Mal Meninga: Kangaroos won’t make wholesale changes ahead of Kiwi grudge match

The Kangaroos kicked off their international redemption quest with a gritty win against Tonga, but coach Mal Meninga refused to guarantee any changes in what is already a new-look team.

Mal Meninga has refused to guarantee Kangaroos debuts for Australia’s entire Pacific Championships squad ahead of next week’s grudge match with the Kiwis.

The Kangaroos kicked off their redemption quest with a gritty 18-0 win against Tonga at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Australia will now head across the ditch to begin preparations for next Sunday’s clash with New Zealand in Christchurch.

The last time the trans-Tasman rivals clashed, the Kiwis recorded a thumping 30-0 victory to win the inaugural Pacific Championships tournament.

Meninga fielded a new-look Kangaroos team against Tonga, blooding six debutants and an entirely fresh playmaking spine.

That resulted in a somewhat scrappy performance with the ball despite a resolute defensive effort to keep Tonga scoreless.

The Kangaroos must beat the Kiwis to guarantee a spot in the tournament final and Meninga is unlikely to make wholesale changes to the 17 as he looks to build continuity and combinations.

That means uncapped squad members Lindsay Smith, Reece Robson and Bradman Best are no certainty to earn a Kangaroos jersey against the Kiwis while Ben Hunt was 18th man in Brisbane.

“We’ll make some decisions over the next few days,” Meninga said when asked if he would change his team.

“When we talk about the team, it’s such a new team.

“Being together for the first time, we’ll give some serious consideration around playing them again and having a bit of continuity in our footy team.

“It’s a possibility (some won’t play this series).

“We’ll see how everyone pulls up from this game.

“The guys who missed out have been training really well and terrific around camp.

“We’ll make those tough decisions at a later date.”

Meninga is unlikely to tinker with his spine which included debutant halves Tom Dearden and Mitchell Moses.

Hooker Harry Grant took an unplanned break in his first hitout since Melbourne’s grand final loss and Meninga could look to change his dummy-half strategy given Hunt and Robson are in the squad.

“Harry is fine, it was a bit of huffing and puffing,” Meninga said.

“It’s only been 10 days since the grand final. It’s tough on the players.

“We’ve got some tough decisions to make.”

Harry Grant took an unplanned break during the game. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The win against Tonga ensured the Kangaroos didn’t lose back-to-back Tests for the first time since 2014-15.

They now return to New Zealand looking to avenge last year’s thrashing, but Meninga urged the Kangaroos not to get too emotional about the return bout.

“We’ll try not to,” he said.

“You can get too carried away. Emotion is a good thing but it’s got to be controlled.

“We’ve addressed it. We’ve got a good result (against Tonga). Defence is about attitude so I’m really happy with that.

“We’ll move on and try to play better footy.”

Originally published as Mal Meninga: Kangaroos won’t make wholesale changes ahead of Kiwi grudge match