Australia’s Head Coach Mal Meninga has named his team to take on Tonga in the final of the Pacific Championships at CommBank Stadium this Sunday afternoon (November 10).
Coach Meninga has named forward Linday Smith to debut as Kangaroo #858.
The Panthers premiership-winning prop will come off the bench with Raiders backrower Hudson Young to move into the starting team for the injured Cameron Murray.
The Kangaroos have won their two Pacific Championships matches this tournament to progress to the final against an impressive Tonga team who defeated reigning champions New Zealand last week.
Meninga said Young and Smith would represent their country with pride.
“We have a very similar team to last week but Cam Murray is unfortunately hurt so we have Hudson Young into the staring team and Lindsay Smith debuting on the bench.
“I’ve been watching Lindsay for some time now and he’s had a tremendous couple of years with the Panthers and knows how to win.
“Hudson deserves his opportunity and is a real student of the game who loves footy and playing for his country.
“Our whole squad has been exceptional all tournament and we are ready for a great challenge and 80 minutes of hard footy on Sunday.”
The squad is as follows:
Dylan Edwards
Xavier Coates
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
Tom Trbojevic
Zac Lomax
Tom Dearden
Mitch Moses
Patrick Carrigan
Harry Grant
Lindsay Collins
Angus Crichton
Hudson Young
Isaah Yeo (c)
Matt Burton
Mitch Barnett
Reuben Cotter
Lindsay Smith
Ben Hunt
Bradman Best
