{"id":940357,"date":"2026-10-25T12:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940357\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T12:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:02:15","slug":"rugby-league-world-cup-2026-kangaroos-survive-scare-vs-fiji-selection-dilemmas-emerge-over-fullback-halves-pairing-reeve-walsh-or-james-tedesco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940357\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby League World Cup 2026: Kangaroos survive scare vs Fiji, selection dilemmas emerge over fullback, halves pairing, Reeve Walsh or James Tedesco"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kangaroos have defeated Fiji 36-22 to make it two wins from two games at the Rugby League World Cup. <\/p>\n

Fiji\u2019s forward pack imposed themselves on the contest and it looked like an upset was brewing when they took the lead before Australia pulled away in the second half. <\/p>\n

Tom Trbojevic scored a hat-trick as did his opposite winger Semi Valemei, while Fijian five-eighth Kurt Donoghue was named man of the match. <\/p>\n

Australia have now guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals, where they will likely face Tonga or Samoa, following next weekend\u2019s final pool game against Cook Islands.<\/p>\n

It was far from an emphatic performance by the Kangaroos, who will need to improve to beat Tonga and New Zealand in potential knockout match-ups to win the World Cup. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the forward pack plays like that, they won\u2019t be in the game. Tonga and Samoa will absolutely streamroll them,\u201d Luke Keary said on Channel 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Australian forward pack has to create more damage,\u201d Trent Robinson said.<\/p>\n

Kevin Walters made several changes to the team that defeated the Kiwis in the tournament opener as he shuffled his squad. <\/p>\n

Reece Walsh was rested and James Tedesco impressed with three try assists to give the Kangaroos coach a headache over who should play in the No. 1 jersey. <\/p>\n

Sam Walker was solid on his Australian debut and is the favourite to partner Cameron Munster in the halves for the rest of the tournament. <\/p>\n

Catch up on the action below.<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Not good enough\u2019: Kangaroos survive Fiji scare, selection headaches emerge<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kangaroos have defeated Fiji 36-22 to make it two wins from two games at the Rugby League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[507333,507330,507326,384367,507324,404950,507323,434129,64,507322,63,41407,507313,3739,507332,507321,507320,1644,507316,507327,507318,4415,3195,56527,11554,503196,761,762,381313,158,507325,507315,13391,4478,51343,457883,507319,85,380137,507328,377455,382471,398748,74713,395523,11637,507329,489817,377191,380148,426708,378229,388317,380344,507331,315971,359749,498260,72503,380494,4535,507314,504740,507317,4737,404600,387423,22333],"class_list":["post-940357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-final-pool-game","tag-s-forward-pack","tag-a-big-scare","tag-a-hat-trick","tag-a-headache","tag-a-spot","tag-an-emphatic-performance","tag-an-upset","tag-au","tag-aussies-world-cup","tag-australia","tag-channel-7","tag-cook-islands-it","tag-fiji","tag-fiji-36-22","tag-fiji-scare","tag-fijian-five-eighth-kurt-donoghue","tag-good","tag-his-australian-debut","tag-his-opposite-winger-semi-valemei","tag-his-squad","tag-james-tedesco","tag-kangaroos","tag-luke-keary","tag-man","tag-more-damage","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-next-weekend","tag-nrl","tag-partner-cameron-munster","tag-potential-knockout-match-ups","tag-reece-walsh","tag-sam-walker","tag-selection-headaches","tag-several-changes","tag-several-tricky-selection-dilemmas","tag-sports","tag-the-action","tag-the-australian-forward-pack","tag-the-contest","tag-the-favourite","tag-the-forward-pack","tag-the-game","tag-the-halves","tag-the-kangaroos","tag-the-kangaroos-coach","tag-the-kiwis","tag-the-lead","tag-the-match","tag-the-no-1-jersey","tag-the-rest","tag-the-rugby-league-world-cup","tag-the-second-half","tag-the-semi-finals","tag-the-team","tag-the-tournament","tag-the-tournament-opener","tag-the-world-cup","tag-three-try-assists","tag-tom-trbojevic","tag-tonga-and-new-zealand","tag-tonga-and-samoa","tag-tonga-or-samoa","tag-trent-robinson","tag-two-games","tag-two-wins","tag-walters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940357","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=940357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}