Mannering in doubt for tour

Simon Mannering is in doubt for the Kiwis’ tour of England as he awaits the results of medical tests.

The Kiwis captain was battling illness during the end of the Warriors’ NRL campaign and New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said he’d been kept away from their Auckland training camp this week.

Mannering’s participation in the three-test series won’t be confirmed until he receives medical results in a week’s time, the coach said.

‘‘With Simon Mannering, he was pretty crook in the last couple of games for the Warriors and because of his workload I said right at the start it’s about managing his workload,’’ Kearney said.

‘‘He’s been in for a few tests about an illness and he’s getting results back on that.

‘‘I’m in no rush and told him to take his time with all of that. I know Simon wouldn’t take long to get his fitness back and he’s such a competitor that whenever he’s right to come back to the group we’ll deal with it then.’’

When asked on what the chances were on Mannering making the tour, Kearney said: ‘‘I can’t give that indication, but I can say Simon is very keen to go away on the tour, he’ll get his test results and we’ll just see how everything pans out.’’

Despite his heavy workload, Mannering has always insisted he wants to travel tour and isn’t interested in taking a break over the off-season.

However, his illness may mean Kearney could be looking for a new captain.

Kieran Foran, who is currently holidaying in Fiji, is a possible contender to step in as captain, although Adam Blair, Issac Luke or Jesse Bromwich could also be contenders.

Five more players were added to the Kiwis’ train-on squad on Thursday. Curtis Rona of the Bulldogs, who scored 23 tries in 25 games on the wing this season, and young five-eighth Te Maire Martin – who’ll be moving from the Tigers to the Panthers next year – are the two uncapped additions, while the other players are Bulldogs Greg Eastwood and Sosaia Feki and Cronulla’s Gerard Beale.

‘‘With Curtis, he’s had a pretty exceptional year in terms of his try scoring ability and the way he’s played,’’ Kearney said.

‘‘We’ve been really impressed with the way he’s gone, coming down from the Cowboys and fitting in at the Bulldog.

‘‘With Te Maire, it’s a position where we don’t have the depth of talent that we have in other positions.

‘‘Te Maire has been through our Junior Kiwis programme, so it’s recognition of that and how we see him moving forward.’’

Meanwhile, Kearney said he was aware Bodene Thompson had planned a boxing bout with Paul Gallen on November 3, two days after the first test of the England tour, in Hull.

Thompson has been named in the wider Kiwis squad but it appears that he’ll only make the final 23 who’ll fly to London if there are injuries to other forwards over the last two weeks of the NRL season.

‘‘I spoke to his agent two or three weeks ago and he made me aware that they were looking at this,’’ Kearney said.

‘‘At that point I couldn’t give him a guarantee whether he’d be a part of the group or not, but what I did say is that we’ve got a fair few forwards playing through the finals series. Injuries are a big part of our game and if something happens, Bodene’s been a part of the group before, in last year’s Four Nations and that’s why he’s in the extended squad.’’