No bull: Walters makes Kangaroos selection policy clear

By Joel Gould in Townsville

Kevin Walters says he has not settled on his team for next week’s World Cup semi-final, refusing to guarantee Reece Walsh and Tom Dearden starting spots.

Australia coach Kevin Walters has made an emphatic point that he has not made a final call on his spine or the makeup of the team for the World Cup semi-final.

Walters was speaking after the 66-6 win over Cook Islands in Townsville on Saturday night where man-of-the-match Reece Walsh scored one and set up five tries at fullback and half Tom Dearden had two try assists.

The duo were preferred over James Tedesco and Sam Walker who played the previous week in the 36-22 win over Fiji but Walters wasn’t ruling that pair out for the clash at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

“I haven’t decided. I keep telling everyone but you seem to think that I am a bullshitter and I am lying to you,” Walters said. “I haven’t made any decisions around who is playing where.

“I feel the best way to get our players to play their best football is to give them opportunities. and let them express themselves. Now I will sit down with our leaders and we will come up with a team for this week.”

Walters was asked about Dearden getting the jump on Walker.

“It is not so much getting the jump on Sam,” Walters said. “Both players have performed really well and to high standards that we believe they can play to. It is another decision we will have to make in the next couple of days.”

Walsh had ice on his left ankle after the match but Walters said he was “fine”, while not guaranteeing him a spot next week. “I will make a decision in the next couple of days. James was equally as good last week,” Walters said.

“He set up four tries last week. We are just fortunate with some of the players that we have in our group that selections are tough. It is a good position to be in as a coach.”

Walters said it was “exciting” to be part of the World Cup knock-out phase. He said the side improved in the key areas where they were aiming to up the ante against Cook Islands.

“I thought our defence was really good,” he said. “When we can defend well we have a lot of belief in our attack that we can score points. I thought there was a good mentality across the group.”