Sharks young gun Valentine Holmes will make his Kangaroo debut after Coach Mal Meninga named him as one of three debutants for the Test match against New Zealand at Perth's nib Stadium on Saturday night.
Holmes will become the 809th Australian test player and the 25th Sharks player to represent in the green and gold in what is a remarkable rise to prominence for the 21-year-old Sharks winger.
After helping the Sharks claim their maiden NRL title, during a season which also saw him equal the long-standing season Cronulla try scoring record of David Peachey, Holmes's naming in the Australian team caps an outstanding 2016 for the Townsville junior.
Holmes joins prop Shannon Boyd (Kangaroo No 808) and interchange forward Tyson Frizell (810) in playing for the Kangaroos for the first time.
Sam Thaiday will play his 30th Test match for Australia against the Kiwis.
"This will be a great challenge for this team," Coach Mal Meninga said. "The Kiwis have picked a very strong squad themselves.
"It will be great to see how some of our younger players fare against such an opponent."
James Maloney, a member of the 24-man squad, hasn’t been included in the Australian 17 for the Kiwi clash.
The Australian team is listed below.
1 Darius Boyd 760
2 Blake Ferguson 804
3 Greg Inglis 737
4 Josh Dugan 801
5 Valentine Holmes 809*
6 Johnathan Thurston 731
7 Cooper Cronk 744
8 Matt Scott 773
9 Cameron Smith © 738
10 Shannon Boyd 808*
11 Boyd Cordner 787
12 Matt Gillett 789
13 Trent Merrin 803
Interchange
14 David Klemmer 797
15 Michael Morgan 807
16 Tyson Frizell 810*
17 Sam Thaiday 739
