{"id":887646,"date":"2026-09-11T03:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887646\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T03:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:08:10","slug":"natural-fit-wallaroos-out-to-unlock-moleka-backline-with-centre-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887646\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Natural fit\u2019: Wallaroos out to unlock Moleka, backline with centre move"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-2425b0\">The Wallaroos are ready for the challenge of world champions England, backing playmaker Faitala Moleka to adapt to the midfield on Sunday (AEST).<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Moleka shifts to inside centre for the first time at Super or Test level for the WXV Global Series, partnering the returning Georgina Friedrichs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stan.com.au\/watch\/sport\/rugby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"css-tm001h\">Watch every second of the Wallaroos WXV Global Series live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">It allows Caitlyn Halse to return to the starting side at fullback, completing an all-NSW back-three with Desiree Miller and debutant Amelia Whitaker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">Moleka has been largely used at flyhalf or fullback in her 31 Test caps so far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">But Wallaroos assistant Mike Ruthven believes the dual-playmaker system with Waiaria Ellis can be a benefit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;You look at &#8216;Tala&#8217;s skill set, and she&#8217;s got that physical element to her game as well as the footwork, passing and kicking, so it&#8217;s a natural fit in a sense,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a bit of an evolution for her to see if we can get her in and around the footy a little more, looking at how we get our best players all on the field together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;I certainly think Tala&#8217;s got the skill set to adapt and be a real threat there at 12 and she&#8217;d done a great job through the week.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">The two teams faced off during last year&#8217;s World Cup, with the Aussies leading late in the first half before they were outclassed in Brighton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">It&#8217;s been close to four years since the Red Roses last lost a competitive game, dating back to the 2022 Rugby World Cup in England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;They&#8217;ve got a huge amount of experience right across the park They like to play an expansive style of footy so we&#8217;re going to have to be really good for 80 minutes\u00a0both sides of the footy,&#8221; Ruthven said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;We also see some real opportunity in and around\u00a0a few different elements of England&#8217;s game that we&#8217;ve focused on this week\u00a0and we&#8217;ve worked hard on during the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-2425b0\">&#8220;The emphasis certainly hasn&#8217;t been all around how good England are and what they bring.\u00a0We know what&#8217;s coming, but we think we&#8217;ve identified\u00a0a few things that we&#8217;ve been able to really target\u00a0and have a crack at.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wallaroos are ready for the challenge of world champions England, backing playmaker Faitala Moleka to adapt to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85,19259],"class_list":["post-887646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-wallaroos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887646","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=887646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}