Parramatta Eels and New South Wales Blues star Mitchell Moses will get some much-needed game time after becoming a late addition to the PM’s XIII squad to clash with a Papua New Guinea side in Port Moresby on Sunday.
Originally, only Keaon Koloamatangi, who is captaining the PM’s XIII, and Ethan Strange, were set to play the Port Moresby clash before departing for England, with the rest of the Kangaroos side not picked.
Since then, though, Bradman Best and Josh Addo-Carr have been called into the Kangaroos squad following the injury-forced withdrawal of Melbourne Storm winger Xaxiver Coates and Moses’ Parramatta teammate Zac Lomax.
Best was already picked in the PM’s XIII squad, and given he hasn’t played since the end of the regular NRL season, he will gain much-needed game time in that environment, while Moses has also now been added.
His addition to the squad comes with injuries to Brad Schneider and Nick Meaney, forcing them to withdraw from the trip north.
Two players being out and only one replacement means the PM’s XIII will play with a squad of 19 instead of 20, although it’s unclear where Moses will play.
Kevin Walters is coaching both the Kangaroos and the PM’s XIII, and could well move Ethan Strange from five-eighth to centre to cover the loss of Meaney, with Moses slotting in at halfback and Jayden Campbell moving into the number six.
Moses, like teammates Koloamatangi and Best, has not played for a month and will use this as a tune-up before fighting for the Kangaroos’ number seven jumper on the Ashes tour.
There, he is joined by Cameron Munster, who is likely to start five-eighth, and both Tom Dearden and Nathan Cleary, who could consider themselves a shot at the number seven jumper.
The first Test against England is a fortnight away, with the hosts’ side to be named early next week.
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