{"id":950875,"date":"2026-11-03T08:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T08:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950875\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T08:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T08:56:09","slug":"reece-walsh-edges-out-tedesco-in-australias-rugby-league-world-cup-semi-final-team-rugby-league-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/950875\/","title":{"rendered":"Reece Walsh edges out Tedesco in Australia\u2019s Rugby League World Cup semi-final team | Rugby League World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reece Walsh and Kayln Ponga are on track to resume their compelling rivalry after two huge coach calls ahead of the Rugby League World Cup<\/a> semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Walsh on Tuesday retained the Australian No 1 jumper ahead of James Tedesco for the Kangaroos\u2019 semi-final against Samoa in Sydney on Sunday.<\/p>\n

And Ponga has been named on New Zealand\u2019s extended bench for Saturday night\u2019s do-or-die showdown with Tonga in Newcastle, just 22 days after breaking his forearm<\/a> in a dazzling full-back duel<\/a> with Walsh in the tournament opener<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While young gun Keono Kini will again start as custodian at McDonald Jones Stadium, Ponga\u2019s inclusion is a firm indication the Newcastle Knights superstar will return for the final should the Kiwis make it.<\/p>\n

Coach Stacey Jones also selected hooker Phoenix Crossland among the Kiwis\u2019 extended reserves as Australian Test coach Kevin Walters made the most significant move of his tenure by picking Walsh over Tedesco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s Kalyn Ponga trains before being named on the Kiwis\u2019 extended bench to meet Tonga in a Rugby League World Cup semi-final. Photograph: Matt Roberts\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The selection dilemma has bubbled along through Australia\u2019s three group-stage wins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tedesco entered the World Cup in exceptional form after helping the Sydney Roosters to the NRL premiership, while Walsh had spent the last two months on the sidelines with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

But Walsh \u2013 the star of last year\u2019s Ashes series \u2013 has done enough to win the backing of former Broncos coach Walters for the business end of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Walsh and Ponga were both electrifying in Australia\u2019s 24-22 win over New Zealand last month, before Walsh was man of the match with a hand in five tries in last Saturday\u2019s 66-6 rout of the Cook Islands.<\/p>\n

In other key Australian selections, Bradman Best has made the left centre spot his own by seeing off the challenge of South Sydney talisman Latrell Mitchell.<\/p>\n

Tedesco and Mitchell are both part of a six-man bench that includes Canberra\u2019s Ethan Strange and Cameron Murray for the likely Allianz Stadium sell-out.<\/p>\n

Tom Dearden and Cameron Munster will line up together in the halves.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSamoa were very impressive in a physical battle which had a lot of emotion last weekend against Tonga and we know we are in for a tough contest on Sunday night,\u201d Walters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great occasion in front of a full house at Allianz Stadium, and we\u2019ve got to meet the occasion with our best performance of the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samoa have made just one enforced change with Ronald Volkman replacing Chanel Harris-Tavita (hamstring) at five-eighth.<\/p>\n

In the other semi-final, Tonga are unchanged while Crossland remains an option to feature for the first time since his four-match suspension for his leg-breaking tackle on Nathan Cleary in the NRL preliminary final.<\/p>\n

The Newcastle hooker was officially elevated to New Zealand\u2019s squad on Monday night after forward Jacob Laban was ruled out with injury.<\/p>\n

Jones has named Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad on the wing as a result of Ronaldo Mulitalo\u2019s one-game ban for a shoulder charge against Fiji.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reece Walsh and Kayln Ponga are on track to resume their compelling rivalry after two huge coach calls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":950876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-950875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950875","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=950875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}