League: Five players make test debuts in Newcastle

Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney. File photo / APN

Injuries and unavailability have hit the Kiwis hard and five players will make their test debuts when they face the Kangaroos in Sunday's one-off international in Newcastle.

Up to 12 players are unavailable for the Kiwis' Four Nations campaign including Manu Vatuvei, Steve Matai, Shaun Johnson and Sam Rapira but the debutants bring growing NRL experience and four of the five have been called up to the Kiwis before without playing.

Kevin Locke and Russell Packer were part of the 2009 Four Nations squad and Gerard Beale and Alex Glenn have previously been involved in Anzac test campaigns as 18th man. North Queensland's Kalifa Faifai Loa, who will debut on the wing, is the fifth newcomer and all five played in the NRL finals.

Glenn has got the closest to playing test football before after being involved in the Anzac test campaigns of 2009 and 2010. Last year he played for the Cook Islands and he was also in the Junior Kiwis side that beat the Junior Kangaroos in 2007.

"I never gave up hoping and just kept working," Glenn said. "It was great being around the Kiwis in 2009 and 2010 but I always dreamed of going that one step further and pulling on the jersey to play for my country. To be making my debut against the Aussies this weekend is unbelievable. I can't wait to get into it."

Coach Stephen Kearney has named a decent Kiwis side to take on Australia, despite the absence of so many top-line players. The latest to withdraw for personal reasons was Krisnan Inu, and his absence has left the squad without a recognised centre.

Those spots have instead been handed to Lewis Brown, who is normally a second-rower but who played centre in the Warriors' run to the NRL grand final, and Beale who is more recognised as a fullback or winger.

Beale might have pushed Locke hard for the No 1 jersey in normal circumstances but the dearth of centres without Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Matai and Inu will see him shifted into unfamiliar territory.

Some thought might have been given to shifting halfback Kieran Foran into the centres but Foran, who helped Manly to the NRL title, had an unhappy time there in 2009 in a test against England.

He has had a lot more joy leading Manly to the NRL title as a halfback and Kiwis skipper Benji Marshall is tipping Foran to be the key figure for the Kiwis as they look to defend their Four Nations title. He also thinks Foran's presence will help take a lot of the focus off him.

Kearney can't put out his strongest side for the Bill Kelly Cup encounter, which is something of a Four Nations warm-up, with vice captain Adam Blair still to serve two more games of his five-game suspension for fighting with Manly's Glenn Stewart. But he has 10 players who were in the Kiwi side that lost 20-10 to Australia in this year's Anzac test.

"It's exciting for our future that we're in a position to give these five young players their test debuts," Kearney said. ' Sunday's test is preceded by a one-off international between the Junior Kiwis and Junior Kangaroos.

Kiwis v Australia
Newcastle, 6pm Sunday

Kevin Locke
Kalifa Faifai Loa
Lewis Brown
Gerard Beale
Jason Nightingale
Benji Marshall (c)
Kieran Foran
Russell Packer
Nathan Fien
Sam McKendry
Alex Glenn
Simon Mannering
Jeremy Smith

Interchange: Issac Luke, Fuifui Moimoi, Sika Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.