Knights In The World Cup

Gower is out.
Terry Campese is out too, so Italy are really struggling for halves.
 
Sutton out for Fiji is a blow as well.

Leilua, Fa'alogo and Pete are expected to be named for Samoa today. Matai has pulled out which will make Pete's case easier too.
 
Alicia said:
Sutton out for Fiji is a blow as well.

Leilua, Fa'alogo and Pete are expected to be named for Samoa today. Matai has pulled out which will make Pete's case easier too.
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Haha, after all Matai's talk about switching to Samoa and how he was gonna get all these Kiwis to switch with him ... he pulls out as per usual.
 
slotmachine said:
He was sort of busy, playing against the Roosters.

No chance he would be selected for the World Cup over the incumbents JT & Cronk, or DCE who was the best player in the finals series and just won the CC medal.
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I meant to say he could have, It would have been interesting to see who they would have gone with if mullo wasnt in the finals at the time
 
Mullen was never going to make the final 24 man squad, didn't matter if he played finals or PM's game against PNG.
 
Uate ready to break out for Fiji

By Ben Horne
AAP
5:02am Fri 11th October, 2013

A fired-up Jarryd Hayne propelled Fiji into the semi-finals of the 2008 World Cup and now it's Akuila Uate's turn to take over as the Bati star with a point to prove.

Like Hayne five years ago, flying winger Uate is disappointed not to be picked in the Australian squad for the Cup, that starts in the UK on October 28.

In many ways it was a disappointing season for the 26-year-old excitement machine, who fell out of favour with NSW selectors, and for the first time since 2009 failed to pick up the Dally M winger of the year gong.

But Uate now has the perfect opportunity to show his talent when the Bati face the Kangaroos in their second pool game on November 2 in St Helens.

Hayne's dream 2009 season, when he claimed the Dally M medal and single-handedly launched Parramatta into the grand final, was built on the confidence and perspective gained from being in the Fijian camp.

Bati coach Rick Stone said it's now Uate's turn to flick the switch.

"I think you might find Aku will jump out like Haynesy did in the last World Cup," he said.

"He's really put in for us. Of course he's disappointed he's not playing for Australia, but I think we're going to see a good tournament out of Aku for sure."

Uate finished the season playing close to his best, as the Newcastle Knights surged into the preliminary finals.

After featuring for the Blues last year, Uate failed to get a look in this season - even when injuries forced changes out wide for the game three decider which NSW again lost to Queensland.

If Hayne was Fiji's best back in 2008, then a young Uate wasn't far behind - scoring a hat-trick against France and topping the tournament for tackle breaks.

But Stone believes Uate's best days are still ahead of him and applauded him for his mental toughness.

"He's not a player who dwells on it too much, Aku. He's worked on things he can control and he can't control who they pick in those rep sides," Stone said.

"Your job is to get out there and play good footy. A couple of times he was down a bit but I think he finished the season really strongly. His last six to eight games were terrific and he was back to the old Aku which is his damaging best."

Fiji's 24-man squad is captained by Kangaroos and Queensland legend Petero
Civoniceva and features NRL stars like Tariq Sims, Sisa Waqa and Kevin Naiqama.
Stone was disappointed to lose Hayne to Australian selection, while South Sydney five-eighth John Sutton was also a big loss due to injury.

"We're pretty happy with the NRL experience we have in the team and there's plenty of boys who played in the World Cup the previous time," he said.

http://www.nrl.com/uate-ready-to-break-out-for-fiji/tabid/10874/newsid/75055/default.aspx
 
I found that a bit of a weird comment, too! Maybe if Stone says it enough, Uate will start to believe it.
 
He had a great 2008 World Cup on the wing for Fiji & he's a much better player now but it just seems hard to imagine him making a point to anyone while in that position. I can imagine though being such a big name & being in a Stone side he will be given free reign to do damage, hopefully he gets a million tries against the smaller nations & runs over the top of the Australian wingers.
 
Fiji have their first game against Ireland and then get to be flogged by Australia and England.
I suspect Australia and England will use their second string players against Fiji, but still their only real chance to have a win is the first game.
I do expect them to put up a fight against England though.
 
i think Fiji are dark horses they're gonna be unsuspecting but with players like the sims bros, uate, kevin and wes, petero and the fast koriobete they've got a lot of talent, i reckon they could give england a run for there money and with those backs they will be very exciting to watch.
 
Stoney could well play his best team v Rochdale in the warmup game and Ireland and rest his stars against Australia before throwing everything against England.
 
Well they only have to win one game to make the quarters, that's where their comp really starts. It'd be a big upset in my mind if Ireland beat them and they were knocked out.
 
usually it's Fiji on the other end of a smashing, good to see them getting some tries and no surprise hearing Marika Koroibete scoring a few.
 
If I were Stone i'd play Kev Naiqama at 5/8. Kev has developed some quality playmaking skills in the last few years when he chimes in from fullback. A heap of Chanel Mataútia's tries this year can be put down to Kev's quality set ups.
Groom could concentrate on kicking and just passing the ball out because the guy is tiny and will be killed if the Aus forwards get him, while Kev can do all the running.
 
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