THE AUSTRALIAN Kangaroos can’t wait to play a rugby league world cup quarterfinal in Darwin, according to coach Mal Meninga.

The former Canberra, Queensland and Australian legend was at TIO Stadium yesterday to endorse Darwin as one of 13 venues throughout Australia, New Zealand and PNG that will stage matches during the 2017 tournament.

Meninga said he had already received positive feedback from members of the national team about playing in the Top End.

“I’ve talked to some of the players and they are excited about coming and playing in Darwin,” he said.

“It is something new for us. It is a quarterfinal which is very important and we hope to play in front of a crowd that will support us.”

Meninga said he was impressed with the facilities that TIO Stadium had to offer, after he took a tour of the ground yesterday.

“The Michael Long facility is fantastic, it is state of the art,” he said.

“We will come up here early and not only be part of the community engagement but we will be focusing on our preparation, so the facilities will be instrumental in getting us right.”

Meninga said it was a positive for rugby league that Darwin had claimed such a high profile fixture.

“We want to see rugby league prosper here in the NT and we want to see rugby league with a future here,” he said.

“That is our responsibility as people with profile, so we will get up here and prepare really well and part of that includes community engagement.”

With Jarryd Hayne’s return to rugby league now confirmed after he signed with the Gold Coast Titans yesterday, Meninga said the former Parramatta Eel will be in the running to feature in the quarter-final come November 17 next year.

“If he can get back to where he was two years ago, it is pretty hard to leave him out of a footy side,” Meninga said of Hayne.

“The pressure is on him to perform for the Titans first, and then if he does that then he will come into calculations.”