ST HELENS, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 29: Nathan Cleary of Australia kicks a conversion during Rugby League World Cup 2021 Pool B match between Australia and Italy at Totally Wicked Stadium on October 29, 2022 in St Helens, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga is likely to make changes to his team for Australia’s semi-final clash with New Zealand, but it looks like the constant speculation over what shape the halves will take may finally be over.
Meninga confirmed that he was inclined to ‘pick and stick’ the starting 13 that made light work of Lebanon in the quarter-finals, although there may be changes in store for the bench rotation.
“We’re obviously going to be tested defensively this week,” Meninga told SEN.
“We lacked a bit of composure (against Lebanon). If we want to win the World Cup we’ve got to grind and get a good victory out.
“We’ll pick and stick. We’ve got a couple of things we want to look at from our bench point of view. I’m pretty comfortable with our starting 13 I think that works really well.
“We’ve got Reagan Campbell-Gillard perhaps to come back into the 13 – and Ben Hunt’s back this week because we rested him.
“Maybe we go for an all-forwards bench this week to counteract the big forwards and quality of the New Zealand pack.”
Though unconfirmed, it’s widely believed that Hunt will take the place of Daly Cherry-Evans on the bench after Meninga experimented with his options during the quarter-final win.
“It’s no secret that they work well together, Ben (Hunt) and Harry (Grant). They did really well at Origin level and they’ve done really well in the first couple of games together.
“They’re fit and raring to go. At this stage I would think both are going to play.”
Source:: ZeroTackle
