Cordner gets go at skipper

MICHAEL CARAYANNIS JUST 12 months ago Boyd Cordner was not even the captain of his club side. But in Fiji today, he will lead out the Australian Kangaroos side for the first time after replacing Cameron Smith as skipper.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has endorsed Cordner as Australia’s next long-term skipper after Smith was rested from the three-way hit-out against PNG and Fiji in a World Cup warm-up fixture in Suva.

While it is not a Test match, Meninga has declared Cordner as Australia’s captain-in-waiting.

“I see him as the next Kangaroos captain,” Meninga said.

“He has bought into the way the Kangaroos want to play. He is a player that will get picked every time the Kangaroos play.

“Greg Inglis isn’t here but I see those two guys fighting it out for the next spot to lead the Kangaroos once Cameron makes that decision. “It is a great honour. “He will do a terrific job. He is a great communicator. He is an ideal candidate to take over from Cameron.”

At just 25, Cordner is no stranger to being thrust into pressure situations at a young age after leading NSW for the first time this year.

While he may have to bide his time to become an official Kangaroos skipper – given Smith’s reluctance to miss Test matches – Cordner does want to skipper his country.

He has been appointed vice-captain of the Kangaroos for the World Cup.

“I don’t want to go off and say it but it’s a goal but it’s a long way down the track,” Cordner said.

“It’s a massive honour (to be given the vice-captaincy). Although there are a lot of people in this team that it could have well and truly went to, just to see my name when it was read out and had the vice-captaincy next to it was a big honour.”

Cordner helped resurrect the Roosters into a genuine premiership threat while balancing the pressure-cooker of Origin captaincy for the first time.

The Origin series itself presented a massive “learning curve” for Cordner, who was surprised by the emotional toll of leading his state.

“I got told to be careful but after game one and the big difference after game two,” Cordner said.

“Dealing with that side of things was a massive change.

“I couldn’t have dreamt of being a captain of my state,” Cordner said.

“It meant the world to me. “