Meninga all but rules out Mitchell for Kangaroos Pacific Championship campaign

Australian Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has conceded that Latrell Mitchell’s lack of games played this year has seemingly cost him a chance to represent his country in the 2024 Pacific Championships.

Mitchell, who battled with a foot injury for most of the season only managed 11 games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2024 and hasn’t played since early July.

Despite an injury crisis reducing the Kangaroos’ depth in the backline, Meninga admitted Mitchell is likely not to come into calculations for the upcoming tournament.

“He just hasn’t played any footy really (to be considered),” Meninga told SEN 1170 The Throwdown.

“In my mind, it’s important that he gets himself fit and healthy, apparently he’s going to play in our First Nations knockouts, but I think he needs a really good offseason.

“Let’s hope and pray that he has an injury-less season and plays really well.”

The Kangaroos coach also revealed his belief that match fitness is one of the most important factors that he will lean on when selecting his team this year.

“This year’s (finals) are important,” Meninga said.

“The thing that I’m starting to understand about representative football, particularly around the back of the year, the domestic season is such a long season and we’ve got a lot of players carrying injuries that could probably threaten their season, so we’ve got a lot of those playing in the finals.

“I feel that getting through the finals with a bit of form, match fitness is really important but more so is your injury (status), I think picking fit players with match fitness is really crucial for your national program to get the best results obviously but to ensure you’ve got a team that can participate for the whole two or three games.”

Although Meninga didn’t name any potential replacements for Mitchell in the centres, he does have his eyes on two star halves that could make their national team debut.

“Probably the standout for me, with Nathan (Cleary) out, you’ve got (Daly) Cherry-Evans obviously and (Cameron) Munster could be gone with an operation so the five-eighth has become pretty critical,” Meninga said.

“You’ve got Tom Dearden obviously with the Cowboys and Matt Burton with the Bulldogs.

“Tommy played State of Origin this year and he was one of their exceptional players and he’s just so consistent, but then Matt as well, he’s a really important cog in the Bulldogs’ armour.”

The Kangaroos kick off their Pacific Championship campaign against Tonga on the 18th of October at Suncorp Stadium.