The New Zealand rugby league coach Stephen Kearney is targeting young Australian-born players in a move aimed at further bolstering the strength of the world champions.
In a first for the NZRL, Kiwis coach Kearney and a host of former and current Test stars, including captain Benji Marshall, will hold a camp on Saturday aimed at recruiting eligible Australian-born players.
About 40 under-20 players will attend the day-long camp at Parramatta Stadium, the base of 2008 World Cup-winning skipper Nathan Cayless, who was born in Sydney.
Young league players have the option of representing their homeland or a parent's birthplace and Kearney is hoping the camp will encourage more to commit to the silver fern - even if they rarely cross the Tasman.
Former Kiwis Tawera Nikau, Ruben Wiki, Nigel Vagana, David Kidwell, Mark Horo and Cayless are among the speakers.
So are the current captain Marshall - who was educated on the Gold Coast after leaving New Zealand - and ex-skipper Roy Asotasi.
The camp concludes with a hangi.
