Australia coach Kevin Walters has kept his options open for the World Cup semi-final, declaring that the Cameron Munster and Tom Dearden combination is not set in stone.
The Queensland duo, who starred in last year's State of Origin series, will play five-eighth and halfback respectively against Cook Islands on Saturday night.
It is the third halves pairing that Walters has fielded in three matches. Munster and Mitchell Moses started against New Zealand in game one in a 24-22 win. Moses was injured and ruled out of the tournament and Dearden replaced him off the bench.
Last week Dearden and Sam Walker were the halves pairing in the 36-22 win over Fiji.
Walker has been left out of the 19 altogether against the Aitu.
Walters was quizzed about his third spine combination after the captain's run in Townsville on Friday
"Mitch got injured in the first game so it's just about giving guys opportunities and working on the back of that," Walters said.
"It doesn't mean anything towards next week. It is about this game here.
"I feel that Tommy will do a great job for us in the seven jumper. This week it is his turn to show us what he has got.
"(Dearden) runs the ball well, he kicks well and his defence is good.
"There's not much between the two. It's just a decision that I have to make as the head coach and I'm comfortable with the decision that I've made."
Walters said Walker had responded well to his omission.
"He's okay. They're all really good fellas," he said.
"They understand that there's only 13 starting spots and then six places on the bench. So that's all I can do is pick the guys that I believe are best for this week."
Walters expects the spine to get the attack clicking better than has been the case so far, so Munster and Dearden will be under the coach's microscope.
"Just a bit more communication than anything else," Walters said.
"I feel we've got some real strike players there in all of our positions. They carry the ball well.
"So it's about getting the ball to those people in the right moments and I feel like we just haven't done that as a team over the opening two rounds. We need to start that tomorrow night."
Walker will remain in the frame for the semi-final on November 8 at Allianz Stadium. The coach said his omission for the Cook Islands game had nothing to do with the contract saga in the background.
Sydney Roosters pulled their extension offer to Walker beyond 2027 but the Kangaroos mentor said giving the Roosters playmaker a rest had no hidden agenda.
"No, nothing to do with that," he said.
"Sam's a very mature young fella. Just having a chat to him the last few days about what's happened, he's on top of it. So that's got nothing to do with anything that we're doing here."
Walters said he wanted Australia to tighten up their right edge defence against Cook Islands after conceding multiple tries there last week.
