohs won their first title in 43 years in 2014.

With the Kiwis’ first World Cup game just over two weeks away, Maguire will be hoping Panthers trio James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Scott Sorensen and Eels quartet Dylan Brown, Bailey Simonsson, Isaiah Papali’i and Marata Niukore get through the grand final unscathed.

Fisher-Harris, Brown and Papali’i are three of the Kiwis’ biggest stars and almost certain selections in Maguire’s matchday squad for the big World Cup games.

Fisher-Harris and fellow Panthers prop Leota are in their third consecutive grand final, chasing a second successive winners’ ring.

From the Hokianga district in Northland, Fisher-Harris is now one of the most respected frontrowers in the game, a Dally M prop of the year in 2021.

The punishing tackler has averaged 156m with the ball in hand this year, and has now played 156 games since his 2016 debut.

Auckland-born Leota has been in the Penrith district since he was a boy and made his Panthers bow the same season as FisherHarris.

Maguire called the 26-year-old up for a Kiwis debut against Tonga in June.

Interchange forward Sorensen is another Panther chasing his second winner’s ring. Sydney-born Sorensen made his NRL debut for Cronulla in 2014, but was something of a journeyman till he found a home at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Since joining the Panthers in 2021, he has chalked up more than half of his 81 NRL appearances. He’s played 23 times this year – with just one start – but is averaging 99m off the bench.

Sorensen is yet to earn his Kiwis spurs, but has the right pedigree. His grandfather Bill Sorensen, great-uncle Dave Sorensen and uncles Dane and Kurt Sorensen have all played for New Zealand.

If Scott Sorensen fails to make the plane for the World Cup it will simply be due to the depth of riches Maguire has in his Kiwis pack.

The Panthers have another New Zealandborn interchange forward in Spencer Leniu, but the 22-year-old – recovering from being knocked out in a red card tackle in the semifinal against Souths last week – will suit up for Samoa at the World Cup.

Onto the Eels.

Coach Brad Arthur has two Kiwis – Brown and Papali’i – who rate among the NRL’s best in their respective roles.

Brown, who made his test debut against Tonga, has forged a brilliant pairing with Mitchell Moses in the halves to rival Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai’s combination for the Panthers. The 22-year-old has developed a lethal left-edge understanding with towering second-rower Shaun Lane, who made one appearance for the Warriors in an unhappy 2016 season in Auckland, but has since scored a A$2 million contract extension.

Brown appeals as the frontrunner to

partner Melbourne’s Jahrome Hughes in the Kiwis halves.

Papali’i’s Parramatta resurrection must frustrate Warriors fans. The Warriors wanted Papali’i to play as a middle forward, but he insisted he still had a future in the second row. Last year – his first in western Sydney – he was a Dally M second rower of the year. He has proved he is no flash in the pan with a standout 2022 season which has him sixth for most post-contact metres and seventh for most tackles (935).

Maguire named Papali’i in his second row for the Tonga mid-year test.

Papali’i, 24, is off to Wests Tigers on a big deal next year so will be hellbent on helping the Eels win a first title for 36 years in his swansong.

Also departing is interchange forward Niukore, who is returning to Auckland to link with the Warriors.

His career was at a crossroads till Arthur threw him a lifeline in 2016. The grand final will be Niukore’s 96th Eels appearance, but the chance to head home with his Kiwi wife and two sons was a strong lure.

Largely a middle forward used to telling impact off the bench, Niukore has started at centre, loose forward and second row to underline his utility value. No wonder Maguire handed Niukore his first Kiwis jumper in June.

Simonsson, 24, will be starting in his second NRL grand final after losing in 2019 with the Canberra Raiders. After 18 games on the Eels wing this season, Simonsson – a former New Zealand sevens player and son of 1980s All Black Paul Simonsson – will start in the centres for the second successive week.

SEVENS CHAMPION LOOKS TO STRIKE GOLD

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