Kangaroos squad for Tests against NZ and Tonga

[Mitch06]

To be perfectly honest, I'll be barracking for Tonga

Agreed. Hard to get behind that team.

 

[Super Freak]

Munster has withdrawn due to personal reasons. Keary has been called into camp.

Keary should have been there to begin with.

 

[ZTop]

Dallin Watene Zelezniak has been named captain for NZ in a bit of shock captaincy.
Kiwis team: 1. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (c), 2. Ken Maumalo, 3. Esan Marsters, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Shaun Johnson, 7. Kodi Nikorima, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Isaac Liu, 13. James Fisher-Harris
Interchange: 14. Kenny Bromwich, 15. Leeson Ah Mau, 16. Martin Taupau, 17. Adam Blair, 18 Peta Hiku, 19. Jahrome Hughes
Isaako isn't named which stinks I'm sure

 

[Battler]

Maumalo in over Isaako is a shocking call. I'd have Hughes, Isaako, and maybe even Hiku at FB instead of DWZ who shouldn't even be in the side let alone captain.

 

[Unbreakable]

Kangaroos:

1 James Tedesco
2 Dane Gagai
3 Latrell Mitchell
4 Tom Trbojevic
5 Valentine Holmes
6 Luke Keary
7 Daly Cherry-Evans (vc)
8 David Klemmer
9 Damien Cook
10 Jordan McLean
11 Boyd Cordner (c)
12 Felise Kaufusi
13 Josh McGuire

Interchange:

14 Ben Hunt
15 Jake Trbojevic
16 Tyson Frizell
17 Aaron Woods

18 Tyrone Peachey
19 Reagan Campbell-Gillard

 

[Alec]

DWZ is probably there cause he's a mini-RTS. Just make a fuckload of metres on kick returns and hope they win the field position.

 

[ZTop]

Maumalo in over Isaako is a shocking call. I'd have Hughes, Isaako, and maybe even Hiku at FB instead of DWZ who shouldn't even be in the side let alone captain.

DWZ is a certified gun imo

 

[Big Pete]

The only way Jamayne Isaako was going to make the team was at 1 or 6. With Rapana turning to the line-up after missing the Denver Test, he was naturally going to take his place on the right wing with Maumalo receiving the benefit of being a left-side player. Maumalo's size gives him an inherit advantage over Isaako and the Kiwis will be relying on him heavily to win those early rucks.

The more pressing matter for the Kiwis will be where Manu and Marsters line-up. Both play on the right-hand side and will be marking up against Latrell Mitchell. Will Maguire opt for a team mate on team mate approach? Or will he put his more potent centre up against the inexperience of Trbojevic, albeit on the foreign side of the football field? If the 6 and the 7 are any indication, they may opt to have Marsters to defend alongside Nikorima just to give him that extra muscle against that Tedesco, Cordner, Mitchell & Keary combination.

There's a huge weight of expectations on the shoulder of Brandon Smith. With no recognised dummy half on the bench, Smith will have to pace himself for longer minutes, which for a dummy half with only one NRL starting game to his name, is an ominous task. Smith's campaign and how he handles the responsibility is going to be one of the bigger take-aways of the NZ-England series.

A couple of interesting selections in the Australia side. Mal and the selectors have enough concerns with Gagai's defence they're willing to shift Trbojevic to centres again just to cover it. Kaufusi over Frizell is a strange one. My interpretation is that since Frizell started off the bench in the World Cup final, Meninga rates his impact higher coming off the bench than Felise's. Either that or the pre-existing Kaufusi-DCE combination may have given Felise the edge. I don't buy into Felise being the better player, especially not on 2018 form.

McGuire over Trbojevic is a surprise. I'm going to presume it's a reward for winning the World Cup in 2017 and his experience. It also suggests the Kangaroos will play through the middle early in the contest and then look to play laterally as the game opens up. Hunt over Peachey suggests to me they're not 100% committed on Cook being the 9 and they're going to take some pressure off of him. He can run the football as much as he likes without having to worry about his stamina because the Kangaroos have Hunt there to take the edge off.

No surprise to see Campbell-Gillard left out. Reagan's form was not the same after he broke his jaw against the Roosters. Woods was incredibly disappointing as Klemmer's starting partner at Canterbury, but proved a revelation off the bench at Cronulla. His selection is well deserved and will ensure the Australians hold their own in the middle when Ah Mau & Taupau hit the field.

 

[Battler]

Niko and SJ looking really good interchanging between 7 and 6 in attack and not sitting on one side of the field.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

This test is a real barometer for where macguire sits in the broncos coach selection pecking order. A loss doesnt tell much due to the difference in the quality of the teams, but a win would make his stocks rise.. his tactics/specialty of big forwards game may suit us with our young forwards being by the bet in the game over the next 10 years if they live up to potential and stay togethet