{"id":116555,"date":"2025-11-04T01:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T01:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116555\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T01:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T01:00:10","slug":"kiwis-v-tonga-keano-kini-makes-stunning-comeback-to-re-establish-himself-as-no-1-ahead-of-pacific-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/116555\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwis v Tonga: Keano Kini makes stunning comeback to re-establish himself as No 1 ahead of Pacific Cup final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KeanoKeano Kini dives over for his try against Tonga. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

With Kris ruled out of the decider, it would be a big call to switch up his backline, as Kini looks to re-establish himself as the No 1 fullback ahead of next year\u2019s Rugby League World Cup.<\/p>\n

While there were some tough challenges, Kini is focusing on the positives in his life during the year, admitting he didn\u2019t think he would be back on the field representing the Kiwis this year, considering the circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started the year not thinking I would get in to this space so to be here now is a blessing,\u201d Kini said. \u201dI\u2019ve been through some trials and tribulations but thank the Lord I\u2019m in this position now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was challenging, but it was meant to happen and it gave me some time to reflect on myself and made me a bit more grateful for everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt actually taught me a lot of things. I had a baby, got engaged, so a lot of good things happened from a bad [situation].\u201d<\/p>\n

Halfback Kieran Foran was full of praise for Kini, having seen his struggles first-hand, as the pair are club teammates at the Gold Coast Titans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you consider he only found out 48 hours beforehand that he was coming into the side, that gives you a glimpse of just how good a footballer this young guy is,\u201d Foran said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been itching to play. He\u2019s trained as well as he could have trained, put himself in the window in case any injuries happened and as it turned out, we lost a couple through the week and Stacey had complete faith in Keano coming in and getting the job done.<\/p>\n

\"KieranKieran Foran in his last test on New Zealand soil. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was one of our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attention now turns to Samoa in the final, where New Zealand will be favourites to come out on top, having already beaten the side 24-18 earlier in the campaign.<\/p>\n

Kini said he\u2019s excited at the prospect of facing Samoa due to his family heritage and says he will be better off for the hit-out, having struggled with cramps in the second half on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He says the goal is to send Foran out a champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the opportunity came, I knew I was ready,\u201d Kini said. \u201cI haven\u2019t had much footy this year and the body is still getting used to it but I had to blow those cobwebs out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was envious because I didn\u2019t play in the first game against my other culture, Samoa, so, looking forward to playing some boys that I know in there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to win, claim that title back and get that trophy back to New Zealand, and to send a legend [Foran] out like that would be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Francis<\/a> is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keano Kini dives over for his try against Tonga. Photo \/ Photosport With Kris ruled out of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[81694,74,6030,3017,806,5759,22773,10542,49159,32565,8142,5904,78977,8241,46323,20439,82758,82759,807,13620,5812,5338,111,139,7805,69,1118,1523,13572,8143,82760,213,12825,765,61,53476,80],"class_list":["post-116555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-81694","tag-after","tag-again","tag-ahead","tag-as","tag-championships","tag-comeback","tag-cup","tag-determined","tag-display","tag-eden","tag-final","tag-fullback","tag-himself","tag-influential","tag-jersey","tag-keano","tag-kini","tag-kiwis","tag-leading","tag-make","tag-makes","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-no","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-over","tag-pacific","tag-park","tag-reestablish","tag-sports","tag-stunning","tag-test","tag-to","tag-tonga","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}