Australia coach Kevin Walters has hinted he may rotate his side for next Saturday’s final Ashes Test after the Kangaroos wrapped up a series victory with a game to spare.
The world champions made it 2-0 with a hard-fought victory against England on Saturday in Everton, with the Kangaroos winning 14-4.
It means they have the luxury of potentially resting key players going into next weekend’s last game at Headingley, given how Walters still has a handful of players yet to taste action on the tour.
They include long-term Kangaroos number one Dylan Edwards, who could come in for Reece Walsh. Mitchell Moses is another who could return to the green and gold while the likes of Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey, Jacob Preston and Canberra star Ethan Strange – who was eligible for England – could now all make their debuts in Leeds.
Walters admitted that was a tempting prospect to reward those who have had to be patient during the first two games of the series. He said: “We’ll just enjoy today first and worry about that next week. We’ve wrapped the series up. Very happy with our defence today.
“It would be nice to reward some guys. It’s been a great connection amongst the whole group – particularly with our training and preparation. Part of that is the [squad] guys we’ve been training against have been very, very good.”
However, Walters may well be under pressure to send an emphatic message to powerbrokers back home about keeping the job for next year’s World Cup on home soil.
There has been speculation that only a 3-0 whitewash win would keep Walters in the job next year, and wholesale changes runs the risk of potentially only winning the series 2-1.
However, it remains to be seen what Walters and Australia will do at Headingley with the series already safely secured.
