Mal Meninga, Australian Kangaroos coach explained in detail on The Rush Hour why he opted to leave Kalyn Ponga out of his national team squad for the upcoming Pacific Championships.
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Ponga took to social media to initially rule himself out of selection to focus on his off-season with Newcastle Knights, but after a lot of criticism he backflipped.
But regardless, Meninga opted to leave the Knights fullback out and on The Rush Hour explained exactly the reasons he and his selector made that decision.
“Our national program is very important to our game,” said Meninga.
“But when we looked at the team, positional stances, we thought Dylan Edwards was the best fullback.
“Kalyn can play 14 but I think we have better 14s that can play for Australia.
“It’s more around getting the balance right in the team.”
Meninga also went into detail about Mitchell Moses’ inclusion, Hudson Young replacing Liam Martin, making Isaah Yeo captain and waiting for revenge against New Zealand.