Five players have been added to the Kiwis’ train-on squad preparing for the end of season tour to England.
Newcomers included are Junior Kiwis standoff Te Maire Martin (Wests Tigers) and Canterbury-Bankstown’s prolific try-scoring wing Curtis Rona.
Born in Tokoroa, Martin (19) lined up for the Junior Kiwis in their narrow loss to the Junior Kangaroos in May and was recently named in the NYC Team of the Year for the second season running.
His Wests Tigers side was knocked out of the NYC playoffs last weekend and he will switch to the Penrith Panthers for next season.
In his first season with the Canterbury Bulldogs, Rona, from Waitara, certainly showed his knack for crossing the chalk, leading the NRL try rankings for much of the competition before finally losing his spot to Parramatta’s flying Fijian Semi Radradra.
The pair joins recent internationals Gerard Beale (Kiwi #767), Greg Eastwood (Kiwi #737) and Sosaia Feki (#788) in the extended group.
Players will be added to the squad as their commitments to NRL clubs end for the year.
Train-on camps began this week in Auckland and Sydney, with the 23-strong touring side to be announced soon after the NRL grand final on October 4.
The tour of England features three tests – November 1 in Hull, November 7 in London and November 14 in Wigan – with a warm-up game against Leeds Rhinos on October 23.
2015 TRAIN-ON SQUAD
Canterbury-Bankstown | Greg Eastwood, Curtis Rona
Cronulla | Gerard Beale, Sosaia Feki
Parramatta | Manu Ma’u
Penrith | Lewis Brown, Sam McKendry, Elijah Taylor, Dean Whare
Manly | Kieran Foran, Peta Hiku
South Sydney | Bryson Goodwin, Issac Luke
St George Illawarra | Jason Nightingale
Vodafone Warriors | Solomone Kata, Tuimoala Lolohea, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Bodene Thompson
Wests Tigers | Manaia Cherrington, Te Maire Martin, Tim Simona, Martin Taupau
