Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns and fellow Kangaroos legend Brad Fittler have accused Australia of showing a lack of respect for Tonga in their loss at Eden Park.
The former Kangaroos duo did not hold back when assessing the performance of Mal Meninga’s team after the 16-12 loss to Tonga, which was in stark contrast to their professional 26-4 victory over New Zealand in Wollongong the previous week.
Fittler in particular took aim at centre Latrell Mitchell, who he controversially dropped from the NSW State of Origin side this year, and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans for their performances.
"If Mal is fair dinkum, he is looking at that game thinking 'we might need a few new players here' because I thought some of their efforts were terrible. They didn't put their hands up in big moments and took really easy options and let each other down," Fittler said on Nine’s broadcast of the match on Saturday night.
"They let Australia down, they let the jersey down. And it was a really poor standard.
"They set a great standard down in Illawarra and they just didn't back it up at all, so there is a good chance a few of these guys won't be there next year.
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"Daly Cherry-Evans wasn't doing anything in attack. He was giving no direction, but his defence was giving them so much trouble. He left poor Jack Wighton and a few of them stranded at different times.
"Latrell Mitchell came up with some bad errors and some really soft options."
Johns hinted the Australian players had one eye on the calendar with this match the last fixture for their 2019 season.
Match Highlights: Tonga Invitational v Australia
"I don't think Australia respected the opposition," Johns said.
"It was the last game and I think they were thinking they would roll the sleeves up for 20 minutes and they would get the job done.
"I think they need to have a real hard look at themselves some of the guys."
