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Meninga hails versatile Kangaroos

Big Mal is a remarkable coach, something you might not have said ten years ago. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
15th October, 2017
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Coach Mal Meninga has less than two weeks to finalise his best 17 for the Kangaroos World Cup opener, with at least four positions up for grabs to take on England.

The Kangaroos came through unscathed from their warm-up runs against Papua New Guinea and Fiji, where James Maloney took the inside running for the vacant No.6 jumper.

Mystery also surrounds the make-up of the bench, with Josh McGuire, Tyson Frizell, Jordan McLean, Wade Graham all vying for three forward spots.

NRL grand final stars Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Will Chambers and Michael Morgan are also set to return after being rested from the exhibition match.

The squad break this week before reuniting in Melbourne next Sunday ahead of their opener at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on October 27.

“It makes it hard, you would think that we’ll have a pretty good side when we play against England,” Meninga told reporters after the match on Saturday.

“There’s some really good players playing in our footy team. We’ll make some decisions over the next week or so.”

Despite starring against Fjii, Manly’s Tom Trbojevic is unlikely to edge Josh Mansour for the vacant wing role in a backline set to include Chambers, Josh Dugan and Valentine Holmes.

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Aaron Woods and David Klemmer are likely to be the starting front-rowers, with Boyd Cordner, Matt Gillett and Jake Trbojevic rounding the pack.

Meninga has spoken numerous times about the value of versatility in his line-ups.

“The versatility works for us as well. We’ve got some really good rugby league players who can play a number of positions and are happy to,” he said.

“When we ask them to fill in a position, they readily do it, do it to the best of their ability and we don’t lose much every time we move people around.”

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