Kiwis to face Kangaroos in Aussie
The Kiwis won’t get the chance to play the Kangaroos on home soil this year, with the annual transtasman clash again in Australia in midOctober after the NRL season.
The teams met in Wollongong last year and at Mt Smart Stadium in 2018, when coach Michael Maguire’s team recorded a memorable victory.
The international calendar was restructured after the 2017 World Cup, with the axing of the mid-year Anzac test, which was a fixture from the late 1990s.
That match was almost always played in Australia (only two were in New Zealand) and with the new endof-year fixture, there was an expectation tests would be staged on a rotation basis.
But that hasn’t eventuated, as the Kiwis will have to travel across the ditch for the match on October 17.
“It’s not guaranteed to be here . . . there is no formal reciprocal agreement,” said New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters.
He said the match will be in Australia for “commercial reasons”.
It’s a shame, as the Kiwis have hosted the Kangaroos only three times in the past decade (2012, 2014, 2018) but Peters argues the decision is pragmatic.
The NZRL need to shore up their reserves ahead of next year, when their revenue-earning opportunities are limited due to the World Cup.
Having the game in Australia means the NZRL will gain a match fee but won’t have to wear the costs and risks the event.
The Kiwis will play three more matches in 2020. There will be another rematch with Tonga on June 20, almost certainly in Auckland.
As part of the Oceania Cup, the Kiwis will also face Fiji on October 24 in New Zealand.
Then Maguire’s squad will face the Kumuls in Port Moresby on October 31, their first trip to Papua New Guinea since 1994.
Following on from last year, the Kiwis Ferns will also have an extended schedule in 2020.
They will again play a mid-year test, as well as a clash with the Jillaroos to bookend the men’s international fixture on the same night in October. And the Ferns will also join the Kiwis on the tour to Papua New Guinea. associating with staging
Sam Lisone will leave the Warriors, in a deal expected to be concluded in the next few days.
The 26-year-old will join the Gold Coast Titans, whose front row stocks have diminished with the seasonending injury to Ryan James.
Lisone’s move isn’t a complete surprise, as he had fielded interest from several Super League clubs at the end of last season and had been tipped to leave Mt Smart.
Lisone and Warriors coach Stephen Kearney haven’t always seen eye to eye, part of the reason the former Otahuhu Leopards forward made only 11 appearances each of the last two seasons, all off the bench.
The fact the Warriors were prepared to let the Samoan international go — even after the serious knee injury suffered by Bunty Afoa before the NRL Nines — shows how far down the pecking order he had fallen.
The move is probably good for both parties. Lisone could thrive in a fresh environment in Queensland, while the Warriors have freed up a spot on their roster.
After starring for the Junior Warriors and playing a big part of their run to the 2014 NYC Cup, Lisone made his NRL debut in the opening round of the following year.
Lisone was part of a raw front row employed by coach Andrew McFadden, alongside Albert Vete, and acquitted himself well, featuring in the first 10 matches and 19 in total that season.
He looked a future star but it never quite happened, and his career has stalled since the end of the 2017 season, with 85 games across five years.