The second week of the men’s Rugby League World Cup is almost here, with a few powerhouse teams resting stars as one eye turns towards the semi-finals.
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But the games will also serve as a valuable opportunity to test out new combinations as both the Kangaroos and Kiwis face big selection headaches.
Elsewhere, a Tonga star is thriving and it has sparked a welcome headache back at clubland while questions are being asked with England’s World Cup campaign already all but over.
Read on for foxsports.com.au’s talking points ahead of this week’s World Cup action.
VERDICT ON KEVVIE’S BIG KANGAROOS HEADACHE
Reece Walsh starred in the role during the opening game against New Zealand while James Tedesco will get his chance against Fiji to show why he should be the No. 1 when the knockout games come around.
This time last year, Walsh was coming off a premiership win and a Clive Churchill Medal performance in the grand final.
Fast forward 12 months and Tedesco has done the same, while Walsh battled form and injury concerns in a 2026 to forget.
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Former World Cup-winning fullback for New Zealand, Lance Hohaia, told Foxsports.com.au that Walsh is in front of Tedesco in the race for the No. 1 jersey come the semis.
“I think Kevvie goes with Reece Walsh. He’s a spectacular player isn’t he?” Hohaia said.
“I thought Reece Walsh did fantastic in the Ashes last year in England and he was the incumbent so I would say, as a traditionalist, and I think Kevvie feels the same way, you kind of give the incumbent the first right at the Test jersey.
“Teddy’s going to have a chance to get out there and play though.”
Walsh set Allianz Stadium alight last Thursday night with several highlight-reel plays in the 24-22 win over New Zealand.
The first was his fantastic cover-defending tackle of opposite fullback Kalyn Ponga.
He put the Kiwi into touch moments before he was set to score and Walsh looked to have taken it personally with all the talk of late being how Ponga was the game’s best fullback.
The moment of the match came in the 69th minute when Walsh brought the crowd to its feet as he bamboozled the Kiwi defenders to score a long-range try which left Hohaia on edge.
“He can just turn a game on its head in an instant and every time he got the ball we were just holding our breath hoping he wasn’t going to run the length of the field,” Hohaia said.
“Kevvie made a good selection choice there leaving Teddy out. I know that there was some debate around the fullback role for the Aussies but I’d say they’d be pretty happy with where they’re at.
“I would have gone with Walsh too. He brings real excitement, real X-factor and as we saw in the weekend he can win a match for you on his own.
“I know Teddy’s a fantastic player as well and based on the way that they were playing, it looks like Walsh is probably the best fit for that particular game.”
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Tedesco was rested after a gruelling finals campaign which ended in a premiership after he battled an ankle injury towards the back end of the season.
His club coach Trent Robinson also revealed he had a knee issue leading into the Grand Final win over Newcastle.
It didn’t stop him in the Grand Final however as he ran for more than 350m.
While it was understandable that Tedesco was given an extra week to get his body right, what will playing well against Fiji and the Cook Islands do?
Australia are expected to win both games with ease so even if he stars in them it won’t be as big of a statement as what Walsh made against the strong Kiwi side.
“If Teddy can get out there and perform as well it puts some pressure on team selection,” Hohaia said.
“Obviously Kevvie’s picked his best squad for the Kiwis’ game, I believe. The good thing about the way that the World Cup is, he’s probably going to be able to give other guys some time much like the Kiwis this weekend against the Cook Islands.
“Teddy’s definitely going to get some game time and then it’s up to him to get out there and perform like he did in the NRL season.”
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There’s also a strong argument that having Tedesco in the side if they meet the Kiwis again later in the tournament is more ideal.
That’s because the Aussie forwards were dominated in the middle by the likes of Moses Leota, James Fisher-Harris and Naufahu Whyte who ran riot.
If that happens again, Australia will need more metres from their back three.
This is where Tedesco comes right into play.
We know he’s going to take 20-plus yardage carries while Walsh is not that sort of player. He’s more about impact and big moments.
Walters will find it difficult to pick one over the other but will have to in a few weeks.
“I think Australia’s going to get better. I don’t think they played their best even though they won the game,” Hohaia said.
“I thought they looked a little rusty. I thought they looked better when Tommy Dearden came on at halfback.
“I think Tommy Dearden is a great player. I thought the team probably clicked into gear a bit more when he was on but we should have won the game.”
ENGLAND’S GLARING VOID
England’s hopes of progressing to the semi finals this World Cup took a major hit with a heavy 30-12 loss to Tonga, which led to criticism levied towards the Lions’ attack.
England could only manage 12 points in the clash with Tonga, a year after they scored just two tries across three Ashes games against Australia.
However, England legend James Graham believes most of the criticism around the Lions’ performance is unfair, even though he expected his former side to win their World Cup opener.
“I expected England to win that game, but I mean, I don’t really accept much of the criticism. “We can critique it, but in terms of the attitude that the players showed, their willingness to offload the football,” Graham said on The Bye Round podcast.
“Some of the criticism that came after the Ashes series, I thought it was unwarranted. You come up against Australia. Like this idea that these two nations are equal. Well, then in terms of rugby league, they’re not.
“I thought they tried really hard against Australia, but the attack was found wanting. Maybe that’s a personnel thing, maybe it’s a coaching thing. Sean Wane (former coach) was moved on.
“The English public wanted to see an improvement in attack. Well, look at the line break stats. They were breaking the line against Tonga. It was just that little bit of clinical finishing that was found wanting.
“They went with an attitude to offload the football. They weren’t going to die wondering and defend their way to victory. They actually had a crack England so I reject any sort of criticism thrown the way of the English team.”
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England have plenty of talent in their side, most notably centre Herbie Farnworth, half George Williams and fullback AJ Brimson.
The problem is, this is a team that lacks an enforcer.
Ex-Dragons coach Shane Flanagan believes it’s a fact that will keep England from challenging the top teams this tournament.
Flanagan also noted that Victor Radley’s length judiciary rap sheet means he probably isn’t playing with as much of an edge as he is capable of.
“I know it’s hard as England haven’t got one of these type of players. You haven’t got a James Graham, a Sam Burgess, an Adrian Morley in that team to go and out there and put a bit of fear into the opposition pack,” Flanagan said.
“I thought they were good and they carried the ball strong and they worked together, and as you said, they’ve got some quality offloads, but just at the moment, and you can’t ask Victor to do it because Victor’s trying to be good Victor at the moment.
“I just feel that, and it’s not one person on its own, but getting off the line and jumping into the Tongan or the Australian or the New Zealand side is something that they need to do because at the moment they just let the opposition play to a certain degree.”
England will aim to keep their finals hopes alive when they take on a France side coming off a 78-4 thumping at the hands of Samoa.
KIWI LEGEND’S WAKE-UP CALL… AND THE CHANGE THEY MUST MAKE
Let’s not beat around the bush – the Kiwis should have beaten Australia last week.
And they probably should’ve had a big lead by halftime after Australia scored their two tries from intercepts.
Had Jack Bostock and Tom Trbojevic not taken those intercepts New Zealand would have scored two tries.
Effectively those two plays were a 24-point turnaround.
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World Cup-winning fullback Lance Hohaia told foxsports.com.au that despite the dominant performance it counted for little.
“Despite being dominant and having a lot of good stuff go our way we lost the match and at the end of the day wins and losses is what he’s going to be judged on,” he said of coach Stacey Jones.
While the Kiwi pack won the battle in the middle of the field, Hohaia was critical of them, saying they need to be even better if they’re to turn the tables on Australia.
And in a word of warning, to the Aussies he thinks they are capable of being even more explosive.
“To be honest I thought the Kiwi pack probably didn’t fire as much as I was expecting it to,” Hohaia said.
“Some of those guys haven’t played as much over the last six or seven weeks and I know there’s another gear in there.
“I know that the boys can definitely play a little bit better than that in terms of getting those yardage metres.
“I expect the Kiwi pack to improve and keep pushing each other for those starting spots.
“I thought Moses Leota was probably our best prop on the day. I thought he looked really good. He is a quality player. James Fisher-Harris, he’s obviously right up there as well.
“Naufahu is nipping at his heels, (Xavier) Willison is a fantastic player and Erin Clark did a great job when he came on.”
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The other issue facing the Kiwis according to Hohaia is their attack out of dummy-half.
Jeremy Marshall-King had just four runs for 36m which wasn’t great considering he was playing behind a more dominant forward pack.
Do the Kiwis need more zip out of dummy-half, particularly at the back end of each half when fatigue really comes into the game.
Will Jones make changes to the side to make them more lethal in attack?
“I would have liked to maybe have seen (Kodi) Nikorima go to nine to give Te Maire Martin some time in the halves,” Hohaia said.
“Jeremy Marshall-King is a great little player but I thought Kodi could maybe just give us a little bit more spark around the ruck at the back end of the game.”
Martin has been in fine form for the Warriors in 2026 and was part of the six-man bench last week but didn’t get onto the field.
“I guess we’ll see what Stacey’s going to do whether he gives Te Maire a chance to start at six this week,” Hohaia said.
“I think he’s going to probably rotate his squad a little bit and give some guys some time this weekend.
“He’s watching them train every day and obviously he’s watched them play a lot through the NRL season so I think selections are always going to be debated and it doesn’t matter who he picks, somebody’s not going to like the team.
“I think he knows what he’s doing with the squad but selections are going to be key when picking guys in those key positions to really perform well.”
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. They’re going to focus on Cook Islands and getting better and making sure our combinations are solid.”
“They just need to extract all the good things out of that game and, use that to try and get better. I think it’s a winnable game for them on Sunday obviously versus the Cook Islands. So it gives them an opportunity to test a few combinations out.
IS NAVALE CREATING AWKWARD TRBOJEVIC DILEMMA?
Is Caleb Navale going to take the No. 13 jersey off Jake Trbojevic at Manly come Round 1 next year?
The Manly fan favourite had his future questioned by many while coached by Anthony Seibold, but since Kieran Foran took over he returned to his best form and even signed a one-year extension.
The Sea Eagles, however, may be turning an eye towards the future in 2027 and face a similar dilemma in the halves after Joey Walsh.
Navale, meanwhile, had battled injuries but his performance for Fiji against the Cook Islands last weekend may have given Foran some food for thought.
In the 40-12 win, he ran for 196m from 21 runs with a try, five tackle breaks and a line break
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Former NRL coach Shane Flanagan and ex-England Test forward James Graham debated just how much Foran and the Sea Eagles should read into that performance as they plan for 2027.
“Manly rate him highly. He did his ACL, he came back in like eight months. It was great work to come back,” Flanagan said.
“I’m sure Kieran Foran’s excited about having him in his squad. You need a lot of good forwards in your squad, and Manly haven’t got that. That’s one area they’re probably weak in.”
But will Navale’s World Cup form decide what role Trbojevic plays in his final year? Could it be off the bench?
Flanagan doesn’t think so at this stage.
“He (Navale) was there when I was at Manly (as an assistant coach). He’s a talented player, but Jake’s been around for a long period of time, and the leadership and the experience that he’s going to give to that whole football team is going to be valuable next year,” Flanagan said.
“They (selection headaches) are the nice things to have for a coach, to have someone like that, a young kid come through and show some form.”
While the 23-year-old lock, who has played 12 first grade games for Manly since 2024, looked outstanding on the weekend, is shining against the Cook Islands a case to say he should start over Trbojevic?
Graham doesn’t think so.
“I think for me, you’ve got to be very careful about how you judge some of the performances at international level. Respectfully speaking, Fiji v the Cook Islands, I’d be very careful about how I assess the (performance),” he said.
“It reminds me a bit of some of the hoo-ha that goes on around players during trials, and you’d be very, very careful. You see a player have a good half in a trial game.
“Kade Reed made a great impression in trials, and the noise comes. I don’t want to be disrespectful and say it’s like a trial, but you’ve got to be careful when assessing a performance of a Fiji or Cook Islands because there’s some players in that Cook Islands team that are not NRL standard players.
“So you make a judgment call that somebody stands out and plays well, even Manuleleua, he played lock against France and they’ve pumped them and he looked really good, but you can’t take that as evidence to go to Justin Holbrook and say, ‘I’ll tell you what, you’ve got a great lock on your hands here’… not based on that.”
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Veteran Trbojevic has been a rock in the middle, defensively, for Manly for a decade and has been an important cog in the side.
But modern-day locks need to be more than just good defenders in the middle.
They need some attacking flair, which Navale has, and he has more speed and power than the veteran.
Maybe a true guide to how good he is will be seen on Sunday when he lines up against the might of Australia at Suncorp Stadium.
Carve up the Aussies and he might just get Foran thinking.
“Be careful how we judge these performances when you’ve got some nations that are clearly under-resourced in terms of player power,” Graham said.