St George Illawarra Dragons winger Jason Nightingale is thankful by his selection into the New Zealand Kiwis squad for the upcoming Four National Tournament in England later in October.
The local Renown United junior, capped 29 times for the Kiwis, admits it is always an honour to be selected and is grateful for the number of experiences each cap has brought him over the years.
The Kiwis were narrowly defeated in the previous three-fixture tour against the England Lions twelve months prior with the flanker noting the squad can only improve if they learn to win away from home soil.
New Kiwis Head Coach David Kidwell has selected the winger for the upcoming international fixture against the Australia Kangaroos at nib Stadium, Perth on Saturday.
“I am very excited as it is another tour and trip overseas and I am thankful for the opportunity as we have put together a very good squad,” said Nightingale.
“It’s been a really enjoyable part of my career being able to represent my country and I am excited to be able to do it again.
“To have experienced the experiences I’ve had and gain the amount of caps under my belt is special and hopefully I can get a few more.
“David Kidwell has been given a great opportunity and he’s been around our system now for a long time and been a big part of it himself.
“He has some really great philosophies on footy and tours in general so I am excited to see what he brings to the role as he is definitely ready.
“I’ve played against Josh Dugan a number of times now and against Tyson Frizell when he was representing Wales so that will be something I am keen to do again.
“There’s always a bit of rivalry and fun playing against your club teammates and both those blokes are obviously good friends of mine.
“Another big challenge for us is obviously putting together a good performance over in England as we lost the previous Test Series against England over there last year.
“It was a tough and tight series but I think our improvement will come in winning tours overseas and that’s what our focus will be.
“I always think the fourth nation in the Four Nations concept always creates a bit of a buzz so it is very exciting for Euan Aitken to be involved with Scotland.”
