Not even 36 hours after the Kangaroos squad was announced to take on England in the 2025 Ashes Series, coach Kevin Walters has been forced into making two team changes.
As reported by News Corp, wingers Xavier Coates and Zac Lomax will be unavailable to compete against England and have been replaced by Newcastle Knights centre Bradman Best and Parramatta Eels flyer Josh Addo-Carr.
This comes as The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Coates underwent scans for an ankle injury on Monday following the 2025 NRL Grand Final while Lomax had been playing with a hip complaint in the back end of the regular season.
“I sat down at the start of the year and wrote down some goals, which was losing weight – I've done that – another one was to make Origin, and the third one was to make the Kangaroos squad,” Addo-Carr told the publication in August.
“You want to represent your family, and when you play for the Kangaroos, it's the pinnacle.
"It means you're one of the best players in the world in your position, and you're playing with the best in the world. It's such a great honour.”
