As Leeds Rhinos star Harry Newman and Hull KR halfback Mikey Lewis gear up for their England debuts, England star and former Huddersfield Giants man Dom Young has been ruled out of the test much to the surprise of many fans.
England confirmed yesterday upon the release of the squad that he would be absent through injury.
But NRL.com has revealed that Young has been hospitalised with infection ahead of the game against Tonga.
This will likely mean we see St Helens star Tommy Makinson and Catalans Dragons flyer Tom Johnstone on the wing.
Both have interesting pasts with the England shirt. Makinson especially so. He has been England’s first choice winger for the better part of a decade especially after winning the Golden Boot for his performances against New Zealand in 2018.
He also featured at the World Cup last year tearing apart Papua New Guinea with four tries in one game.
Tom Johnstone did something similar on his only England appearance against France in 2018 when he scored a hat-trick on debut.
This was back when he was playing for Wakefield Trinity. Speaking of Wakefield, Wakefield born winger Dom Young will still be a massive loss.
Since leaving Huddersfield Giants, he has developed into one of the world’s best wingers.
In the 2022 NRL season we began to see that and we especially saw it in the World Cup with a world class brace against Samoa and similar feats against France and Greece in the group stage.
Young would then return to the NRL and tear it up for the whole season as the NRL’s top try scorer.
He is now set to join Sydney Roosters in 2023 alongside brother Alex who joins from the Championship ahead of next season.
With both Makinson and Johnstone predominately right sided wingers, it will be interesting to see who plays on the left.
Harry Newman you would expect to play on the right with Toby King on the left.
King has played much of this season on the right for Wigan but in the past has played a lot of his best rugby on the left for Warrington Wolves and Huddersfield Giants.
