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ST HELENS – It was another easy night at the office for Australia, defeating Lebanon 66-6 – but one that, again, leaves Mal Meninga no further along the journey of picking a team to face Michael Cheika’s Lebanon in the first-quarter final next week.
The Kangaroos coach admitted he still does not know his best 17, and now his problems extend further than the long-running battle between Daly Cherry-Evans and Nathan Cleary for the halfback jumper, with several wingers and back-rowers putting their hands up for Huddersfield next Friday night (Saturday morning AEDT).
“I can’t lose,” said Meninga. “The problem is the player does. That’s the difficult thing. We’ll review the tape, but in the back of your mind you try to pick your best 17 as you go along.
“Honestly, I had a dream last night about what the team should be. You’re constantly thinking about it and you’ve got to settle on something very soon. I’ll make that decision and have that honest conversation with the players.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
“That’s the Kangaroos. It’s wearing the green and gold jersey. We’ve got great depth in our footy team, all 24 players are worthy of playing going forwards. That’s the beauty of it. I have to make those tough decisions very soon.”
Cherry-Evans played the first 40 as five-eighth, with Cleary at halfback, but the pair swapped at half-time. Both registered three try assists and split the kicking nearly 50/50.
“I thought they (Cherry-Evans and Cleary) both handled it really well, they shared the workload and the kicking game,” said Meninga. “We can get better as we start to look at what our best combinations are. I’m happy with the way the players have handled the merry-go-round.”
Angus Crichton, arguably the form edge for the Kangaroos so far, was given the night off but his replacement Cam Murray was excellent and Liam Martin even better.
Jeremiah Nanai was given stadium man of the match and Isaah Yeo was as consistent as ever – though he might have issues in the week after being put on report for a crusher tackle.
The starting wings were also superb. One of Campbell Graham and Murray Taulagi will take the other side to Josh Addo-Carr, but it is now anyone’s guess as to which it might be next Friday night in Huddersfield, though Meninga said Graham had played his way into contention.
One man who will certainly be in is Latrell Mitchell. He has spoken extensively of the awe in which he holds his coach, who is so beloved in St Helens that he has a mural on the side of the stadium, and the older members of the 5,586-strong crowd might have had deja vu at times watching a powerful, silky Australian centre dominate like Mitchell did in the first half.
He was superb, creating two tries for his winger, scoring another insouciantly powerful effort himself before switching to fullback as Mal rang the changes after the break.
James Tedesco, playing against the nation he represented twice at World Cups previously, also impressed but was withdrawn early in the second half.
Hearts were in mouths as it appeared to be due to a knock, but Kangaroos staff confirmed that nothing was awry. Reagan Campbell-Gillard is the only other worry after departing at halftime with a leg cork, though he is expected to play next week.
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Italy, for their part, never stopped trying and were rewarded with a stirring second half try. Their race was run before tonight, but they kept trying short kickoffs, early shifts and chip chases in an attempt to challenge the Kangaroos.
“I’m pretty proud of that performance, they could’ve buckled and waited for it to end, but I don’t think we did that at all” said coach Leo Epifania.
“We just kept colliding the whole game. We didn’t want to sit there and we wanted to chase it. We didn’t just cop it, we through back with everything we had and tried our best.”
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Australia put the boot in early. DCE chipped for Val Holmes after just six minutes, James Tedesco scored against the nation he represented twice at previous World Cups and Mitchell put Taulagi in for his first on the back of a slick move.
Italy’s commitment to short dropouts was admirable, but resulted in an easy score for Graham, who used all his height to claim and cross untouched.
Mitchell then showed his strength, bouncing Italian tacklers off him en route to the line, before finessing Taulagi over moments later.
The best Aussie try of the night followed, with Tedesco splitting the defence and finding DCE on the inside, who got the ball on to Yeo to cross under the sticks.
Cleary, as if angered by DCE’s moment of class, put Martin through with a picturebook pass, and though the Italians did strike back – Ronny Palumbo touching down a Radean Robinson kick – it was a mere blip, as Murray, Graham again, then Lindsay Collins got onto the board.