Devastated Peachey ready to provide spark

Tyrone Peachey is ready to stake his claim for a Kangaroos debut after admitting he was devastated to be overlooked for the side that lost to New Zealand. Peachey was again named in the No.18 jumper for Australia for Saturday's historic clash with Tonga, with Luke Keary at five-eighth despite suffering a concussion during the loss to the Kiwis. Keary will be monitored throughout the week, with Peachey on standby to come onto the bench if Ben Hunt replaces the Sydney Roosters No.6.

Speaking before the team announcement, Peachey said he was ready to add spark as an interchange player if required. "I suppose I have that x-factor coming off the bench and with what happened on the weekend with a few players going down, I think I've got a few positions covered," he said. "You need that player on the bench who can play every position and I'm happy to do that." The 27-year-old made his State of Origin debut for NSW this year when coming off the bench in their series victory, a promotion earned on the back of his play at five-eighth for Penrith earlier in the season.Peachey is now expected to slot into the centres for the Gold Coast when he moves to the Titans next year. Yet first he yearns for a taste of Test football at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday.

Peachey vows to honour Titans deal

Tyrone Peachey has assured Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan he will honour his three-year deal with the NRL club, beginning next season. Peachey caused a stir last month when he revealed he would wait until the end of the NRL finals to decide his future, six months after he inked a deal with the Titans. That prompted the Titans to insist the 27-year-old wouldn't be released from his deal, but Peachey revealed on Tuesday he'd since cleared the air with Brennan.

"I signed a contract with the Gold Coast and I'm going there. I don't know why everyone is going crazy," said Peachey from the Australian team camp in Auckland. "I spoke to him (Brennan) a week before I found out I was in this (Kangaroos) team ... I told him not to stress. "I've got a house there (in Penrith), I've been there for five years and I call it home, so it's going to be tough to leave. "But I'm going to the Gold Coast where the beach is and it's a pretty good place to live I think." Peachey shapes as a crucial part of former Panthers' assistant Brennan's plans for next season and arrives with a bond formed in their time together at Penrith. Released a season early by the Panthers in a bid to manage their salary cap and re-sign Nathan Cleary, Peachey is expected to start in the centres for the Titans.The club also have also purchased Shannon Boyd to go with representative forwards Jai Arrow and Jarrod Wallace, while Ash Taylor and Alexander Brimson shape as promising halves.