Kevin Walters’ ongoing position as Kangaroos coach _ and Nathan Cleary’s stranglehold on the No.7 jumper _ were the two biggest talking points to come out of Australia’s 30-8 win over England in Leeds.
If you didn’t get up to watch the final Test of the three match Ashes series, don’t let the five-tries-to-one result fool you.
The scoreline absolutely flattered Australia who it must be said were very brave defensively, but lacked the polish in attack to send everyone home feeling completely comfortable ahead of next year’s World Cup countdown.
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GRANT AND MUNSTER DELIVER, BUT CLEARY STRUGGLES AGAIN
While Harry Grant and Cameron Munster were both super impressive, yet again Nathan Cleary failed to stamp his authority at rep level.
In the opening two Tests Cleary played within himself but on both occasions was more than solid.
But in the final Test you were flat out giving him much better than a pass mark given some really clunky moments with his usually exceptional passing and kicking.
To be honest the ‘Ice Man’ just never looked completely at ease this entire series, and while he never stopped trying, it just wasn’t working for him.
It almost feels unfair to judge Cleary too harshly knowing how dominant he has been for several years now in club footy.
But at rep level, the jury remains well and truly out if he should stay as Australia’s automatic first choice halfback moving forward.
It also raises the question whether Walters should have given Mitchel Moses a shot in this, game given the series was already decided.
The other option would have been to give Tom Dearden a start instead of again playing him off the bench – or at least thrown him into the game at halftime, playing the seven role.
Dearden brought instant energy when he came into the game late.
Don’t forget Dearden won the Wally Lewis Medal this year as the man of the series in Queensland’s Origin victory.
As for Munster and Grant, they were the difference for Australia.
Munster set up both first half tries.
One with a beautiful Harbour Bridge cutout ball for Josh Addo-Carr’s try, and the other with a clever grubber on the right edge that Hudson Young swooped on.
Meanwhile, Grant was a threat from the opening set when shot through a hole and put a kick through that Reece Walsh nearly scored from.
The Storm skipper had a terrific game, finishing with a try and two line breaks to claim the man of the match, while Munster was voted player of the series.
Walsh wasn’t at his best but still finished with two late tries, the second coming from a scrum where he had plenty of space and the poor Poms didn’t stand a chance of stopping him one-on-one.
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HAS WALTERS DONE ENOUGH TO RETAIN KANGAROOS COACHING JOB?
The sight of Walters standing nervously on the sideline during a tense period in the second half was enough to reinforce what was at stake here.
Despite the final blowout, the Kangaroos went to the break only leading 12-8.
And for the first 20 minutes of the second half, England continued to give as good as they got.
In the end, they just didn’t have the class in key positions to compete with the Kangaroos for the full 80 minutes.
But with a World Cup coming up next year, the ARL Commission still has a massive decision about whether Walters has done enough to retain his job.
People will argue how can you possibly get rid of the coach on the back of a three-nil Ashes win.
But for those who have watched all three Tests, there is just no question the Kangaroos have not looked nearly as impressive as New Zealand and Samoa have during the Pacific Championship.
At Wembley we gave the Kangaroos’ lacklustre attack the benefit of the doubt because it was the first match of the tour.
We just naturally assumed they would gel in the second Test.
But when it didn’t improve in the second Test in Liverpool, many believed Walters should have made changes for the final Test.
Will he regret not making the changes? We wait and see.
I also wrote last week that the ARLC should reconsider its decision not to allow NRL aligned coaches the chance to put their hand up to coach Australia.
If anything, the performance from the Kangaroos in Leeds only reinforces that.
Australia only completed 70 per cent of their sets, while making a combined 14 errors for the match.
In fairness, the defence was brave.
But given the obvious gap between the talent of the two teams, this was not a series win that should make anyone feel completely comfortable.
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Kangaroos clean sweep | 00:38
MORE ROCKS THAN DIAMONDS
When Mark Nawaqanitawase gets it right, he is right up with the most entertaining rugby league players on the planet.
But once again the Roosters excitement machine just pushed it too far _ and against a better quality of opposition his four errors could have really sunk Australia.
One minute he’ll fly high to catch a bomb and look like an absolute genius.
The next he’ll fumble on his own tryline and almost cost his team a try.
It’s just not acceptable at international level.
We know his free spirit and athleticism is what makes him such a special talent.
But his mistakes here were so avoidable.
If he played with a bit more restrain instead of always going for the miracle play he’d be better for it.
Walsh dazzles with solo scrum try | 01:01
WAS KANGAROOS’ ‘ACHILLES HEEL’ EXPOSED?
Not a lot has been said about the performance of the Kangaroo pack aside from the edge backrowers Angus Crichton and Hudson Young who both had good series.
But as for the Kangaroos’ middles, it’s hard to stack up their performances alongside what we’ve seen from the Kiwis and Samoans in the Pacific Championship.
Just looking at the numbers in this game and aside from Isaah Yeo (13 runs for 119m), not one middle went close to busting 100m.
Tino Fa’asaumaleaui 6 for 47m, Pat Carrigan 7 for 51, Reuben Cotter 7 for 72m, Lindsay Collins 4 for 54m and Keaon Koloamatangi 3 for 30m.
Admittedly, none played big minutes.
England end 80-minute try drought | 01:14
In the early exchanges both Carrigan and Tino played with good aggression, while Cotter was strong off the bench.
While it’s hard to stack up their performances when the opposition is not at the same standard, there is a genuine concern that the forwards could become Australia’s Achilles Heel when they’re lining up against the powerhouse Kiwi and Samoan packs that will offer a different level of competition.
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