Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos vulnerable thanks to lack of depth in some positions

PHIL Gould’s view on regenerating the Kangaroos would be a good one if not for a problem Australian rugby league faces, writes PAUL MALONE.

Greg Inglis celebrates a try for the Kangaroos against New Zealand. Picture: Gregg Porteous

PHIL Gould’s view on regenerating the Australian Test team would be a good one if our league player pool was deeper than it is.

Two injuries in the wrong position will make Mal Meninga’s Australian side vulnerable in the end-of-year Four Nations series and the 2017 World Cup.

Josh Mansour, Dylan Walker, Sione Mata’Utai and Josh Jackson became Test players in late 2014 when better, more experienced players went in for end-of-season surgeries.

Billy Slater, Matt Scott, both Morris brothers and Darius Boyd were among those unavailable who had played in the May 2014 win over New Zealand.

Two years later, depth remains thin in some positions.

To borrow a line from Tommy Raudonikis, the cattle just isn’t there, especially in the outside backs.

Ride a time machine to October 2017, when the World Cup starts, and which of the veteran Australian players in Friday night’s winning team will not be the best in his position?

Johnathan Thurston, who says he plans to retire from representative football after 2017, will be 34; Cam Smith and Cooper Cronk 33, Corey Parker 35, Matt Scott 31 and Greg Inglis 30.

Name one player in the positions of these men who you think will be better in October 2017.

One factor in Australian Test selections, as Gould alluded to, is the effect of the NRL’s growing percentage of Polynesian heritage players.

It stood at 37 per cent when the last survey was done.

Some of these players throw their lot in with Australian or New Zealand representative football because they really want to play for their country of residence. The extra income of representative football will help some make their mind up.

Meninga will continue to impress on Polynesian players in the Australian side the importance of living up to the traditions of past green and gold teams.

That’s what he did so well with a decade worth of Queensland youngsters.

Judging by how effective he was with the Queensland Origin culture, he will make a difference to Australian Test results too.

It might be partly that opposing defences are better now, but I don’t see the range of attacking skills in the majority of outside backs in representative teams that there once was. Apart from Greg Inglis, with his 17 Origin tries and 28 Test tries, of course.

The first Kangaroo team I was fortunate enough to tour with, in 1986, had a three-quarterline of Michael O’Connor, Gene Miles, Brett Kenny and Dale Shearer.

Meninga had to be content on that tour on playing two Ashes Tests off the bench and one as a second-rower.

Players like Mansour and Walker might be able to forge successful careers but they are not in the same suburb compared to those five footballers.

Many NRL wingers, trained for tasks specific to their position, are wizards at controlling the ball when trying to ground it near the corner posts and jumping jacks when it comes to hauling down bombs.

Whether a range of skills is coached or encouraged if something for NRL development bosses to consider.

Originally published as Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos vulnerable thanks to lack of depth in some positions