New Australian Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters has admitted Ethan Strange is a chance of making the cut for the tour of the United Kingdom this year.
Australia, who are breaking a two-decade-long hiatus in the Ashes series, will play three Tests against England this year, and Walters has plenty of questions to answer at the selection table after taking over the post from Mal Meninga, who is preparing for his first recruitment run in charge of the Perth Bears.
Set to lose a host of players to other nations, including Payne Haas, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, he will be looking to player form, both at the end of the regular season and in the finals, to determine who makes the travelling party halfway around the world.
Strange's name has come into contention in recent weeks, given his excellent performances at five-eighth for the Canberra Raiders, who are still front-runners for the minor premiership.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has already suggested he sees Origin and international footy in Strange's future, and with his versatility of being able to play at centre, he could be a good fit for this year's squad.
Walters, speaking to Fox Sports, admitted Strange is definitely in the picture.
“I think he's putting himself in the picture,” Walters told foxsports.com.au.
“I mean, we've got good depth in those positions as an Australian rugby league team, but when you're playing the sort of football that he is [it makes him hard to overlook].
“We've seen it in the past with Kangaroos tours and in the internationals at the end of the year, if you have a really strong finals series and your team is going well and playing well, it puts you right there in the picture to get selected.
“I think his coach said through the week that he will play for the Kangaroos and for New South Wales, and I don't disagree with that, it's just to remember when the timing is right for that to happen.”
It's likely Nathan Cleary, Cameron Munster and Tom Dearden will be the automatically selected halves for the tour of England, with Walters then to potentially consider a fourth option.
Mitchell Moses, who played Game 1 for New South Wales this year, could well be considered, but outside of that, the options seem thin, with Strange potentially the next on the list.
Australia aren't strangers to picking players out of left field for end-of-year internationals, with Meninga and the selection panel naming eight debutants - including Penrith forward Lindsay Smith without a game of Origin under his belt - as part of last year's 21-man squad for the Pacific Championships.
