Shades of 1990s Super League divide as Kangaroos cull means several jerseys up for grabs in Origin

For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, the national selectors will have no recent Test-quality form as a guide when they pick the Kangaroos squad for the World Cup.

Which makes State of Origin performances all the more important for the players jockeying for seats on the plane to England at the end of the season.

Australia have not played since the November 2019 upset loss to Tonga in Auckland due to the COVID-19 pandemic putting the clamps on international travel and the International Rugby League, after sustained pressure from the NRL and RLPA, postponing the World Cup 12 months from its original kick-off date last October.

An extended squad will be picked after Origin III on July 13 before a Kangaroo cull at the end of the NRL season to select the touring team which will aim to defend the trophy won in Brisbane in 2017.

For all the question marks over its claim to being an international game, Australian Test rugby league has been a consistent presence since the sport’s inception in 1908. 

The Australian team look stunned after losing the Anzac Test to New Zealand at the Nth Harbour Stadium in 1998. (Photo by Nigel Marple/Getty Images)

Apart from the two World Wars, there have been only seven calendar years where the Australian side has not been in action prior to the pandemic, with 1976 (the year prior to a World Cup) the only one in the post-war period.

The current situation is similar to nearly three decades ago when there was a gap of three and a half years between picking legitimate sides from the final match of the 1994 Kangaroo Tour to the Anzac Test of 1998.

There were Tests and the 1995 World Cup played in the intervening years but the Australian teams were chosen only from ARL-aligned players. Anyone who had signed with the Super League rebels was struck off the selectors’ notepads.

With the other cash-starved international federations in bed with Super League after lappin’ up News Corp’s financial incentives to do so, the ARL side played Tests that were little more than glorified training runs against amateurs from Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and a Rest of the World side filled with the remaining premiership talent that had not inked a Super League deal.

From the team which flogged France 74-0 to finish the 1994 Kangaroo Tour to the one which suited up for the ‘98 Anzac Test, only six Australian players bridged the gap: centre Steve Renouf, props Glenn Lazarus and Paul Harragon, five-eighth Laurie Daley, lock Brad Fittler and second-rower Dean Pay.

Incidentally, the Aussies lost that Test to the Kiwis 22-16 when a young fullback on debut had a horror outing – coming off the bench to replace an injured Robbie O’Davis in the first half, he made two handling errors that led to New Zealand tries. He bounced back all right after that night, Darren Lockyer, playing 58 more Tests. 

From the 17-man line-up which lost to Tonga in 2019, there is only one player who has since retired – captain Boyd Cordner – Paul Vaughan is no chance of being selected, while fellow bench forward Wade Graham, winger Nick Cotric and starting prop David Klemmer are long odds to return to the representative arena.

That leaves 12 players in contention to retain their green and gold jerseys – the spine of James Tedesco, Cameron Munster, Damien Cook and Daly Cherry-Evans, centres Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton, winger Josh Addo-Carr, forwards Tyson Frizell, Jake Trbojevic, Cameron Murray, Josh Papalii and Payne Haas.

Frizell is the most likely to miss the cut given he was an unused squad member for NSW in Origin I and has not been selected for game two this Sunday in Perth.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Barring injury, the other 11 are all strong chances of making the World Cup squad.

Tedesco and Cherry-Evans are vying for the captaincy, although the fact that the Queensland skipper is not guaranteed to be Australia’s halfback given the rise of Nathan Cleary means the Roosters fullback is the frontrunner to succeed Cordner.

Cook is facing a challenge from Ben Hunt and Harry Grant for the Australian No.9 jersey with the Rabbitohs veteran losing his NSW starting spot to Api Koroisau for Origin II. 

Tom Trbojevic would have been a walk-up start in the backs but his season-ending shoulder surgery means Mitchell and Dane Gagai would be the likely Kangaroos centres with Addo-Carr, Brian To’o and Valentine Holmes fighting it out for the wing berths.

In the pack, Isaiah Yeo is a ‘lock’ for the No.13 jersey with the likes of Kurt Capewell, Felise Kaufusi, Junior Paulo and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in line for their first Australian honours.

One of the benefits of the three-year gap in Tests is that Australia will have several debutants, like that quartet, who have extensive NRL and Origin experience under their belts before making their delayed international debuts.

There is, of course, plenty of time between now and selection time in October and there is always a player or two who comes from left field with a memorable run in the finals to storm into contention.

However, standout performances in this Sunday’s Origin II in Perth and next month’s series finale can catapult the likes of Patrick Carrigan, Liam Martin, Selwyn Cobbo, Stephen Crichton and perhaps even Joseph Suaalii – if he gets a chance for the Blues – into the Kangaroos conversation.