Tamou looks to add another representative honour

Just seven months after making his Kangaroos and Blues debuts, James Tamou looks set to add NRL All Stars to his list of representative honours with the Cowboys prop among the leaders in the first stage of public voting for the 2013 team to play at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on February 9.

With just one week of online voting to go, Tamou is in fourth place with more than 7900 votes, 500 behind overall leader Jarryd Hayne (Eels), and narrowly trailing  Akuila Uate (Knights) and Brett Morris (Dragons).

Morris’s twin brother Josh (Bulldogs), and the Storm’s Premiership-winning Kangaroos and Maroons stars Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk are also polling well and feature in the top 10 in overall voting for the NRL All Stars team for the 2013 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars match.

Tamou said: It’s very humbling to have so much support from the fans.

“It’s a bit of a shock really.

“I’d love to play in the All Stars game so hopefully the votes keep coming in.”

Online voting at www.nrl.com.au/allstars closes at 11:59pm on Monday week (November 26), after which a ‘shortlist’ of 64 players (top two forwards and two backs from each club) will be announced for Stage Two voting.

This final voting stage opens December 10 and closes January 14, with the public having to choose only one player from each club.

The top 10 players for the 2013 NRL All Stars in Stage One voting so far are:

The top players for each of the 16 clubs in Stage One voting so far include:

Fans have until November 26 to be a selector in the first stage of voting at www.nrl.com/allstars. They must choose two forwards and two backs from each of the 16 NRL Clubs to form a shortlist for Bennett to then refine his team for Stage Two of the voting.

At the completion of Stage One voting, Bennett will place the 64 players chosen into his preferred positions, as well as outline the make-up of the bench positions.

Stage Two of voting will commence December 10, where the public have the challenge of selecting just one player from each of the 16 NRL Clubs to join NRL All Stars captain and New Zealand skipper Benji Marshall and Australian captain Cameron Smith, who are automatic selections.

Bennett and the NRL All Stars coaching staff select the remaining two players to form the final 20-man squad.

Overview of NRL All Stars voting:
- The first player to be chosen in the NRL All Stars team will be the player who scores the highest number of overall votes in a position.
- Once a player from one club is placed in the team, no other player from that club can be selected.
- If a player withdraws from the team due to injury, he will be replaced by someone from the bench.
- The open bench spot will then be replaced by someone from the injured player’s club, depending on the position needed for the bench. 

2013 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars Ticket Categories and Prices
Tickets for the 2013 Harvey Norman All Stars match are available through Ticketek outlets, on 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au. New Zealand customers can call 0800 842 538 or +61 132 849.

* Aged, War, TPI, Invalid & Disability

The Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars is supported by Events Queensland as part of a growing calendar of sporting, cultural, regional and business events across Queensland.