It's the Rugby League World Cup - a cross-cultural melting pot with teams from the Americas, Europe and the Pacific ready to do battle.
But with 16 teams in the men's competition and hundreds of names to familiarise yourself with, we've had a look at the squads to determine just who are the three players from each nation you need to be watching.
New Zealand
Dylan Brown
It's been an incredible year for Brown, who not only found the best form of his young career in the NRL but also made his Test debut for New Zealand and played in an NRL Grand Final. It's hard to think of a 22-year-old as a leader but the growth not only in Brown's game but also his maturity this year means he'll be huge in guiding the team around the park.
He more than doubled his next-best season haul for tries in 2022, finishing with 11 tries and setting up 17 more and also averaging 125 metres a game, emphasising his ability to take on the line with one of the best steps currently going around.
Joseph Tapine
As just one of a handful of Kiwis players who also participated in the 2017 tournament, Tapine will remember the pain of those back-to-back losses against Tonga and Fiji. But just like the national team Tapine has grown a lot in the last five years, and is in career-best form at the perfect time.
Named alongside Payne Haas as Prop of the Year at the Dally M awards, Tapine has become one of the most consistent front-rowers in the game. He led the league for post-contact metres, finished third for offloads and fifth in overall metres and was rewarded for his efforts with a four-year, multi-million-dollar contract extension. After proving so much already this year, expect to see Tapine emerge as the Kiwis most damaging prop in a colossal pack.
Jeremy Marshall-King
Reaching his 100th NRL game, setting personal bests for appearances and tries in a season and taking home the Bulldogs' Player of the Year award, Marshall-King is arguably in career-best form ahead of the World Cup, and is expected to get the nod as first-choice dummy-half in Michael Maguire's side ahead of Brandon Smith as he prepares to make his international debut.
Though the Bulldogs still struggled throughout the season it wasn't through a lack of effort from their dummy-half, who played every game, finishing in the Top 10 in the NRL for tackles, scoring five tries and setting up another four. In career-best form and with his future already sorted ahead of a move to the Dolphins in 2023, expect to see Marshall-King play with freedom and confidence in an already strong side.
