ST HELENS – Another week, another crushing victory, another round of selection drama. The story has been done to death, everyone is a little sick of talking about it and the person most irritated by the whole thing is Malcolm Norman Meninga, ironically the only person who could actually do something about it.
Much like last week, it’s hard to pull many flops from such a comfortable win, but things were not always rosy. Italy certainly asked questions with ball in hand and Australia had to be good to get the score they did. That wasn’t always the case against Scotland.
The problem for Mal might be that his side played too well. No, really – his life would have been easier if someone had an easily droppable shocker. Instead, it’s going to be a tough old week. Here’s the tops and flops.
Latrell Mitchell wasn’t even going to play at this tournament. After a long NRL season, all he wanted to do was go back to his farm in Taree and take a break. It was Mal who convinced him to get on the plane to England, a phone call that is growing in value every day.
It’s hard to say whether Mitchell is better in the centres than at fullback – horses for courses, I suppose, given the relative strengths of Souths and Australia – but certainly, watching him back in the position in which he made his name is currently one of the best things about this Kangaroos side.
You get all the physicality in defence that eludes him at fullback, with the same flair and explosiveness that you get every time he touches the ball regardless of position. He looks primed to get even better as the competition hots up.
It’s hard for an observer who grew up on tales of Mal charging through the centres at St Helens not to see the parallels last night. The stadium might have changed, but the feeling has not.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Here’s the thing about being Kangaroos coach: unless you flog every team, you’re rubbish. Win 84-0, you still get questioned. Win 66-6, not good enough. Australia are in genuine danger of having played three games and still being underdone, because they have used those games to have a run around rather than select a proper squad.
England, for example, have had two tough games and one easy one – remember what you thought of Samoa before the tournament – and have used that time to discern who might go where. Granted, their depth isn’t as good as Australia’s, but they have certainly been more proactive with what they have.
The Kiwis, shorn of two halves, have at least built momentum in the forwards, which is where they are going to have to be strong if they are going to win. Tonga are also playing themselves into form.
Australia…less so. We’re no closer to knowing what is going to happen and that lies on the coach. If they lose, you can cast-iron guarantee that the first question that will be asked of Mal is why he didn’t invest in combinations rather than messing around with rotations.
It’s not just boring to talk about – and, three weeks in, that is certainly the case – it’s also counterproductive. This isn’t a Kontiki tour and it’s not the under-12s. You don’t have to give everyone a game. Or, if you want to do that, get your combinations down in weeks one and two, then rotate in the third.
Mal has turned the group stage from a potential fact-finding exercise into a glorified opposed session. Shaun Wane and Michael Maguire have not. It might not bite Australia on the arse, because their talent level is so deep that it can often prevail, but if it does, only one person will be to blame.
If you had said before the tournament that Campbell Graham would be the starting winger for Australia in a knockout game, people would have laughed in your face. If you’d have said it in about June, they’d have thought you were on drugs.
Even two weeks before the team travelled, Graham thought he was playing for Scotland. Brian To’o, Joseph Suaalii, Selwyn Cobbo and Murray Taulagi would all have been ahead of him in the winger depth charts.
If the purpose of rotating the squad was to give everyone an opportunity to impress, then Graham should be knocking on Mal’s door and demanding selection. On his performances, he’s earned it.
As much as Mal’s rotation policy might limit the Kangaroos’ effectiveness collectively, it’s hard to argue that it hasn’t given everyone a chance to shine. If you have exceptional players and play against overmatched opposition, lots of them will look pretty good.
Even factoring that in, however, Graham has been superb. He’s scored five tries in two games, averaged 140m and was already the best defensive option. He’s more than taken his chance and should be selected against Lebanon.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Discussing man of the match decisions is a bit of a jump off to talk through the backrow options, but it is worth talking about because it’s outright confusing.
Jeremiah Nanai won it last night, and while he was perfectly fine, he was far from the best on ground. Latrell Mitchell, James Tedesco, Cam Murray and Campbell Graham would be worth shouts ahead of Nanai, who had just 11 touches of the ball, two of which were errors.
Victor Radley also was given it in England’s win over Samoa – much to his own confusion – and there have been a few highly questionable choices.
I raise it only to mention the inevitable backlash if Nanai isn’t picked next week, which is no sure thing. Angus Crichton has been excellent, Cam Murray and Isaah Yeo are vice captains and Liam Martin was one of the best on ground yesterday, better than Nanai for my money.
I highly doubt Mal Meninga spends much time in selection meetings factoring in who won man of the match in the stadium, but they did wheel Nanai into the press conference so, obviously, they’re aware of it. Nanai, like Campbell Graham, might have something to say if not picked.
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