Anderson reveals Exiles selection nightmare

Exiles coach Daniel Anderson has revealed how much of a logistical problem selecting his side has been.

Anderson has seen several players withdraw from the original Exiles 22-man squad. Brett Finch, George Carmont, Louis Anderson, Michael Monaghan and Lopini Paea were all absent from Anderson’s team announcement on Tuesday.

However Anderson says the biggest headache has been getting the players into camp together.

He said: “Logistically it has been challenging. I’m very happy with the squad we have here but it’s late.

“The Wigan boys only just back from France late on Monday, so you have to wait until everyone is in the country where you can get hold of them. Then we had to bring in Epalahame Lauaki on Monday night so he only joined the squad last night, while David Faiumu came in after the Huddersfield game.

“But we are here and have our team so we can now focus on our preparation.”

Despite losing several key players who are arguably the star performers in Super League this season, Anderson says they will be considered for selection if they are available in game two.

He said: “I hope it’s the same sort of squad but I’m not naive to think there may be injuries, form changes or players being unavailable for any reason. For a lot of the players who were injured in this game they may come back for the second game.”

Anderson says his side have a lot of determination to cause an upset in this International Origin series, and has great pleasure in handing representatives debuts for some of his players, most noticeably Scott Dureau.

Anderson said: “Some of these boys haven’t been in representative teams before. It’s a very enjoyable experience.

“They have a pride of the southern hemisphere and they recognise that they are capable of winning if we dig in mentally. We have a lot of talent here.”