USA TOMAHAWKS DEVELOP PLANS FOR RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS IN ENGLAND
9/7/2007

The USA Tomahawks squad will be announced in early October to prepare for the Rugby League World Cup Qualifying matchup with the powerful island nation of Samoa. In an exciting development the head coach of the Penrith Panthers from the Australian NRL, Matt Elliott will be Co Head Coach of the Tomahawks along with Terry Matterson who is current head coach of the Castleford Tigers in England, along with longtime Tomahawks coaches Shane Millard and Bill Hansbury as assistants. Matt Elliott has won a number of titles as head coach of the Bradford Bulls in Super League Europe before returning to Australia to coach the Canberra Raiders, and will link up once again with Terry Matterson who was his assistant at the Bulls and Raiders.

Along with a super coaching staff, a number of exciting foreign based professionals are set to join the Tomahawks and will present the strongest ever USA lineup as the American National Rugby League strive to qualify for the Rugby League World Cup in Australia, October 2008.

Players from the local AMNRL competition will be evaluated in a final selection process over the course of the next few weeks when the final tour squad will be announced.

Available players based outside of the USA are:-

Matty Petersen - Gold Coast Titans, Australian NRL

Shane Millard - Wigan Warriors, Super League Europe

Clint Newton - Melbourne Storm, Australian NRL 

Mark O'Halloran - Penrith Panthers, Australian NRL 

Brandon Costin - Souths Logan, Queensland Cup Australia

Mark Cantoni - Easts Tigers, Queensland Cup Australia

Tyrone Coppedge - Souths Logan, Queensland Cup Australia

Jon Wells - London Harlequins, Super League Europe

David Myles - Gold Coast Titans, Australian NRL

Nathan De Bartolo - Sydney Bulls, Jim Beam Cup Australia 

Ryan McGoldrick - Castleford Tigers, England

Ashley Lanfranchi - Byron Bay, Australia