Mal Meninga has produced the most radical shake-up to the Kangaroos in years, ruthlessly dumping incumbent Australian skipper James Tedesco and snubbing State of Origin captains Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans. Penrith’s Isaah Yeo will take over as captain with Tedesco omitted for the first time since his debut in 2018.
The Jillaroos have also revealed their own selection shock with Dally M winner Olivia Kernick not included in the women’s Test squad.
The Sydney Roosters second-rower claimed her maiden Dally M Medal last week, and was close to best on field in her club’s 32-28 grand-final win over Cronulla on Sunday.
Meninga unveiled a new-look Kangaroos squad on Monday which featured eight potential debutants including Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses, Penrith forward Lindsay Smith and Newcastle centre Bradman Best.
But the main focus of Meninga’s selections will centre on his omissions with longstanding captain Tedesco shown the door in the wake of last year’s humbling 30-0 loss against New Zealand.
Penrith’s Dylan Edwards will take the No 1 jersey from Tedesco with Melbourne hooker Harry Grant appointed as vice-captain behind new skipper Yeo.
“It is a bit of an evolution of this, certainly on the back of what happened in the Pacific Championships last year,” Meninga said. “That was in the back of our minds but we felt Origin was important and form in the finals.
“There was a difficult conversation [with Tedesco]… Teddy played game one for NSW and two and three Dylan was the fullback.
We chose based on Origin and form but in the end Dylan has been in the wings for quite a long time, so we decided we would go with him.”
Meninga suggested that Cherry-Evans and Trbojevic, both constants of his tenure as coach, were overlooked for the Pacific Championships because of their lack of versatility and with a view to the 2026 World Cup. Meninga was unable to call on Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster as the pair prepare for off-season surgery.
“When you look at your 21 [player squad], you look at the diversity and flexibility of the team,” Meninga said. “We’ve got a range of players that can play different positions so that’s the methodology that goes into selecting this team.”
Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga was left out of Meninga’s squad after the saga surrounding his commitment dominated the build-up to Kangaroos selection.
“We considered Kalyn as a specialist fullback but we felt Dylan was the No 1 fullback in our game so we chose Dylan in front of Kalyn,” Meninga said.
Australia will face Tonga in Brisbane on 18 October and then take on New Zealand in Christchurch on 27 October.
Olivia Kernick scores a try for Sydney Roosters in their 2024 NRLW grand final victory over Cronulla Sharks
Olivia Kernick scores a try for Sydney Roosters in their 2024 NRLW grand final victory over Cronulla Sharks.
Jillaroos coach Brad Donald also named his 21-woman squad for the Pacific Championships on Monday, deciding Kernick’s NRLW season was not good enough to warrant keeping her spot.
Instead, Donald has opted to go with veteran Kezie Apps on return from a season-ending knee injury and NSW State of Origin teammate Yasmin Clydsdale.
Mahalia Murphy was also preferred over Kernick for her versatility, after featuring in one Test for the Jillaroos in 2015 and playing second row at Parramatta this year.
Kernick was not the only star overlooked, with Jaime Chapman also dropped despite being named NSW’s Origin player of the year last month.
“Liv is probably not too far off, she was on the bench for NSW this year as well and she will be the next one in if something went down,” Donald said. “When you’ve got the captain in your position in Kezie Apps, it’s quite difficult. Then the versatility [of] Mahalia as well.
“There is some change … we lost our first game in nine years last year against [New Zealand]. I’ve spoken to all of the incumbents, there are five who didn’t make the squad and they are all very disappointed and know what they have to work on.”
Sydney Roosters hooker Keeley Davis, Cronulla star Emma Tonegato and North Queensland dummy-half Emma Manzelmann are the other incumbents to miss out.
Parramatta No 1 Abbi Church, Cronulla hooker Quincy Dodd, Newcastle Olivia Higgins and Wests Tigers prop Sarah Togatuki are all in line for possible debuts.
Kangaroos squad: Mitch Barnett, Matt Burton, Bradman Best, Patrick Carrigan, Xavier Coates, Lindsay Collins, Reuben Cotter, Angus Crichton, Tom Dearden*, Dylan Edwards, Harry Grant (vc), Ben Hunt, Zac Lomax, Liam Martin, Mitchell Moses, Cameron Murray, Reece Robson, Lindsay Smith, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Tom Trboejvic, Isaah Yeo (capt).
Jillaroos squad: Kezie Apps (capt) , Ali Brigginshaw (capt), Tarryn Aiken, Lauren Brown, Abbi Church, Yasmin Clydsdale, Quincy Dodd, Millie Elliott, Jessika Elliston, Olivia Higgins, Keilee Joseph, Isabelle Kelly, Shannon Mato, Mahalia Murphy, Tiana Penitani, Julia Robinson, Simaima Taufa, Jess Sergis, Sarah Togatuki, Tamika Upton, Jakiya Whitfeld.
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