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It’s hard to pick a Kangaroos team. The well of talent from which Australia can draw is very deep indeed, leading to a situation where every squad they announce is met with a howl about who isn’t in rather than who is.
With Mal Meninga seated alongside James Tedesco at the announcement press conference, any questions about the fullback role evaporated. Teddy is their captain and fullback.
There’s no argument about that, of course, given that he’s the incumbent, World Cup-winning skipper and more than worth a place in the team and the squad.
With Tedesco in, there could be no space for the Dally M Medallist, Kalyn Ponga, or Dylan Edwards or Reece Walsh, all of whom have been better fullbacks in 2023.
One wonders what those players would have to do to get a gig. It might well be that the best answer is wait, at least until Tedesco decides he’s done in rep footy.
Questioned on Edwards’ absence, Mal had a response that was, at first glance, perfectly reasonable.
“Unfortunately, he’s playing in an era where there’s James Tedesco,” said the coach. “We’ve gone with specialists. It’s only a short campaign and we’ve only got seven days off the back of what was a great Grand Final.
“Seven players from there will be in the squad and we’ve got to get the combinations going, and the best way to do that is to have players playing in their rightful positions.”
And yet: when it comes to the backrowers, they have picked just one specialist, Liam Martin, with nine middle forwards.
“It’s a good point,” admitted Meninga when asked. “Most have being playing in the middle, but people like Cameron Murray, Pat Carrigan and Reuben Cotter have played on an edge and have done that at Origin level, so I think that we have that covered.”
That doesn’t really stand up. Murray has played second row for NSW, but is widely seen as wasted in the role and far more effective at lock, where he began the third game this year – the only one that NSW won.
Cotter and Carrigan were 8 and 13 in that match for Queensland, with Carrigan playing on an edge twice at NRL level – ever – and Cotter never doing so. His only second row appearances have been one game of Origin and the PM XIII’s game two weeks back in PNG.
This could be a huge problem, because the area between the edge forward and the outside backs is perhaps the most important in the defensive line – the ‘seam’ as it is known – and the men outside who will have to tie in are also new, with Kotoni Staggs and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow likely to be on Kangaroos debut against Samoa in Townsville with Val Holmes suspended.
Given the huge depth of middles, one wonders if there might have been sense in leaving out a big man in favour of a specialist. The lack of pace could be huge issue if Mal repackages middles as edges, especially if the likes of Joey Manu and Dylan Brown get going.
There’s certainly space in the squad that Meninga could have used.
If we sketch out the rotation, it will likely be Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to start with Isaah Yeo in the 13 jumper, with two of Jake Trbojevic, Thomas Flegler, Lindsay Collins and Jake Trbojevic as props and Pat Carrigan in the 17.
One suspects that either of Jurbo or Flegler could have been sacrificed to allow for another pure backrower to be added.
kangaroo
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Last year, it was Angus Crichton alongside Martin with Jeremiah Nanai in the squad, but with neither likely to make this year’s edition, Mal had plenty of other options.
He could have turned to Hudson Young, who made a rep debut with NSW this year, Tyson Frizell, who excelled at the back end and has done the job before. Both were on the Dally M shortlist for their position.
There was also David Fifita, who won the Dally M award, who may now play for Tonga but has been in PM XIII’s squads, and Nat Butcher, the best defensive option in the position, who was in the long list.
The thing about picking Kangaroos’ squads is that whoever you pick, it often doesn’t matter. The options are so good that they tend to get the job done anyway. Nobody can argue with Meninga’s ability to get a team on the field that does the job superbly well.
But the great draw of the Pacific Championships is that, unlikely last year, where Australia didn’t face a test until the World Cup semis against the Kiwis, this time they will be up against it from the off.
Samoa will likely line up with Nanai – picked up from the Kangaroos – and Luciano Leilua, who wasn’t available last year but has shown plenty of upside since returning to the NRL. Throw in Stephen Crichton and Izack Tago
The Kiwis will come with Manu and Brown picking at those seams, plus Briton Nikora, perhaps the best crash-line runner in the NRL, and one of Scott Sorensen or Isaiah Papali’i. It’s a decent choice.
The rhetoric for not picking Ponga, Edwards and Walsh does make sense, especially around combinations. But it is exposed in a key part of the defensive line, too, with defensive solidity perhaps even harder to build.
There’s no room for error in a Kangaroos jumper, and there’s no question about where Samoa and New Zealand will be going with the footy.