Munster has first attempt at No.6 jersey
MICHAEL CARAYANNIS CAMERON Munster will get the first shot at the vacant No.6 Australian jersey after Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga opted to rest a host of big names for his side’s only preWorld Cup hitout today.
Storm premiership winners Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Will Chambers, along with North Queensland finals hero Michael Morgan, have been rested from the three-way exhibition match against Fiji and PNG in Suva. The rest of the 24-man squad will play.
Munster will start in the halves alongside James Maloney with Meninga declaring the race to partner Cooper Cronk and the outside back spots the most wide open.
“The six position and our outside backs,” Meninga said of the spots most up for grabs.
“Who plays centre and who plays wing. Billy, Cooper and Smithy are fairly secure in their positions.”
Josh Mansour and Dane Gagai will start on the wing with Josh Dugan and Tom Trbojevic at centre.
Valentine Holmes will start at fullback in place of Slater while Ben Hunt will wear the No.9 jersey.
Meninga said Wade Gra- ham and Josh McGuire will also spend time at dummy half.
The Kangaroos will use 19 players during their two 40 minute matches against PNG and Fiji.
The likes of Jordan McLean, Regan Campbell-Gillard, Tom Trbojevic and Felise Kaufisi will wear the Australian jersey for the first time.
“We’ll treat it like a normal game,” Meninga said. “We have a starting team and a bench.
It’s unlimited (interchange). We’re still playing 80 minutes of rugby league.
“We’ll swap the players around. We will see how the game and their fitness goes and how they handle the conditions. There might be storms. It could be humid. Everyone will get a fair chop on the game minutes-wise.”
Australia play PNG first before finishing with Fiji.