{"id":502396,"date":"2026-02-25T04:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502396\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T04:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:33:09","slug":"two-former-nrl-international-rep-players-unite-on-a-new-look-team-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502396\/","title":{"rendered":"Two former NRL & International rep players unite on a “new look team” – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle Rebels have bolstered their Men’s Country Championships squad for 2026 with high-profile signings, including former NRL<\/a> stars Kevin Naiqama<\/a> and Sione Mata’utia<\/a>, adding serious experience to their hunt for a fourth consecutive championship crown.<\/p>\n

After dominating the regional competition with three straight Country Championships titles, the Rebels are shaping a “new look team” under coach Gareth Brennan.<\/p>\n

Naiqama returns from retirement to bring elite experience, having played 120 NRL<\/a> matches, 115 Super League<\/a> games, and represented Fiji<\/a> at international level.<\/p>\n

In 2021, both Naiqama and Mata’utia helped St Helens<\/a> win a grand final in the Super League<\/a> over the Catalans Dragons<\/a>, with the Fijian winger scoring two tries and winning the Harry Sunderland Medal (NRL’s Clive Churchill Medal equivalent).<\/p>\n

Mata’utia impressed at a young age and was able to make an incredible career playing for the Australian and Samoan sides, as well as play 124 NRL<\/a> matches and have 75 Super League<\/a> appearances.<\/p>\n

Speaking to NSWRL, Brennan spoke highly about the importance of experience in a side and how the former NRL<\/a> players will be pivotal in their hunt for four championships in a row.<\/p>\n

“Mata’utia has played for Australia<\/a> \u2013 there’s not much more you can do than that,” Brennan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“To have the youngest Kangaroo in our Rebels side is a bit of a coup for us here in Newcastle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Kevin Naiqama<\/a> has also played a lot of NRL<\/a>, English Super League<\/a>, and won grand finals. They’ve both won grand finals at St Helens<\/a>, so it is a good experience to bring them in with our younger guys.”<\/p>\n

The bigger picture for Brennan isn’t just the four in a row, it’s to encourage young players to play the game, referencing Sione Mata’uita as an example.<\/p>\n

“I’m very confident we can continue our success, but I have noticed over the last year how close the competition has become,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The grand final was a cracker, right down to the wire, and we were only lucky to get away from Northern Rivers. That is great for country Rugby League<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Obviously I want to win it, but my focus for why I am involved being an NRL<\/a> coach and encouraging those Sione Mata’uita’s to play in these comps, is to give back to country Rugby League<\/a> and make the whole country Rugby League<\/a> competition strong, not just Newcastle.”<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Tackle 2026 NRL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 130+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 NRL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Rebels have bolstered their Men’s Country Championships squad for 2026 with high-profile signings, including former NRL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-502396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}