Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has shared his feelings on the new numbering system his team will employ, admitting he doesn't support the decision of team officials to scrap position-based numbers on player jerseys.
The new system will see James Tedesco retain the No.1 jersey as captain, but all other players will be numbered based on a most-experienced to least-experienced system, with Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt playing in the #2 and #3 jerseys.
Given the team contains so many debutants, the numbers assigned from 12 onwards will simply be distributed in alphabetical order.
The decision was signed off a long time ago, but Meninga said he wasn't a fan of the idea.
“We had no idea when it was signed off on,” Meninga told SEN.
“We have 13 debutants on tour, so the jersey they get to play in for the very first Test is their tour number. Isaah Yeo is number 24, mainly because of where he sits in the alphabet. He's the premier 13 of our competition.
“It takes away from the excitement of your debutants in particular, having their very first test match jersey and it's a number that doesn't resonate with anyone because it's not the position he plays in.”
Meninga believes the players will be bothered by the fact they aren't wearing their regular numbers when taking the field and says it's likely to cause headaches for fans as well.
“The supporters will be trying to understand who's in the 24 jersey that's playing in the middle,” the coach continued.
Meninga's claims echo the sentiments of Matthew Johns, who outlined his problem with the decision earlier in the week on the same network.
“During the game, I think looking at Latrell Mitchell in the number eight jersey, for the organisers I think they've got it wrong,” Johns told SEN.
“Australia, I think we've got it wrong. I honestly hate it.
“The traditional jerseys and numbers are part of the history of the sport and you shouldn't tamper with it.”
