The American National Rugby League has named an extended 22-man squad for the opening game of the Colonial Cup series against Canada.
The USA Tomahawks will host the Wolverines in Game 1 this Saturday, August 27 in Philadelphia.
The selectors have opted for a squad comprised of domestic-based players. The AMNRL's Atlantic Conference provides the bulk of the squad with 17; four come from the expansion Pacific Conference, while one is from the Southeast region.
Included among the 22 are eight from the newly-crowned AMNRL champion New York Knights.
Apple Pope again has been named captain and will lead the USA for the fifth straight time. Pope made his debut as Tomahawks skipper against Canada in last year's inaugural Colonial Cup match.
"We are working through a selection process toward the Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers in October," said AMNRL president and stand-in US coach David Niu.
"This first home international is an opportunity to develop some basic team systems and familiarize everyone with the team culture. The coaching staff wants to implement team systems with a larger group as we develop selections for the RLWCQ. This assembly will be the first phase of this process."
Saturday's game will be played at Charles Martin Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia with the return match to be held in Toronto on September 18th.
USA TOMAHAWKS SQUAD FOR COLONIAL CUP GAME 1:
Fitz-James Adams (New York Knights)
Leslie Alovili (Northern Raiders)
Gareth Baxendale (New York Knights)
Bryan Confer (Aston Bulls)
John Convery (Aston Bulls)
CJ Cortalano (New York Knights)
John Dykeman (New York Knights)
Ian Elliott (New York Knights)
Michael Garvey (Aston Bulls)
Andrew Kneisly (Aston Bulls)
Xavier Lozinguez (New York Knights)
Kelly McGill (Maui Voyagers)
Apple Pope (Florida) [Capt]
Thomas Ray (Hawaii Islanders)
Joshua Rice (Hawaii Islanders)
Justin Ripley (New York Knights)
Charlie Rizzo (Connecticut Wildcats)
Touanga Talakai (Maui Voyagers)
Sean Taylor (New York Knights)
Salesi Tongamoa (Connecticut Wildcats)
Louis Tulio (Aston Bulls)
Alejandro Valentin (Aston Bulls)