Xavier Coates will make his debut for the Kangaroos on Friday night – but head coach Mal Meninga has been forced to defend his allegiance switch.
The 23-year-old previously represented Papua New Guinea on the international stage, but will pull on the green and gold of Australia for this year’s Pacific Championships.
Coates has been selected to start on the wing for Meninga’s lineup for Friday’s opener against Tonga, but the Storm flyer has copped some heat from social media trolls.
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Speaking to media on Tuesday, Meninga defended the high-flying star and believes Coates has every right to decide who he represents.
“He deserves to be here,” the coach said.
“He’s just as proud of his PNG culture as he is with the green and gold. He’s played 10 Origin games for Queensland and was brought up on the Gold Coast.
“He is passionate about Papua New Guinea, don’t get me wrong, but he wants to play and put the green and gold jersey on.
“That’s something he has aspired to do all his life.”
Coates will be one of his debutants in the Kangaroos side, with a brand-new halves pairing of Mitchell Moses and Tom Dearden also named for the clash.
Standing in their way will be a mammoth Tongan forward pack, headlined by the likes of Jason Taumalolo and Haumole Olakau’atu, in front of a big crowd at Suncorp Stadium.
When quizzed on whether or not Tonga will fear the international heavyweights, Taumalolo brushed that notion aside and said they are ready for the challenge.
“Not really, to be honest,” he said.
“Obviously they’ve got a great team, but so do we and it’s what we do on Friday night that matters the most at the end of the day.”
Meninga gave a staunch response to Taumalolo’s comments, igniting the fuse for what promises to be a blockbuster opener to the tournament.
”It doesn’t worry us – we don’t fear them either,” he said.
“The last time we played against the Tongans, they beat us way back in 2019. It’s pretty smart that they don’t fear us, but we’re coming and we’re gonna play our best footy.”