League: Kiwis tackle next generation

New Zealand rugby league's past, present and potential future converged today as players and management preparing for Friday's Anzac test took time out to convince the next generation to commit to the Kiwis jersey.

About 30 young Melbourne-based players with links to New Zealand attended the session where current coach Stephen Kearney, New Zealand Rugby League high performance manager Ruben Wiki and team manager Tony Kemp outlined the juniors' prospective futures within the NZRL's framework.

Many of the youth had the choice of taking representative pathways with the NZRL or through the Australian system because they were either born in Australia or spent a significant length of time in the country.

Kiwis captain Benji Marshall - who finished his schooling on the Gold Coast - vice-captain Adam Blair plus rookie internationals Kieran Foran and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves were also on hand to help the teenagers identify with their New Zealand heritage.

Two of the Kiwis preparing to play the Kangaroos were born in Sydney - uncapped second rower Zeb Taia and wing Jason Nightingale.

On the flip side, in recent years the Kangaroos have fielded Auckland-born former internationals Karmichael Hunt and Willie Mason.

Wellington-born Gold Coast Titans centre Joseph Tomane would have been in contention for Kiwis honours this year but indicated his focus was on eventually representing Queensland in State of Origin.

"What we're trying to do is to capture Kiwi hearts," Kemp said.

"In some cases these players were born in New Zealand but have been raised in Australia while others were born in Australia but have New Zealand heritage.

"We want them to be really aware of their Kiwi roots and we want them to know that New Zealand has a big interest in them."

The first camp was held in Sydney in March, where 40 juniors were involved in a day-long camp featuring Sydney-born 2008 World Cup-winning skipper Nathan Cayless and fellow former internationals Nigel Vagana, David Kidwell and Mark Horo.

- NZPA