Coach Kevin Walters of the Kangaroos has disclosed that six prominent players who journeyed to England as part of the first Australian Ashes squad in over twenty years will not participate in any matches during the tour.

Walters has decided to stick with the same team for the third and final Test in Leeds this Sunday. Despite the game being inconsequential, as Australia secured the series with a 2-0 lead after their 14-4 win in Liverpool, no changes have been made.

Players Mitchell Moses, Bradman Best, Ethan Strange, Jacob Preston, Dylan Edwards, and Blayke Brailey will be heading back home without having played.

Following Australia’s victory last Sunday, Walters had entertained the idea of rewarding the squad’s fringe members by giving them a chance to play in the final Test at Headingley on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

However, despite calls to use the inconsequential match to introduce new talents with next year’s World Cup in mind, Walters has chosen what he believes to be the strongest lineup to complete the series decisively in the rugby league bastion of Leeds.

Mitchell Moses was the Kangaroos halfback in their maiden Pacific Championships triumph in 2024 – but he hasn’t been given a chance to play in England

Newcastle Knights center Bradman Best earned a call-up to the Australian squad despite his NRL team finishing with the wooden spoon

Ethan Strange had a breakout NRL season for the Raiders, winning the Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year award and helping the club to their first minor premiership since 1990

‘We’ve had to work exceptionally hard in challenging conditions to win the opening two Tests, and while we’d like to reward the extended squad for their outstanding efforts on tour, we just feel that the players who have got the job done deserve to play in Leeds,’ Walters said.

‘The playing group has had a few days off to freshen up and now it’s back to work – we’ve trained well today and we’ve still got the captain’s run to get our ourselves where we need to be for what is a very important Test match for both sides.’

So Panthers lock Yeo is the only change to the second-Test team that had to slog hard to overcome England in Everton.

The inspirational 30-year-old got just a few minutes of action in the first-Test 26-6 win at Wembley before a head-knock with Dom Young sidelined him.

But Yeo’s been welcomed back to lead the side after undergoing all the necessary NRL concussion protocols, with second-Test stand-in Harry Grant handing back the armband.

Yeo comes in for his clubmate Lindsay Smith, who’ll now move back to the extended squad for the final Test.

Walters’ choice may not have gone down too well with those pundits who felt this would have been the perfect chance to experiment with the Ashes wrapped up for the 14th consecutive time.

Instead, the tour stands to be completed without six of the 24-strong touring squad seeing a minute’s action.

Jacob Preston (pictured carrying the ball) has put together three consistent years of football for the Bulldogs, but he’s been left scratching his head in the UK

Dylan Edwards is a six-time Kangaroos representative, but lost the Australian fullback jersey to newly crowned Broncos premiership winner Reece Walsh

Blayke Brailey (left) is one of the NRL’s most improved rakes, and last month claimed the 2025 Dally M Hooker of the Year

Gehamat Shibasaki, who had not had the most impactful series, had seemed vulnerable to being replaced by Best, but the Newcastle centre remains as 18th man.

Another inaugural accolade to be settled on Saturday will be the player-of-the-series award, which is to be named the Fulton-Reilly award after two Ashes icons, the Kangaroos’ Bob Fulton and England’s Malcolm Reilly.

Favourites for the honour include Reece Walsh and Cameron Munster, who won the man-of-the-match awards in the first two Tests, as well as the exceptional Angus Crichton and Harry Grant.

Australia’s team for third Test is as follows:

1. Reece Walsh, 2. Mark Nawaqanitawase, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Gehamat Shibasaki, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Patrick Carrigan, 9. Harry Grant, 10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Hudson Young, 13. Isaah Yeo (capt) 14. Tom Dearden, 15. Lindsay Collins, 16. Reuben Cotter, 17. Keaon Koloamatangi. 18. Bradman Best.