Fiji is penalised for a late shot on Blayke Brailey and the Kangaroos will take a shot at goal from 20 metres back, 19 in from touch.

Walker slots it and the Kangaroos lead 18-16 with 25 minutes left.

The Aussie halfback is penalised for a high shot on a rampaging Sunia Turuva and he quickly turns around and blows up deluxe.

I think he's asking for his forwards to help him out in defence, and he's not wrong. Your halfback shouldn't be getting isolated in that situation.

Obviously there will be questions asked about whether the Kangaroos took Fiji lightly after this performance, and some in the peanut gallery feel like the fans came to the ground with the same energy.

On the back of the penalty for obstruction at one end, Blayke Brailey skips out of dummy half and shows the defence the ball before passing to Sam Walker. He finds James Tedesco, who fires a brilliant cut-out ball to Tom Trbojevic to dive over on the right wing.

What a turnaround from the no try at the other end.

Solomone Saukuru bursts through a hole off another Kurt Donoghoe ball, but Gerard Sutton says no try on the field.

And the bunker upholds the call as Elijah Keung is found to have impeded David Fifita.

Fiji goes left and once again Tom Trbojevic is in no man's land, beaten by a superb cut-out pass by Kurt Donoghoe to Semi Valemei to dive over for his second of the night.

Brandon Wakeham converts and the Bati are back in front 16-12.

The kick goes out right and Ronald Philitoga beats Jack Bostock in the air to come down with the ball.

He offloads and Fiji look certain to score, but Bradman Best knocks the ball down.

Reuben Cotter picks it up in an offside position, but it's just called a knock-on.

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Fiji's forward pack is dominating through the middle and the trio of Api Koroisau, Brandon Wakeham and Kurt Donoghoe - effectively all hookers - is keeping the momentum rolling, then icing chances once they get into the red zone.

Australia's defence is looking really flimsy through the middle and on the edges. Tom Trbojevic is looking very much like a man not used to playing on the wing.

One concern for Fiji is the loss of fullback Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, but Sunia Turuva is an able deputy back there and Ronald Philitoga has brought some much-needed energy off the right wing.

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Jack Bostock leaps over Ronald Philitoga right on the siren, but loses the ball in the air (Gerard Sutton called it a knock-on but I don't think it was).

In the end, there's no time for a captain's challenge and the teams head to half-time with the Kangaroos suddenly in a real tussle.

Tom Dearden and Sam Walker aren't making great last-tackle plays at the moment and there's another one as Dearden runs it and, instead of going through the hands out to the left, tries the long ball and puts Bradman Best in the firing line of winger Ronald Philitoga.

Best offloads and Jacob Preston manufactures a decentish chip, but the Kangaroos definitely look out of sorts.

The Kangaroos are tackled on the fifth right on halfway and James Tedesco skips out of dummy half. It's a risky move, but the returning skipper finds the space in behind the ruck and gets through the line.

He pops a ball to Sam Walker, who finds Tom Trbojevic. The defence shuts him down, but Walker comes again and gleefully accepts the offload to score under the posts.

Cameron Murray, Keaon Koloamatangi and Lindsay Smith leave the field.

Pat Carrigan, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Jacob Preston replace them.

So Reuben Cotter will shift into the middle. Kevin Walters will hope the changes can restore some order.

The Bati have been the better team so far tonight and it at last shows on the scoreboard as Brandon Wakeham rolls in a grubber for Taane Milne to dive in.

That comes on the back of a shocking kick from Tom Dearden that gifted Sunia Turuva, completely beaten for size by Jack Bostock, a mark deep in his in-goal.

Then they gave away a penalty in the ruck, and the defence on the line looks completely out of sync every time Fiji gets close.

Fiji almost breaks through the middle via Waqa Blake but it's called back for an obstruction by Mitchell Priest, who was standing in the line impeding Blayke Brailey.

Even so, the defence from the Kangaroos was caught napping, with Keaon Koloamatangi not filling in the gap from the left after the ball went right. So when the ball came back the other way there was room under the posts.

We saw two Kangaroos intercept tries last week and Kotoni Staggs tries to nab one himself here as Fiji fires it left.

In the end, the leaping Aussie centre can only get one hand to it as he sticks his mitt out, probably saving a try on the overlap.

Kitione Kautoga makes good metres down the left and has a chance for a quick play-the-ball but Blayke Brailey hangs on too long and is pinged for a penalty.

Fiji will get into Australian territory again and look to take the lead.

Fiji wastes no time after packing the scrum and gets into the red zone.

First real chance they get and five-eighth Kurt Donoghoe spots Tom Trbojevic in off his wing, firing a bullet pass out to winger Semi Valemei, who dives in for Fiji's first of the night.

The Fijian defence is rushing and frustrating the Aussies, and a gang tackle forces the ball out of Tom Trbojevic's grasp on the 40m line.

Here comes the Bati's best chance so far.

It looked like there might have been an obstruction as the Kangaroos shifted left, but lucky for the Aussies they didn't score, so the bunker couldn't get involved.

Instead they spun it right and Sam Walker thought he saw space in behind, but his grubber was quickly snaffled up by Bayleigh Bentley-Hape.

You might need to hit a refresh, Phillip.

The Kangaroos get into shape for a right-side shift and David Fifita is out the back as James Tedesco goes to the line. But the fullback hits Kotoni Staggs with a perfect short ball to send him through a yawning gap and over the tryline on his home patch.

The Kangaroos look certain to score down the left before Daniel Saifiti arrives out of nowhere to cut down Tom Dearden 3 metres short. Then Waqa Blake makes a flying catch to intercept the bouncing ball.

But Fiji knocks on again! Giving the Kangaroos yet another chance.

Sam Walker's first kick is long and straight to winger Semi Valemei and he drops it cold.

It's definitely gone backwards, as evidenced by him making contact in front of the 20m line and the ball bouncing behind it, but referee Gerard Sutton calls a knock-on.

Let's hope everyone shows the appropriate reverence lest they be pilloried by certain members of the media.

The lyrics are on the big screens at either end of the stadium, which is a nice touch for any neutrals.

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Kevin Walters is trialling some new combinations this week, with Tom Dearden and Sam Walker auditioning to be the new halfback to replace the injured Mitchell Moses going forward.

James Tedesco replaces Reece Walsh at fullback and is named captain for his first Test since 2023.

Walters obviously wants to give a few of his big names a rest, so it will be interesting to see who out of Pat Carrigan, Cameron Munster, Latrell Mitchell and Harry Grant stays on the bench tonight. It's not expected to be a particularly taxing affair, but injuries can come out of nowhere.

A lot of people say they've dreamed of playing for Australia since they were a kid, but no everyone has proof.

Bradman Best does, and tonight he makes good on that pledge.

The moment the draw came out, this second round was highlighted as one without many genuine contests in it with clear favourites in every game.

So far the closest games of the past three days have been Tonga vs Lebanon in the men's and Fiji vs PNG in the women's, and both of those were 36-point blowouts.

All told, with Australia-Fiji still to come tonight, the overall scoreline reads a ridiculous 550-26 (that's 264-22 in the men's and 286-4 for the women).

New Zealand's Kiwi Ferns just had the biggest win of the tournament with their 92-0 victory over France in Christchurch and I don't see that getting topped, although the Jillaroos will surely give it a shake against Wales next Sunday.

France was also the victim of the biggest blowout on the men's side, with an 82-0 to England yesterday.

Pretty wild for an event that kicked off with a two-point thriller between the Kangaroos and Kiwis.

If there was ever any doubt about the Jillaroos' overwhelming favouritism to retain their Women's World Cup crown after slower-than-expected start, there certainly aren't any now.

The 78-0 hammering of England proved a point, but did cost the Australians one of their biggest stars.

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For a moment it looked like Cook Islands might be up for the greatest of World Cup upsets.

After New Zealand jumped out to a 12-0 lead, the Islanders roared back with three straight tries to Brisbane Tigers winger Esom Ioka — two off intercepts and one off a perfectly weighted cross-field kick.

But that was where the joy ended.

The Kiwis followed up with 12 unanswered tries to run home 82-16 winners to continue the weekend of routs.

Earlier, the New Zealand women never looked troubled as they walloped France 92-0. In 70 minutes no less.

All told, Kiwi Ferns fullback Apii Nicholls took the title of the most prolific try-scorer of the day (so far) with four.

We also saw hat-tricks for Mele Hufanga, Stacey Waaka and Jamayne Isaako, while Tenika Willison, Raecene McGregor, Mackenzie Wiki, Tanner Stowers-Smith, Casey McLean and Ronaldo Mulitalo all doubled up.

Hello and welcome to ABC Sport's live coverage of the Rugby League World Cup as Australia's Kangaroos take on the Fiji Bati to close out round two at Lang Park.

It's been a weekend of demolitions across three countries in both the men's and women's tournaments, so Kevin Walters's men will definitely be hoping to continue the trend here in Brisbane.

Stick with us as we find out.