Sport Confidential: Scotland bans players from wearing undies

SPORT CONFIDENTIAL: Scottish players are being fined £50 for wearing undies underneath their kilt and there are sweeping changes for the Kangaroos under Mal Meninga.

Scottish players could be fined for wearing undies underneath their kilts.

THERE is talk around the traps at the Four Nations that Scottish players are fined £50 if they wear undies underneath their kilt during the tournament.

The traditional Scottish attire is part of the team’s official uniform, and the players sported the look as they left the ground following their loss to Australia.

We didn’t look for confirmation and we aren’t sure who would enforce the rule.

Scottish players could be fined for wearing undies underneath their kilts.

SWEEPING CHANGES UNDER MAL

AFTER watching their teammates put the cleaners through Scotland, the likes of Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis were left to sweep up the mess.

The million-dollar superstars were given brooms to clean up the Kangaroos’ dressing room following their match in Hull.

It is a move directly out of the All Blacks playbook and has been incorporated by Kangaroos coach Mal ­Meninga on this tour.

They were joined by some of the other non-playing squad members, including Matt Gillett.

“It was something we talked about at the start of the tour, being a Kangaroo on and off the field,” ­Gillett said.

“It’s just part of what we do. From the top down it was talked about in the team meeting. If you’re not playing you want to help out the team any way you can.

“That was just one little thing a few of us were doing who weren’t playing in the game against Scotland. It’s part of who we are as a Kangaroo.”

Gillett said cleaning was not foreign to him.

“I do a little bit here and there at home,” he said. “Outside, mostly sweeping out the dog hair.”

Four Nations Podcast: Michael Carayannis talks to Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga about the fallout of Josh Mansour’s tour-ending knee injury:

BLOW: Mansour goes from ecstasy to agony

FUTURE: JT’S final goal before signing off

Australian Rugby League Kangaroos players sweeping up their own change rooms after the Scotland test.

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SPOTTED spending time with the Kangaroos were Hull-based former NRL players Albert Kelly and Fetuli Talanoa during Australia’s stay in Hull. Kelly has been linked with a move to Hull FC after a messy split with Hull KR.

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MICHAEL Morgan cleaned up during the Kangaroos’ Melbourne Cup sweepstakes.

Players were assigned horses based on their squad numbers. David Klemmer was second and Josh Dugan third. Aaron Woods’ horse finished last.

HUGE THRILL FOR ROOKIE ROOS

KANGAROO debutants were presented with their first Test jerseys by their club teammates in the lead-up to the game against Scotland last week.

This meant, one-Test winger Valentine Holmes gave Cronulla teammate James Maloney his first Test jumper while Jake Friend was given his by Boyd Cordner.

Boyd Cordner presents Jake Friend his Kangaroos jersey.

“I was a bit embarrassed when I was told,” Cordner said. “You see some of the jersey presentations, they bring in greats of the game. They wanted to have someone from every club to present their teammate with a jersey, once I heard that I was excited.”

Matt Scott was on hand to deliver Justin O’Neill his jersey, while Trent Merrin gave Penrith skipper Matt Moylan his Kangaroos jumper. In the absence of any Manly teammates, Roos assistant coach Trevor Gillmeister handed Jake Trbojevic his jersey.

Four Nations Podcast: Michael Carayannis talks to Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga about the fallout of Josh Mansour’s tour-ending knee injury:

LONDON CALLING

AUSTRALIAN players enjoyed a couple of days off this week. A large contingent — including Boyd Cordner, Aaron Woods, David Klemmer(above),Josh Dugan, James Maloney, Matt Moylan and Blake Ferguson made the three-hour journey from their St George’s Park training base to London to watch an NFL game between Washington and Cincinnati. Jake Friend visited former Rooster Tom Symonds in Huddersfield, while others hit the racetrack for a few hot laps. Jake Trbojevic did some travelling with his parents.

Boyd Cordner, Aaron Woods and David Klemmer at an NFL game in London.

THANKS FOR GOING NOWHERE

CRONULLA can thank Daly Cherry-Evans for helping deliver the club’s first premiership. Cronulla rolled out the red carpet in an attempt to entice Cherry-Evans to the Sutherland Shire.

And when Cherry-Evans eventually decided upon the Titans, Manly knew they needed to make a dent in the player market and identified James Maloney as their No. 1 target.

DCE ended up staying at Manly and Maloney joined Cronulla but it could have been so different had Cherry-Evans signed with Cronulla or stayed true to the Titans.

“I knew Baz from Country,” Maloney said of Manly coach Trent Barrett.

“I had a couple of chats with him and he told me if they didn’t have Daly, they wanted me.

“Cronulla were my first choice. I had some questions marks about (Manly’s roster) and who they’d bring in.

“As soon as I knew I couldn’t stay at the Roosters, I knew (Cronulla) was where I wanted to be.”

Originally published as Sport Confidential: Scotland bans players from wearing undies