New Zealand have been rocked by yet more injuries ahead of the Pacific Championships, with Cronulla Sharks duo Briton Nikora and Ronaldo Mulitalo set to pull out of the tournament.
In addition, any chance of Kayal Iro making the switch from the Cook Islands to New Zealand also appears to have been dashed, with the Dally M rookie of the year nominee also set to miss the tournament with injury.
The Sharks, who went deep into the finals, will instead see their three stars head off for off-season procedures ahead of pre-season getting underway in November.
None of the trio appeared troubled during their preliminary final loss to the Penrith Panthers, however, in the case of Iro, he missed time at the back-end of the year as he managed injury issues.
News Corp are now reporting that the trio will all miss the Pacific Championships and Bowl tournaments with injury.
It gets worse for Kiwis coach Stacey Jones, who is trying to find fully-fit players to pick for the Pac Champs. It's just come to light that likely squad members Briton Nikora (ankle), Ronaldo Mulitalo (knee) and Kayal Iro (hamstring) are all unavailable. @telegraph_sport
— David Riccio (@DaveRic1) October 4, 2024
Iro was unlikely to switch from the Cook Islands regardless of fitness status, but coach Stacey Jones would have hoped he could talk Iro into switching across after a season which saw him become a permanent figure for the Cronulla Sharks.
The news of the Sharks' trio all likely missing the tournament comes after retiring halfback Shaun Johnson ruled out any chance of receiving an SOS from coach Jones following testing of an Achilles problem.
The spine issues for the Kiwis run deep, with Dylan Brown, Kieran Foran, Brandon Smith and Jeremy Marshall-King all out injured, while Joseph Manu, who could have either played in the outside backs or at fullback as he has done previously also, is unavailable as he prepares for his rugby union switch.
The Kiwis play against Australia and Tonga in the round robin stage of the tournament, with the top two advancing to the final, and the third-placed team forced to play in a promotion-relegation play-off against the winner of the Pacific Bowl.
