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.
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 while Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo was named as captain with Melbourne hooker Harry Grant appointed as vice-captain.
“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.
“When you look at your 21(man 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.”
As well as leaving Trbojevic, Cherry-Evans and Tedesco out of his side, Meninga was unable to call on Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster as the pair prepare for off-season surgery.
Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga was left out of Meninga’s squad after the saga surrounding his commitment dominated the build-up to Kangaroos selection.
Ponga ruled himself out of contention because he said he wanted to prioritise club football with the Knights.
He was then forced to backflip because of the NRL’s contractual obligations that state players must turn out in representative matches unless they are injured.
“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 October 27.
AUSTRALIA 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).
*Denotes uncapped
