Rugby League 2024, Pacific Championship news, Australian Kangaroos’ Mal Meninga changes ahead of New Zealand game

Kangaroos coach Mel Meninga has no plans to shake his spine despite a “clumsy” start to the Pacific Championship.

Australia beat Tonga 18-0 on Friday night but scored only three tries, one of which was a long-range strike from Tom Trbojevic’s interception.

Spectators were dismayed that Australia’s star-studded line-up could only score two other tries, especially after the Jillaroes crossed the line 17 times in an 84-0 rout of Papua New Guinea.

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The revamped spines of Dylan Edwards, Tom Dearden, Mitchell Moses and Harry Grant have struggled to replicate their individual NRL and Origin form this year.

Meninga explained that the team only had two full practices before the game, and preparation was hampered when Moses left camp due to the birth of his second child.

“We were clumsy, so obviously we need to think about cohesion, we need to make sure the team is ready for the second game,” he said. SEN Breakfast with Vossi and Brandy.

“Attracting new players can be fraught with danger.

“My thoughts at the moment are to maintain cohesion and keep the team together.

“We can’t change our spine, that’s the important part.

“I’m very pleased with the attitude, happy with the intentions. We’ve focused on our defense and now we can move forward.”

Watch the 2024 Pacific Championships on Nine and 9Now.

“We have 10 days of preparation for the New Zealand game, so the focus will be on how we play attacking football.”

Ben Hunt (half-back or hooker), Rhys Robson (hooker) and Matt Burton (five-eighth) are key Kangaroos players to add to the squad.

Unfortunately for them, it looks like they will have to warm up the bench again ahead of the second game against New Zealand on Sunday.

Meninga did not rule out changes to other parts of the team before the trip to Christchurch.

Players such as Bradman Best (centre), Liam Martin (back) and Lindsay Smith (forward) were not used in the first game.

“It’s hard to manage… a new football team, you have two games in a row, which is great, and then you have a trade that makes it a little more difficult,” Meninga said.

“And they have to leave the camp (after the second game), we can’t keep them in the camp… so you have preparation for the final and we haven’t even reached the final yet.” .

“We need a good game on Sunday… to make sure we play in the final.

“We have discussed (the team), obviously we need to announce the team this (Tuesday) afternoon, but that doesn’t mean it will be the final team.

“In my heart I think we should probably pick the same football team.”

Meninga confirmed he spoke to the Kangaroos about last year’s horrific 30-0 Pacific Championship defeat at the hands of the New Zealanders.

“We figured it out early, we talked about who we are as a team and built that mindset before you even start talking about football,” he said.