Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has named five debutants in his squad for Friday’s Four Nations opener against Scotland in Hull and made 10 changes to the side that beat New Zealand in Perth earlier this month.
Matt Moylan will start at fullback, James Maloney is named at five-eighth, Justin O’Neill selected in the centres with Manly young gun Jake Trbojevic at lock.
Sydney Roosters hooker Jake Friend forms part of a five-man bench with Meninga opting against resting Cameron Smith for the match against the tournament minnows.
Maloney’s selection caps off a fantastic 12 months in which he won a grand final in his first season with Cronulla and he’ll partner Cooper Cronk, who is making his 30th Test appearance, in the halves.
Greg Inglis, Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Darius Boyd have been omitted with one eye very much on next Saturday’s clash with New Zealand at Coventry.
Meninga insisted there’s no such thing a weak Australia team and said all of his 24-man squad are capable of stepping up when called upon.
“We can make a full-strength side with any of these group of players.” Meninga said.
“I always planned to ensure the entire 24-man squad has played across the Perth Test, and the Four Nations match against Scotland.
“That will set us up nicely for the rest of the tournament.”
After facing Scotland and New Zealand on November 5 the Kangaroos face England at the London Stadium on seven days later and Meninga said nothing is set in stone in terms of his strongest starting line-up.
“I do have an idea of what my best possible squad will be, but all players know that they can break into the top team with a strong performance.”
Team: Matt Moylan, Josh Mansour, Justin O’Neill, Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, James Maloney, Cooper Cronk, Aaron Woods, Cameron Smith (capt), David Klemmer, Sam Thaiday, Tyson Frizell, Jake Trobojevic. Interchange: Jake Friend, Shannon Boyd, Trent Merrin, Michael Morgan, Valentine Holmes. (one to be omitted).
Raugeee
Guest
I love the fact they're growing the Game.
Raugeee
Guest
O'Neil also has club and Origin combinations with JT. Much better choice than Dugan who has not shown anything at rep level (actually he did score an important try in Game 2 SOO 2015).
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
They qualified for it so why not?
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Not sure if people have noticed this (and if not, then it is a public relations, promotions and marketing issue) but rugby league also has an international infrastructure. That infrastructure is fine tuning itself and maturing as times goes on. You are right, though, it is true that as long as people are having fun it's all good. Even if some people's idea of fun comes across as being rather base.
clipper
Guest
The point is that Rugby really is global and has the infrastructure in place. In saying that, with the world getting closer, more and more people play different niche sports and it's good to encourage this - AFL are even having a game in China and have teams all over the world. As long as people are having fun, it's all good.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
The point being?
Tripehound
Guest
The GB side devolved so the England national side could access funding from Sport England, GB was ineligible.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Sorry but Scotland shouldn't be in the Four Nations let alone the RLWC!
Johnno
Guest
There's talk the 4N's this will be the last, and after next years World cup, we will move to a continent style tournament every 4-years e.g. European cup every 4-years, and an Asia-pacific cup, and an North America's cup etc. Europe by say 2019 could have a meaningful tournament now thanks to the loosened eligibility rules. England will by no means hav it all there own way in such a tournament by say 2019. Wales/Scotland/Ireland/Italy/Serbia/Spain/Russia/France could all give them a good game, and that's 8-sides there and there. Scotland is laden with NRL players/Super league/NSW-QLD cup guys, and com the world cup they will get even more guys e.g. Peter Wallace etc. This scotish squad has 12 NSW players in the 4nations, and some of these guys are in the NRL.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Boy oh boy was that a shocking game... I will have to watch it again to confirm but he just seemed so out of place. Its almost ok to laugh at now. He only played for Melbourne 4 times in 2014 and was stuck in a Sharks/Storm (The Sharknados) NSW Cup side for most of it. Incredible turnaround from him and I think his playing style serves him well. Hes above average and very solid and does nothing flashy.
clipper
Guest
There used to be Republican, when they had a strong Welsh side, but those days have long gone.
Joe
Roar Rookie
He actually has scored tries for two Grand final winning teams. Great clutch player and gets the job done.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Glad to see O'Neill get his shot at Origin and now International honors. He is a very good player and was sad to see him leave the Storm. Thankfully Green kept him after his first game shocker and he has paid back in spades.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Yeah I remember, the first game he played in Round 1 for the Cowboys last year was an absolute shocker and I was one of them calling for his head. But thankfully Paul Green kept him in the team and 18months later hes in the Australian team. Also worth mentioning we had an Origin and International winger playing for us this year under 200k
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Sure but Scotland qualified fair and square for this year's tournament. Every other argument is for the future. The news ought to be that there is finally a Test match between Australia and Scotland. And the match came about via a legitimate qualifying process, one that can be fine tuned of course, but legitimate nonetheless.
Spongebob
Guest
Selectors seem to favour some players for whatever reason. Dugan hasn't done anything special to warrant selection and yet is playing for state & country. He's hardly the Dragons best center. There's gotta be an investigation!
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's taken me a while to come around - probably remembering a couple of his shockers on the wing - but O'Neill is a really good player. It's a joke that Dugan is selected at right centre ahead of O'Neill who is a) a better centre and b) a right centre specialist. There must be a NSW quota in the Australian team...
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Hey Sleiman, like you I am a staunch internationalist, but to be honest I feel this is a missed opportunity for international League. There are many nations making huge progress in developing Rugby League domestically and, while they are definitely growing, unfortunately Scotland aren't one of them. I just can't see how Australia playing against Scotland will have any major benefit for the code. Don't get me wrong. I don't think the effect will be negative, but the game would have gained a lot more by playing a country like France that has a strong domestic interest in the game and more home-grown players. The other travesty is that some of the fastest growing League countries in the Americas aren't even given the opportunity to qualify for the Four Nations. The big 3 should be playing more games against the strongest tier 2 nations like France, USA and Samoa. This will help create a bigger, more competitive top tier, which is better than having a larger, more competitive second tier that is still well below the big 3.
Republican
Guest
.....Scotty land is still integral to GB - but only just, that said, why is their not a combined GB side instead?
Dutski
Roar Guru
Agreed. He's not as eye catching as others, but he does a job and he does it well. He's kept his speed too, which is a bonus.