Manu Ma'u has taken another step closer to making his debut for the Kiwis.

Five uncapped players are among the first group named to the NZ Kiwis train-on squad for the upcoming tour of England.

Tuimoala Lolohea, Solomone Kata from the Warriors, the Eels' Manu Ma'u and Tim Simona and Manaia Cherrington from the Tigers have all made the wider training squad.

There were 14 players announced on Tuesday for the three-test tour to England. Those named come from NRL teams that didn't finish in the top eight.

In all, there will be about 40 players in a wider squad which will be trimmed down to 23 players soon after the NRL Grand Final, which is on October 4.

As well as the five uncapped players, Warriors second-rower Bodene Thompson has also been selected. Thompson was part of the Kiwis team for last year's Four Nations, coming in as a late replacement for Sam Moa, but didn't take the field.

Lolohea has shown during the season that he's a player with a huge upside. The two tries he scored playing for the Warriors in their loss to the Bulldogs last week were of the highest quality and his selection could mean that Benji Marshall misses out.

Kata completed the remarkable feat this year of playing in every game for the Warriors in his debut season.

He's a strong ball-runner and was his club's leading try-scorer in 2015, with 12. Defensively he was shown up at times but, like Lolohea, he is a player for the future.

Ma'u is a player who has been knocking on the door of the Kiwis for a couple of years.

The Eels second rower, who played a test for Tonga earlier this year, missed just two games for his club this season and is the sort of fast, powerful forward who Kearney likes to select.

Like Ma'u, centre Simona has been on the fringes of selection for some time, while 21-year-old Cherrington is still making a name for himself in the NRL.

He played 11 games for the Tigers this season off the interchange bench and he'll likely be Issac Luke's back-up at dummy half.

Train-on camps will begin on September 23 in Auckland and Sydney.

Kiwis wider training group: Lewis Brown (Penrith Panthers), Manaia Cherrington (Wests Tigers), Kieran Foran (Manly Sea Eagles), Peta Hiku (Manly Sea Eagles), Solomone Kata (Warriors), Tuimoala Lolohea (Warriors), Simon Mannering (Warriors), Ben Matulino (Warriors), Manu Ma'u (Parramatta Eels), Sam McKendry (Penrith Panthers), Tim Simona (Wests Tigers), Martin Taupau (Wests Tigers), Bodene Thompson (Warriors), Dean Whare (Penrith Panthers)