Mal Meninga makes staggering 30-year call on Kangaroos amid grim reality around NZ Test

Coach Mal Meninga admits he's thought about the possibility of the Kangaroos being relegated from the top-tier Pacific Championships after describing Sunday's Test against New Zealand as “Australia’s biggest Test match in 30 years.” The Aussies started off their Pacific Championships campaign with an 18-0 win over Tonga and will be seeking revenge over a Kiwis side that thumped them 30-0 in last year's final.

Another victory for Meninga's men in Christchurch on Sunday will book Australia's spot in next month's final at Sydney's CommBank Stadium. But there is still the possibility of the Kangaroos missing out on the final and an outside chance they could even be relegated to the second-tier Pacific Bowl if they suffer another defeat to New Zealand.

Plenty needs to go against the Kangaroos for that to eventuate, such as Tonga bouncing back from their opening defeat to the Kangaroos and scoring a big win over the Kiwis when they square off on November 2. Then if Australia were to miss out on making the final, they would be forced into a one-off Test against the winner of the Pacific Bowl - likely either Fiji or Papua New Guinea - for a place in next year's Pacific Championships.

It sets up a massive Test for Meninga's side in the heart of enemy territory on Sunday afternoon and the Kangaroos coach says the enormity of the occasion has not been lost on him. Australia's coach described Sunday's Test against New Zealand as the biggest since the Ashes in 1994 when Meninga led his nation to victory over England as captain of the Kangaroos.

Mal Meninga says NZ Test the biggest in 30 years for Kangaroos

“In my mind, I think this is the biggest Test since that ’94 tour,” Meninga told News Corp. "We had to win that third Test in ’94 to retain the Ashes. I was captain of the side in 1994 and now I’m the coach in 2024. We could have lost the Ashes that year. The pressure is on the Kangaroos to perform. If we don’t get our mojo going, there’s a real possibility we could miss out on the final.”

And while he's reluctant to entertain the prospect of the Kangaroos being relegated to the second-tier Pacific Bowl next year, Meninga admits it's a scenario that's been "in the back of my mind". He added: “We are more about playing well so we haven’t addressed that but if we don’t win and Tonga beat the Kiwis... who knows? We could be playing for third spot to avoid relegation. It’s up to us, it’s in our hands. If it doesn’t happen, we are the only ones to blame."

Meninga admits the pressure has ramped up on the Kangaroos off the back of last year's big loss to the Kiwis and the Aussies have been using it as motivation since entering camp before the Tonga Test. The Kangaroos coach has stuck solid with his troops after naming the same 17 that beat Tonga last week, while New Zealand counterpart Stacey Jones has named five debutants in his Kiwis side.

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With Dally M Medallist Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown both missing, Jones has asked veteran No.7 Shaun Johnson to come out of retirement to partner Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the halves for the Kiwi. But despite Australia going into the Test as huge favourites, hooker Harry Grant says the Kangaroos won't let complacency creep in as they seek revenge for defeat in last year's final.

"It was obviously disappointing (what happened) last year, but we can't change that. We can't dwell on that. It is a new team and we can just learn from it," Grant said. I think we are putting things in place to learn from that and go again this week. Defence is a massive one. You win games on defence. A lot of guys are fresh to the team and to the Test match arena and they are bringing their strengths and thriving in camp."

with AAP