"[Smith will] play. Benny Hunt's getting married. We've only got one hooker."
Meanwhile, Jake Trbojevic's World Cup is over after just one game due to a torn pectoral muscle but the Kangaroos lock is still hopeful of being fit to start the NRL season for Manly.
Trbojevic boarded a flight back to Sydney from Melbourne yesterday, with the Sea Eagles star unsure if he will require surgery after scans confirmed the debilitating injury.
The 23-year-old ended Friday night's tournament opener in hospital after he was injured trying to tackle England's James Graham late in Australia's 18-4 win.
"It felt pretty weird just the way it happened," a disappointed Trbojevic admitted.
"I didn't think too much at the time but it definitely didn't feel right and when I did the test I had no strength."
So Trbojevic's NRL season start remains in doubt and he didn't get a lot of encouragement from team-mate and Roosters captain Boyd Cordner yesterday.
"I tore my pec at the start of the 2016 season and any injury's pretty bad, but any injury that you need to have surgery on definitely tests you mentally," Cordner said.
"But with a bloke like Jakey, he's shown he's a pretty strong kid. We don't know how bad it is yet. Fingers crossed it's just a strain. If not, if anyone could handle it, it'd be him."
While Australia's new-look spine struggled to convert their dominance in territory into points against England, Meninga was delighted with their willingness in defence.
England had numerous opportunities to level the game in the second half but were continuously turned away by a scrambling Kangaroos line.
"We were under the pump. It was 10-4, England had a lot of field position against us, but we just kept on coming with really good decisions," Meninga said. "We kept on turning up for each other, our scramble defence was really good, which tells me we're here to play footy and we want to win the competition."
- AAP
