Australia vs New Zealand - Four Nations

Kangaroos Name Three Debutants For Showdown With New Zealand
By Andrew Webster
October 22, 2009

Brett Morris started the season in reserve grade. Ben Hannant was the new kid at a new club. And as for Brett White, he didn't know if he would play football again.
Yet, those dark and uncertain days seem an eternity away after the trio received the game's ultimate reward - Test selection for Australia.

They are the new faces in a revamped side for the opening Test match of the Four Nations tournament against New Zealand at The Stoop, Twickenham, on Saturday.

Hannant will start at prop, Morris will partner Jarryd Hayne on the wings and White has found his way on to the bench.

The other notable selections are Storm forward Ryan Hoffman and Penrith's Trent Waterhouse forming a new back-row combination with Manly dynamo Anthony Watmough ahead of Cronulla's Paul Gallen, who has been pushed on to the bench.

White's blazing finish to the year, which ended in a premiership with the Storm and selection in the Kangaroos' 24-man squad that forced his wedding to fiancee Cassie Adland to be rescheduled, just keeps on going after he was named as an interchange player.

It's timely to remember that he missed the first six rounds of the competition after he underwent agonising surgery on both big toes for his arthritis.

"I truly had doubts whether I would be playing footy again," White said.

"I certainly had my own demons in my head telling me I might not get back on the field. I was supposed to be back to 100 per cent but I couldn't even walk in runners, let alone run.

"But I kept working through it. Things started slow, but it's finishing really good for me. A premiership ... and now I'm here in London."

You bet he is. So is Morris.

He played the first two matches of the season in Premier League, has never played senior rep footy and was gifted a call-up to this squad when Israel Folau pulled out through injury. Now he's about to wear the green and gold.

"And before my brother," he said of his twin brother Josh, who was pushing him for the wing position.

"He was very excited, but he's a little bit pissed off that I'll make my debut before him. He made his Origin debut before me. So I've trumped him. But being family, he's very proud of me.

"If you had told me that I would be playing for Australia this year, I would've said you were an idiot and walked away.

"Mate, it's been a fair ride this year."

Then there's Hannant, who took the bold step of leaving the warm bosom of the Brisbane Broncos to join last year's wooden spooners the Bulldogs.

The non-drinking, non-swearing Mormon who doesn't so much break the mould of the typical front-rower but snaps it over his huge thigh.

Like White, Hannant had to make sacrifices to be here. He had to part with his family of wife Emma and three young children. His baby daughter, Mia, is only a month old.

"Being selected has a lot to do with the off-field stuff," he said.

"I'm very happy at home, I've got a great family. All you hope for as a player is your opportunity - I'm not going to let this position go."

Kangaroos 17-man line-up

Billy Slater; Brett Morris; Greg Inglis; Justin Hodges; Jarryd Hayne; Darren Lockyer; Johnathan Thurston; Ben Hannant; Cameron Smith; Petero Civoniceva; Anthony Watmough; Trent Waterhouse; Ryan Hoffman;

Interchange: Brett White; Sam Thaiday; Paul Gallen; Kurt Gidley

Sunday, October 25

05.50 am Four Nations Australia v NZ Channel 9 - AEST
09:00 am Four Nations Australia v NZ FS3
12:30 pm Four Nations Australia v NZ SP2

Monday, October 26

04:30 pm Four Nations Australia v NZ FS1

Tuesday, October 27

07:00 pm Four Nations Australia v NZ FS3
08:30 pm Chooseday Night Football FS3

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**** off Hoffman for Gallen and put Hindy on the bench in his place and it's actually a pretty ****ing good lineup. Oh and Brett White gone also obv. kurt gidley ---> Aids also.

Its actually pretty shit isn't it.

 

Must be good at sucking dick.

 

Gallen isn't a bench player. His game isn't suited to it, he's the guy who'll play almost the entire game and earn you close to 200m a game in conjunction with the front row, he's not an impact player for 20mins etc. it's just stupid to have him on the bench. Especially when hoffman is starting for christ sake. i could cop it if Hoffman was on the bench possibly.

 

Wouldn't surprise me, would be better than playing Thaiday up there, his value as a Prop is so over-rated in my eyes.

 

fact is Hoffman isn't a locks arsehole. His best asset is running wider off the halves at holes FFS he's not a metre gainer and he isn't a gret defender especially in the middle of the park, this is exacerbated by the fact he is a fringe defender for Melbourne, its such a bad decision I can't get over it. I garentee that Hoffman will get lost in defence, make a bad read and someone will make a break through the centre because of it.

 

I'm just going off the way the lineup has been written at the end of the article. Watmough >> Hoffman as a lock but not by much. Would rather they player Waterhouse there but i guess he sort of has to be on the fringe to defend Lockyer. I really think that lockyer's defensive deficiencies are highly over-rated they talk about him like he defends like Sandow FFS. I really think that he's good technically just doesn't enjoy the extra workload in defence.

 

Morris hardly started the season in reserve grade lol.