Wayne Bennett has taken aim at Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga over his decision to name his first Australian side ahead of the NRL ’ s ninth round , the Brisbane mentor claiming it contributed to his side ’ s loss to Cronulla on Sunday . Meninga broke with convention earlier this week by naming the Australian side , which included five Broncos , on Tuesday .
The Kangaroos side has traditionally been named at the conclusion of the round before the trans-Tasman Test .
Meninga , who was awarded the Kangaroos coaching role ahead of Bennett , said the move was made for logistical reasons to best get his players ready for the short turnaround to Friday ’ s trans-Tasman Test . However Bennett said it wasn ’ t necessary . “ I ’ m not keen to make excuses but I was pretty disappointed when they named the team this week ,” Bennett said after Brisbane ’ s 30-28 loss to Cronulla at Shark Park .
“ I have been a long-time coach and I know the impact it has on footballers . We haven ’ t done that before .
“ It is not the reason we lost , it is part of the reason . We were a little flat .
“ It is not good policy to announce the team like that . They would rather find out now .”
Bennett said rookies like Josh McGuire , who will make his Test debut against New Zealand in Newcastle on Friday , were likely affected . It was something he anticipated in the lead-up to the round nine match . “ I sensed it yesterday ,” he said . “ I kept the Australian and New Zealand players back and I told them . I knew what was going on with them . I tried to help them try and handle it a bit better mentally so they get here today and played well .
“ We had Josh McGuire who has never played for Australia , Corey Parker has a lot of
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jerseys , but it only takes two or three guys in this competition and you are off your game .”
Kangaroos Parker , McGuire , Darius Boyd , Matt Gillett and Sam Thaiday all took the field for Brisbane against Cronulla .
Parker didn ’ t use his Australian selection as an excuse for the loss . “ We have a job to do ,” he said . Kangaroos prop and Sharks skipper Paul Gallen , who returns to the Australian side after a two-year absence , said the Test wasn ’ t on his mind ahead of the Broncos match-up .
“ I thought this morning I hadn ’ t even
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thought about the Test match I was so keen to play in this game so for me no , it wasn ’ t an issue ,” Gallen said . “ I ’ m sure maybe for other blokes it was .” In round nine ’ s other games , injury-hit Wests Tigers beat South Sydney 30-22 on Thursday night .
Parramatta , minus Kieran Foran , beat Canterbury 20-12 on Friday night .
Penrith beat Canberra 19-18 at Bathurst on Saturday via a controversial Peter Wallace field goal .
Sydney Roosters notched their second
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Source : AAP
win of the season in Mitchell Pearce and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves ’ comeback game , thumping Newcastle 38-0 on Saturday evening .
North Queensland defeated Manly 34-18 at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night .
The Warriors downed St George Illawarra 26-10 in Auckland on Sunday .
Gold Coast were held scoreless for the first time in their history in losing 38-0 to Melbourne .
The NRL now breaks for one week for the representative round .
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