Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nCoach Walters wouldn\u2019t confirm if one of the most high-profile debutants, Reece, Walsh will start at fullback in the opening game against England on October 26, after the Brisbane superstar capped off a stellar NRL season with five linebreak assists, three try assists, 12 tackle busts and a try against Melbourne to make quite the final push for selection ahead of incumbent Dylan Edwards.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019ll be a discussion I\u2019ll have with the selectors and the senior players. We\u2019ve got two great fullbacks,\u201d Walters said.<\/p>\n
The now defending premiers will be well represented in the squad with skipper Patrick Carrigan named along with breakout centre Gehamat Shibasaki, who enjoyed a career-best 2025 season which also included making his Queensland debut in the series decider. <\/p>\n
Walters said Shibasaki, who scored a double in Sunday\u2019s grand final, \u201cvirtually forced his way into the squad\u201d.<\/p>\n
Best man Tedesco out of Ashes tour | 00:36<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had one crack at it in the NRL and sort of lost his way a little bit, but he\u2019s got a second chance and he\u2019s made the most of it,\u201d the Kangaroos coach added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw him play outstanding football in the State of Origin series and then this run for the Broncos in the last six weeks, he\u2019s been one of their go-to players.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NRL\u2019s leading try-scorer Mark Nawaqanitawase was also rewarded for his strong form with selection despite announcing he will be returning to rugby union ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n
Walters said there was \u201cno concern\u201d in picking both Nawaqanitawase and Eels flyer Zac Lomax, who has been linked with an exit to the R360 competition, adding he had \u201cfull support of the commission\u201d.<\/p>\n
Walters revealed he has had \u201cseveral conversations\u201d with Lomax ahead of the tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t talk to him about the rugby stuff, it\u2019s more focused on the Kangaroos and making sure that he\u2019s fit and ready to go,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Broncos’ sheds ERUPT after comeback! | 13:55<\/p>\n
While there were plenty of success stories to come out of those selected for their Kangaroos debuts, it also meant there were a few big names to miss out with Walters singling out Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton as particularly unlucky to not be selected.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of guys I feel for, particularly Matt Burton was playing for Australia certainly in last year\u2019s series, but there was some guys this year that really jumped out of the ground, particularly through the Origin period, and then also in through the finals,\u201d Walters said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to reward loyalty but also reward form and this team has been picked on that form.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walters conceded there are more \u201ctough calls\u201d yet to be made as he trims the 24-player squad down to just 18 ahead of the first game against England at Wembley Stadium.<\/p>\n
KANGAROOS SQUAD<\/p>\n
Isaah Yeo (c \u2013 Panthers), Blayke Brailey (Sharks), Patrick Carrigan (Broncos), Nathan Cleary (Panthers), Lindsay Collins (Roosters), Reuben Cotter (Cowboys), Angus Crichton (Roosters), Tom Dearden (Cowboys), Dylan Edwards (Panthers), Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui (Titans), Harry Grant (Storm), Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs), Bradman Best (Knights), Josh Addo-Carr (Eels), Mitchell Moses (Eels), Cameron Munster (Storm), Mark Nawaqanitawase (Roosters), Jacob Preston (Bulldogs), Gehamat Shibasaki (Broncos), Lindsay Smith (Panthers), Kotoni Staggs (Broncos), Ethan Strange (Raiders), Reece Walsh (Broncos), Hudson Young (Raiders)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters has been forced into two changes to the 23-man squad he named on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-195030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}