‘I put the jersey down’: Kangaroo star’s candid admission in countdown to Kiwis grudge match

Lindsay Collins believes he failed to do the jersey proud the last time Australia faced New Zealand as Kangaroo goal redemption came in Christchurch.

Saturday’s match is the first meeting of the two top international teams since the Kiwis suffered their heaviest 30-0 defeat to Australia in the Pacific Championship final in November.

Coach Mal Meninga has ruled out Test key players James Tedesco, Daley Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic for the 2024 Pacific Championship, which began with an 18-0 win over Tonga, inflicting a wave of defeat in the follow-up series .

Prop Collins was one of seven players to feature for Brisbane on Friday night following last year’s loss in Hamilton.

The Sydney Roosters hard man still has bad memories of that afternoon when he ran for a modest 60 meters and missed three tackles in a 30-minute period off the bench.

“It wasn’t a good thing to be a part of,” Collins said.

“Every time you wear those colors, you want to be proud of that jersey and for me, I wasn’t proud of the jersey last year. We will get an opportunity to improve this this weekend.

“We are moving forward. We cannot pay too much attention to the past because it is worn out. We’ve got a new team here.”

Lindsay Collins. (Photo by Daniel Pocket/Getty Images)

Collins confirmed he feels fresh for the Kiwis after Tonga second-rower Haumole Olakautu suffered a serious injury in the first half on Friday night.

Due to the shot, Collins started writhing on the ground and later started shouting at the Kangaroo team staff.

“The physio came out and told me I had to get up or they would take me off,” said a delighted Collins.

“I like, in some candid words and said to him, ‘What if you get hit with humor and see how you get on?'”

The front-rower will at least avoid the same trouble as Kiwi rival Nelson Asofa-Solomona, who is still suspended for the high shot that ruled Collins out of Melbourne’s preliminary final win over the Roosters.

On Monday, Collins shrugged off questions about the tackle that sidelined him in the opening seconds of the grand final qualifier.

“I don’t really care. I did not find any comments on this. “This happened three, four weeks ago,” he said.

© AAP