Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has confirmed there will mass changes for Australia’s next World Cup game against Scotland.
Meninga rested the squad’s Eels and Panthers players in his side’s first clash against Fiji, however the NRL immortal has revealed that they will be playing on Saturday.
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“Absolutely they’ll (the NRL Grand Finalists) be playing, I think there will be about seven of them that didn’t play on the weekend, they’ll all be playing against Scotland,” Meninga said on SENQ Breakfast.
“I’ll give them an opportunity to work together, obviously Ben Hunt started (at) nine but I’ll probably start Harry Grant this week and James Tedesco who’s the captain will start again.
“We’re trying out our spine, we had the Queensland spine plus Teddy last weekend, but we will try this combination this weekend and see how it goes.”
Meninga said he faced difficult decisions moving forward, in particular who starts at hooker after Harry Grant starred in the opener.
“It’s a good headache to have I must confess, we’ve got some really good players, 24 of them to be exact and they all want to play at the backend of the World Cup, with that in mind we’ll have a fairly committed Aussie side and we will have to make those tough decisions in a couple weeks’ time,” Meninga said.
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“Daley (Cherry-Evans) will get another opportunity, he won’t play this week, but certainly against Italy he will be there.
“If it keeps on going the way it is, Lebanon played really well against the Kiwis, you’d assume that they would come second in that group so we would play Lebanon in the quarter finals.
“I’d imagine by the quarter finals I would have to have most of the team sorted out, but I’m going to give everyone the best opportunity to be involved in the semi-finals.”
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Kangaroos star Cameron Munster has acknowledged the depth within the Australian side causing coach Mal Meninga a selection headache following their 42-8 victory over Fiji.
Munster linked up with Origin partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves with Panthers playmaker Nathan Cleary having a rest for Australia’s opening clash following a short turnaround from his premiership win.
Meninga now faces a tough decision for the Kangaroos’ upcoming game against Scotland whether to keep the halves partners as they are or inject Cleary in the match day squad.
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“Nathan Cleary hasn’t played yet and he’s been one of the best players in the (NRL) competition at the moment,” Munster told the AAP.
“We have got so many good players and it’s obviously a good headache for Mal to have.
“It’s great to be back playing with ‘Chez’ (Cerry-Evans) and obviously Harry Grant and Ben Hunt as well.
“We’ve got that morale and combination but all the positions are obviously up for grabs.”
While Cleary is yet to make his debut in the green and gold, Cherry-Evans is the most experienced member of the Australian squad.
The 33-year-old has been apart of two successful World Cup campaigns leading into this years tournament.
Australia will take on Scotland at Coventry Building Society Arena, Saturday morning at 5:30am AEDT.
