Tuesday 11 November 2014 09:51, UK
Former Wigan Warriors and London Broncos scrum-half and hooker Thomas Leuluai has been ruled out of the New Zealand side to play Australia in the Four Nations Series final in Wellington on Saturday.
The New Zealand Warriors player, who started two of the Kiwis' three group matches at hooker, picked up a shoulder injury - as well as a badly-gashed face - during Saturday's 16-14 win over England in Dunedin.
The unlucky Leuluai also missed last November's World Cup final after being plagued by shoulder trouble throughout the tournament.
South Sydney hooker Issac Luke takes over the No 9 jersey, with coach Stephen Kearney promoting Lewis Brown from 18th man to a spot on the bench in the only change to the side that sent England crashing out of the competition.
We've named a side today that was the same as last week, but that may change by the end of the week.
Forward Tohu Harris (shoulder), centre Dean Whare (foot) and winger Jason Nightingale (face) are all expected to play despite picking up knocks in Dunedin.
Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens has kept faith with the team that beat Samoa 44-18 in Wollongong on Sunday, although he has restored hooker Robbie Farah and back-row forwards Aidan Guerra and Ryan Hoffman to an extended bench.
Origin forward Beau Scott has not been named in the squad after sustaining a hamstring injury in Australia's opening 30-12 defeat by New Zealand, although Sheens is willing to give him until the last minute to prove his fitness.
"I am waiting on Beau Scott but it's highly unlikely he'll play," Sheens said. "We've named a side today that was the same as last week, but that may change by the end of the week."
New Zealand: P Hiku (Manly Sea Eagles), J Nightingale (St George Illawarra), S Kenny-Dowall (Sydney Roosters), D Whare (Penrith Panthers), M Vatuvei (New Zealand Warriors); K Foran (Manly Sea Eagles), S Johnson (New Zealand Warriors); J Bromwich (Melbourne Storm), I Luke (South Sydney Rabbitohs), A Blair (Wests Tigers), S Mannering (New Zealand Warriors, capt), K Proctor (Melbourne Storm), J Taumalolo (North Queensland)
Interchange: L Brown (Penrith Panthers), G Eastwood (Canterbury Bulldogs), M Taupau (Wests Tigers), T Harris (Melbourne Storm)
Australia: G Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs); J Mansour (Penrith Panthers), M Jennings (Sydney Roosters), D Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs), S Mata'utia (Newcastle Knights); D Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles), C Cronk (Melbourne Storm); A Woods (Wests Tigers), C Smith (Melbourne Storm, capt), J Papalii (Canberra Raiders), S Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos), G Bird (Gold Coast), C Parker (Brisbane Broncos)
Interchange (from): B Cordner (Sydney Roosters), R Farah (Wests Tigers), A Guerra (Sydney Roosters), R Hoffman (Melbourne Storm), B Hunt (Brisbane Broncos), D Klemmer (Canterbury Bulldogs), J Jackson (Canterbury Bulldogs)
