Australia Kangaroos squad revealed ahead of Pacific Championships | Sporting News Australia

by Admin
September 26, 2024

Mal Meninga has reportedly revealed his Australia Kangaroos squad ahead of the Pacific Championships.

The provisional 31-player team is set to be trimmed before they take on Tonga in the tournament opener on Friday, October 18.

Daly Cherry-Evans, Ben Hunt and Mitch Moses have all been named, while the likes of Nathan Cleary, Cameron Munster and Tom Trbojevic have been included despite being under injury clouds.

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Australia Kangaroos squad revealed for Pacific Championships

Following Kalyn Ponga’s surprise decision to turn down the invitation to play, the make-up of Meninga’s Aussie team has been in the headlines.

Thirteen players have been included from the last national team he selected, despite them suffering a historic 30-0 loss to New Zealand in Hamilton.

The coach stated that there would be no loyalty on offer after the humiliation in the inaugural tournament final, although only Nicho Hynes hasn’t been included from that matchday squad.

Valentine Holmes, Payne Haas, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and 18^th man Tom Flegler are unavailable through injury.

However, there is plenty of fresh blood in the extended squad with Zac Lomax, Connor Watson and Mitch Barnett strong chances to feature for the Kangaroos.

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With Hynes’ omission, it means Cronulla will have no representatives in the Australian side along with the Gold Coast and Wests Tigers.

Parramatta (Moses), New Zealand Warriors (Barnett), Newcastle (Best), South Sydney (Cameron Murray), the Dolphins (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow) and Canberra (Hudson Young) all have just one representative each.

Matt Burton was joined by Jacob Kiraz in the squad, but the Canterbury winger has since been ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.

Meanwhile, Penrith, North Queensland and the Sydney Roosters are the best represented clubs in the provisional squad with four inclusions apiece.

After plenty of debate throughout the NRL campaign about James Tedesco’s standing in the side, the skipper has been chosen alongside club teammates Watson, Angus Crichton and Lindsay Collins.

Cowboys Origin quartet Tom Dearden, Reece Robson, Jeremiah Nanai and Reuben Cotter have all been included, while the Panthers have also received four call-ups with Cleary joined by fellow NSW reps Dylan Edwards, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo.