Mal Meninga has dumped a number of veterans and overlooked Kalyn Ponga despite his backflip.
Nathan Cleary has confirmed reports he’ll need immediate surgery on his injured shoulder and miss the Pacific Championship Test matches for Australia, with Mal Meninga naming a massively-overhauled squad on Monday. James Tedesco, Daly Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic have all been axed, while Cleary and Cameron Munster are out due to injuries, and Kalyn Ponga has been overlooked.
Tedesco is the biggest shock considering his wonderful season for the Roosters, in which he finished second in Dally M voting. But Meninga is keen for change after Australia’s embarrassing loss to New Zealand in the final last year.
Panthers star Dylan Edwards will be the new fullback, while Ponga has been overlooked despite backflipping on his decision to withdraw from contention. Mitchell Moses appears destined to be the halfback in the absence of Cleary and Cherry-Evans, while Tom Dearden will likely be the starting No.6.
Meninga announced on Monday that Isaah Yeo will be the new captain after leading the Panthers to a fourth-straight premiership on Sunday night. There are eight uncapped players in Meninga’s side, including Parramatta halfback Moses, Melbourne winger Xavier Coates and Penrith forward Lindsay Smith.
“It was a difficult conversation,” Meninga said about Tedesco being dropped. “It’s a bit of an evolution for the team on the back of what happened in the Pacific Championships last year.
“With that in the back of our minds (we made the call to drop him). Origin was really important for discussion across the selection table and form into the finals as well. It was a difficult conversation, but bear in mind that Teddy played Game 1 for the NSW Blues, and then Games 2 and 3 Dylan was the fullback. We chose based on Origin form.”
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 (c).
Nathan Cleary out of Kangaroos Tests due to shoulder
Cleary played through the pain of a shoulder issue to help Penrith win a fourth-consecutive premiership on Sunday night, after dislocating it seven weeks ago. He suffered the injury against the Storm in Round 24, and missed the final three games of the regular season to get it back to a place where he could still play in the NRL finals. He did just that, but suffered a small setback in the preliminary final against Cronulla last weekend.
But that wasn’t going to stop Cleary playing in the NRL grand final, and he revealed after the game that he’ll now head off for surgery. Kangaroos coach Meninga had named Cleary in his preliminary squad for the end-of-season Test matches, but there had been rumours for weeks he wouldn’t be able to play.
And he confirmed the rumours on Sunday night, meaning he’ll miss the Pacific Championships for the second year running. Last year he wasn’t available due to a knee injury he suffered in the Panthers’ win over the Broncos in the grand final.
“I’m not going to go into full details (of what I’ve been through), but it’s been a frustrating year,” Cleary said on Sunday night in regards to his injury-plagued season. “It was tough and it was annoying, but I had to work hard to get back.
“Seeing the boys go out there every week, I wanted to repay them. The only way I could do that was to work as hard as I could around the clock so I could be here. I said to mum that I’ve got to play three games, and that’d be it. I knew if I worked hard that I could get back for those three games and be sweet. It worked out.”
James Tedesco and Daly Cherry-Evans axed
Reports emerged later on Monday that incumbent fullback and captain Tedesco would be axed from Meninga’s Kangaroos squad, and that was later confirmed. Tedesco and Cherry-Evans had brilliant seasons for the Roosters and Sea Eagles respectively, but Meninga has conducted a changing of the guard.
On Monday, Munster was cleared of biting in the grand final after Paul Alamoti chose not to take the matter further. However Munster won’t be available for the Kangaroos either due to needing hip and groin surgery.
The Match Review Committee found insufficient evidence to charge him, and he escaped punishment. Munster is also in need of surgery on his groin and hips in the off-season, but previously revealed he’d play for the Kangaroos if Meninga called on him to do so.
Ponga made himself available after backflipping on his decision to withdraw from contention, but has now been overlooked. Tom Trbojevic is also fit to play despite a shoulder injury of his own. The Kangaroos will play Tonga on October 18 and New Zealand on October 27, and will be desperate for revenge after a shock loss to the Kiwis in last year’s final.
