AUSTRALIAN coach Ricky Stuart has no doubts the mental strain on halfback Johnathan Thurston will hold up to a Test match on Sunday just six days after the funeral of his uncle - and believes the experience may even help him grieve.

Thurston was named to take on Papua New Guinea on Sunday night, and after speaking with the playmaker this week, Stuart said yesterday he would "definitely play" despite the bashing death of his uncle, Richard Saunders, in Brisbane on October 25.

Stuart attended the funeral with Thurston and, while it was clear the events of the past few weeks had deeply affected the North Queensland star, the coach was confident he would hold up to the challenge of a World Cup pool match in Townsville.

"He'll be fine," Stuart said. "I've spoken to him about it. I've raised this issue with him. It's been a tough week for him. But it will be a good way of getting over it, letting his emotions run on the field.

"He can leave his emotions on there by playing. It just goes to show what rugby league does for these blokes. The game makes you mentally tough."

Stuart's faith in Thurston is clear. While he has rested five-eighth and skipper Darren Lockyer, prop Petero Civoniceva, centre Greg Inglis and fullback Billy Slater, he has brought Thurston straight back into the squad after he missed the 52-4 mauling of England with a shoulder injury.

Stuart could, conceivably, have given Thurston another week on the sidelines against weaker opposition in the Kumuls, with Scott Prince starring in Melbourne last Sunday, however he has moved the Gold Coast player to the interchange this weekend.

While the Kangaroos have dominated New Zealand and England, Stuart has refused to concede his squad will come directly from those games. That means the newcomers for Sunday's match - David Williams, Anthony Watmough, Terry Campese, Craig Fitzgibbon and Darius Boyd - have been given a carrot, albeit a small one, to know that they are not out of the running for a likely semi-final against either Ireland or Fiji.

"They've done very well so far, but you don't know what happens with regard to the future," Stuart said.

Meanwhile, second-rower Anthony Watmough said his attitude had improved since he last played representative football with NSW in 2005 because he realises he's been handed a second chance to be part of a great Australian side.

"I think I've matured more as a person than a player," he told AAP. "You still go out and have your fun but as you get older, you take the more important things in your life seriously. I wasn't a footy nut, I just used to go out with my mates and chill. But you can't always be the party guy. At some stage, you have to knuckle down and think about your future. Ricky sat me down and had a chat with me and told me I wasn't far off and to keep working hard and I'd get my shot."

In other World Cup news, Kiwis five-eighth Benji Marshall is considered only a 50-50 chance of playing tomorrow night against England after succumbing to a hamstring problem at half-time of last Saturday night's win over PNG.

England also have injury woes, with prop Maurie Fa'asavalu ruled out of the tournament with a hand injury. The Samoa-born forward broke a finger in his right hand during England's heavy loss to Australia and had already been ruled out of tomorrow's final pool game in Newcastle. With prop James Graham and hooker James Roby set to be rested, England coach Tony Smith is prepared to go into the match with Adrian Morley and captain Jamie Peacock as his only specialist front-rowers.

Fiji prop Iowane Divavesi faces the prospect of a two-match ban unless he successfully challenges a charge of tripping in Wednesday night's loss to Scotland. Teammates Wes Naiqama (striking) and Jayson Bukuya (fighting) were issued with cautions, along with Scotland lock Ian Henderson (fighting).