Mal Meninga has named his Kangaroos side, featuring eight New South Welshmen, to line up against the Kiwis in the Four Nations Final early on Monday morning (AEDT).
After fielding a strong side in their impressive win over England last week, Meninga has opted for just one change to his line-up, with Canberra's Shannon Boyd replacing the injured Sam Thaiday on the bench. He narrowly beat out Jake Trbojevic for the position to earn his fourth Test cap.
The match, to be played at Anfield at 1:30am AEDT, is the final Test for the Australian side this year, who will look to secure their fourth tournament victory since its inception in 2009. It also presents an opportunity for Australia to defeat New Zealand for a fourth time in a calendar year - a feat not achieved since 2006.
"We've given everyone an opportunity to put the green and gold jersey on through this campaign," Meninga says. "Cohesion and combinations are really important - particularly leading into finals."
Kangaroos team to face New Zealand:
- Darius Boyd
- Blake Ferguson
- Greg Inglis
- Josh Dugan
- Valentine Holmes
- Johnathan Thurston
- Cooper Cronk
- Matt Scott
- Cameron Smith (c)
- Aaron Woods
- Boyd Cordner
- Matt Gillett
- Trent Merrin
- Michael Morgan
- David Klemmer
- Tyson Frizell
- Shannon Boyd
