More players out of Australian squad

A total of 14 players have now been ruled out of contention for the Australian Prime Minister's XIII to play Papua New Guinea on September 23 and the Kangaroos' one-off Test against the Kiwis in Townsville on October 13.

The withdrawals through injury and post-season surgery have led to several changes in the Prime Minister's XIII named yesterday.

Jamal Idris, Ben Hannant, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker, Peter Wallace and William Zillman are now out of the side and out of the train-on squad while Cronulla prop Bryce Gibbs has also withdrawn from the train-on squad after being added yesterday.

At the same time Robbie Farah and Luke Lewis, who were named in the train-on squad yesterday but then evidently withdrew, are now back in the squad.

Following the defections Michael Jennings (Penrith) moves from the wing to the centres to replace Idris in the PM’s XIII with Beau Ryan (Wests Tigers), now on the wing. Tim Mannah (Parramatta) moves off the bench to replace Hannant in the front row, Ben Te’o (Brisbane) and Wade Graham (Cronulla) come in for Gillett and Parker while Dan Hunt (St George Illawarra), Martin Kennedy (Sydney Roosters), Matthew Ryan (Parramatta) and Nathan Stapleton (Cronulla) fill the gaps on the bench.

The latest Prime Minister’s XIII is:

1 Darius Boyd (Newcastle Knights)
2 Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
3 Micheal Jennings (Penrith)
4 Chris Lawrence (Wests Tigers)
5 Beau Ryan (Wests Tigers)
6 Lachlan Coote (Penrith Panthers)
7 Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans) captain
8 Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers)
9 Andrew McCullough (Brisbane Broncos)
10 Tim Mannah (Parramatta)
11 Ben Te’o (Brisbane)
12 Feleti Mateo (Vodafone Warriors)
13 Wade Graham (Cronulla)
14 Dan Hunt (St George Illawarra)
15 Martin Kennedy (Sydney Roosters)
16 Josh McGuire (Brisbane Broncos)
17 Matthew Ryan (Parramatta)
18 Nathan Stapleton (Cronulla)

Players unavailable are: Ben Creagh, Brett Morris, Trent Merrin, Beau Scott (Dragons); Mitchell Pearce, Jake Friend (Roosters); Tim Grant (Panthers); Bryce Gibbs (Sharks); Jamal Idris, William Zillman (Titans); Ben Hannant, Matt Gillett, Corey Parker and Peter Wallace (Broncos).