Worrying Dylan Edwards move called out amid glaring Tom Trbojevic and Kalyn Ponga issue

The Kangaroos may have held onto a victory on Friday night but Dylan Edwards still appears to be hampered with a knee injury as Mal Meninga's decision not to select Tom Trbojevic or Kalyn Ponga at No.1 is questioned. Darren Lockyer felt Mal Meninga's men were 'clunky' in the victory with debutants Mitchell Moses and Tom Dearden failing to click for Australia.

And Edwards was another player below his best for Australia. Edwards was a standout for the NSW Blues in his debut State of Origin series. This prompted Mal Meninga to make the big call and hand him the No.1 jersey for Australia over long-term captain James Tedesco.

However, Edwards' form has dipped since the final Origin game having carried a worrying knee injury for the remainder of the season. In Penrith's NRL grand final win over the Storm, Edwards had a rather uncharacteristically quiet game.

And Edwards once again produced a few mistakes against Tonga as he failed to split open the game from fullback. While Edwards was still strong, the plethora of quality fullbacks at Meninga's disposal has raised questions over whether the Penrith No.1 - who is carrying an injury- is the right option.

In fact, it was Kangaroos centres Trbojevic and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow who showed the class to break open the game with moments of magic. Both are fullbacks for their respective clubs, but have been moved to centre for Australia so Edwards can play at No.1.

Although fans felt Edwards lacked something in the clash against Tonga, despite the visiting side defending with aplomb, which failed to get supporters out of their seat. Edwards played with strapping around his knee and many felt he was still struggling with his fitness after a gruelling season in Origin and with Penrith.

The Penrith fullback was stoic in putting his hand up to play for the Kangaroos, potentially delaying rest or surgery, but questions are being asked of his bravery with calls to move Trbojevic back to fullback against New Zealand.

Kalyn Ponga absence a glaring Mal Meninga issue

While Meninga defended the Kangaroos' performance in the 18-0 win, with the defence a real standout, fans could argue there were few moments they were lifted out of their seats in the clash. Interestingly, Meninga opted not to break open the game with a utility until interchanging Matt Burton on until the 71st minute.

Burton had very little to do with his role seemingly to cause chaos. However, fans have once again turned their attention to Meninga's snub of Ponga in the squad as a glaring issue. While Edwards' performance had plenty suggesting Ponga should be the No.1 for the Kangaroos - to keep Trbojevic at centre - others felt the star's presence anywhere on the field would be an added bonus.

Meninga recently claimed "Dylan Edwards is the best No.1 in the game at the moment", and he could be right. But a slightly injured Edwards doesn't appear to be lighting up the rugby league scene at the moment. And Meninga's decision to hardly even use Burton has raised questions to why Ponga couldn't also be used as an impact utility.

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The Aussies didn't gel as well as expected in their first hit-out of the international schedule with debutants Dearden and Moses failing to combine as Meninga would have hoped. On top of this, Harry Grant had never played with Moses or Edwards.

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And while reporters asked if there would be changes for the clash against New Zealand, which Australia lost 30-0 last year in the Pacific Championship final, Meninga was resolute the team needed more time. “We’ll make some decisions over the next few days, but when we talk about the team and it’s such a new team, and being together for the very first time, it would probably give us some serious consideration around playing again and have better continuity in our footy team,” Meninga said.

Kalyn Ponga snubbed from Kangaroos squad

There was plenty of speculation as to why Meninga snubbed Ponga from the Australia squad altogether after the fullback initially withdrew his name from selection before backtracking. Although having been pressed on why Ponga was not included in the squad, Meninga said he had addressed the issue with the fullback himself and explained his reasoning.

"We had a really good conversation, I was really happy. We chose the team on merit. We sat around the selection table, six of us, and we considered Kalyn a specialist fullback. He has played 14 (for Queensland), we know that. But we feel that Dylan Edwards is the best No.1 in the game at the moment."