{"id":160011,"date":"2021-11-14T19:45:14","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T20:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=160011"},"modified":"2021-11-14T20:58:25","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T20:58:25","slug":"storm-win-race-for-potential-smith-successor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=160011","title":{"rendered":"Storm win race for potential Smith successor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Storm<\/a> are all but resigned to losing Kiwi superstar Brandon Smith<\/a> in 2023 – but may have found another New Zealander to replace him.<\/p>\n

Stanley Iongi, an 18-year-old from Auckland, is rated one of the best young hooker\/dummy halves in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Mitchell Marsh delivers World Cup glory<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>'Old and slow' Warner shuts down critics<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Hamilton scores stunning Brazilian win<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Iongi was chased by half a dozen NRL sides but has decided to sign with the Storm.<\/p>\n

The teenager, who has been in the Warriors' system for the last three years, will begin his apprenticeship with the Storm's feeder team Brisbane Tigers (formerly Easts Tigers) in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

Iongi represented the Kiwis at under 16 level a couple of years ago and has attracted the eye of NRL talent scouts since then, excelling in the junior grades.<\/p>\n

He plays a similar style to Smith, with a dynamic burst of speed out of dummy half and the ability to also play lock.<\/p>\n

Smith, meanwhile, is attracting massive offers from the likes of the Roosters, Titans and Bulldogs and is expected to make a decision on his future in coming weeks.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Storm are all but resigned to losing Kiwi superstar Brandon Smith in 2023 – but may have found another New Zealander to replace him. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=160011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160013,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011\/revisions\/160013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=160011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=160011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=160011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}