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With superstar five-eighth Johnathan Thurston withdrawn from the upcoming Four Nations, the door has well and truly been thrown open for New Zealand and England.
Thurston joins the likes of Matt Scott, Paul Gallen, Billy Slater, James Tamou, Nate Myles, Brett and Josh Morris, Andrew Fifita, and Darius Boyd as unavailable.
The Kangaroos will be without a majority of their World Cup winning squad.
Although the Kangaroos are able to call on quality replacements such as Daly Cherry-Evans and Greg Inglis, the fact remains they will be severely under-strength.
It’s a good chance to blood younger players such as Dylan Walker and Josh Jackson, but in terms of winning the tournament you’d rather have Gallen, Myles, Scott and co. there to again do the job.
The reason the door is wide open for the other two major nations is not purely due to injuries within the Aussie squad, but also both nations have players in form, especially in the forwards where the Roos are weakened.
England have George and Tom Burgess, as well as the best prop in the world right now in James Graham. The New Zealanders have Jesse Bromwich and Sam Moa fit and firing, and Simon Mannering is coming off one of his best years to date.
With all due respect to Samoa, who have named a squad including the likes of Frank Pritchard and Tim Lafai, this is going to be a tournament made up of three established nations and an emerging nation.
The gap between the Kangaroos and New Zealand/England looked as though it had been closing in recent years, until the Roos absolutely hammered their neighbours 34-2 in last year’s World Cup final.
The fact the Aussies didn’t allow a red-hot Kiwi side to cross the chalk, while they poured on five tries, sent a message that there was much work to do for the two sides most likely to test the new World Champions.
Whether New Zealand or England will be able to walk through the proverbial open door remains to be seen, as despite being under-strength, the Kangaroos still enter the tourney as favourites.
For the sake of international league, the gap between Australia and the following pack needs to close, and soon. The fact the best from England seem to be chancing their arm at the NRL while in their prime will quicken this process. But as good as Graham and the Burgess clan have been, the English side need more players taking part in the NRL to genuinely threaten.
The New Zealanders will again likely pose the biggest threat. Their squad is full of talent, and they will enjoy home ground advantage in the final, should they qualify.
It’s through green and gold glasses that I see the Kangaroos winning the tournament, despite the injuries, however it’s far from the foregone conclusion it may have otherwise been.
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