The Kangaroos will be sure to cause plenty of confusion at the upcoming World Cup after announcing a shocking change to the players’ numbers.
Australia will not line up 1-17 with numbers being given out based on position. Instead they will wear numbers based on the longevity of their international experience.
The players will be given numbers from one upwards in order of the number of games played as a representative of the country.
In the new system invented by assistant coach Michael Hagan, James Tedesco will be the exception to the rule as he will wear the number one jersey due to being captain.
Incumbent halfback Daly Cherry-Evans will wear the number two for the first time in his career, as Ben Hunt will be given the number three.
Latrell Mitchell will be issued with the typical forward number of eight, despite playing in the centres, whilst Josh Addo-Carr will take over former teammate Cameron Smith’s number nine jersey.
The players will be given the number for the entirety of the tournament, with the 11 rookies set to be given numbers 14-24 in alphabetical order.
Speaking to SEN, The Sydney Morning Hearld’s Christian Nicolussi gave his thoughts on the change and some insight into the thinking behind the decision.
“I actually don’t mind the idea, the cup organisers put it in place this year, it mirrors what happens in the Super League where players get that permanent number for the year,” Nicolussi said on SEN 1170 Afternoons.
“The players were having a bit of a joke about it. Daly Cherry-Evans, I don’t think he’s ever worn the number two in his life.
“It’s the way it has to roll, I know some other nations will opt for the 1-17 option, they were going to take a stab at what their likely line-up will be, but (that's) the way the Australians have done it and I don’t mind it.”
There has been a lot of fan and player movement in recent years for the players to be allowed to pick custom numbers and have names on the back of their jerseys, as seen in State of Origin.
“The cup organisers have basically asked all these nations to have squad numbers, then the nations went back and figured out how they’re going to do it,” Nicolussi said.
“Michael Hagan, Mal Meninga’s deputy came up with this idea where he wanted to give the captain the number one, which worked out well with James Tedesco.
“I know it’s going to look a bit weird; I can only think it’s going to be a commentators nightmare trying to call players out of position, but that’s the way it’s going to work.”
The NRL has trialled the idea of custom jersey numbers in previous NRL Nines’ competitions but has never proposed the idea to an entire NRL season.