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Mal Meninga says the mental anguish of anointing Daly Cherry-Evans or Nathan Cleary as his first-choice halfback has begun to filter into his dreams.

Meninga paired Daly Cherry-Evans and Nathan Cleary together for the first time in their 66-6 victory over Italy to round out the group stages of the Rugby League World Cup.

After a 12-try rout in front of 5586 fans in St Helens ahead of a likely quarter-final against Lebanon, the Kangaroos coach said he would be ditching his rotation policy and picking the strongest team possible henceforth.

Meninga has tinkered with his side throughout the group stages, giving each player one of the three games off.

Wingers Campbell Graham and Murray Taulagi grabbed try-scoring doubles to put pressure on the Australia coach but the real question is this: who will partner Cameron Munster in the halves in Huddersfield next Friday (Saturday AEDT)?

Cherry-Evans looked assured playing at five-eighth in his 17th Test to set up two tries, while Cleary took time to grow into the game before finishing the evening with nine from 12 conversion attempts and registering three try assists.

It's a decision which looks set to define the Kangaroos' direction at this tournament and one which is beginning to affect Meninga, even when he attempts to get some sleep.

"I had a dream last night about what the team should be," Meninga said.

"How important the bench is and things like that.

"You're constantly thinking about it all the time and I've got to settle on something very soon.

"It's really important that I have that honest conversation with the players that this is the reason why they missed out.

"There's still pressure, because there's another great No.7 still able to push his way into the team.

"I think they (the players) all understand that from quarter-finals onwards we'll have our best team."

The Kangaroos got their toughest test of the tournament against a spirited Azzurri but were still able to rack up a 30-0 lead at halftime courtesy of a first-half double from Taulagi and tries to Graham, captain James Tedesco, Valentine Holmes and Latrell Mitchell.

After the break Cherry-Evans became the halfback with Cleary switching to five-eighth.

"It's a dynamic that could have caused headaches but we stuck to it pretty well and we worked pretty well," Cleary said.

"We weren't stepping on each other's toes."

Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin all crossed after halftime but the loudest cheer of the night came when Campbelltown-born Rinaldo Palumbo scored for the Italians by diving on a grubber kick into the in-goal on 53 minutes.

Cameron Murray, Graham, Jeremiah Nanai and Lindsay Collins hit back to reassert Australia's dominance.

Italy kept fighting but the real battle will come from within the Kangaroos squad this week when Meninga sits one of Cherry-Evans or Cleary down and tells them why they aren't his first-pick in the No.7 role.

"I knew what I was signing up for, Mal told me before I came that this would be an open competition and that I'd have to fight for a spot," Cherry-Evans said.

"I was either going to be playing for Australia (deep into the tournament) or having to be a bit selfless and do something for a young group coming through.

"Ideally that's on the field, but if not I'll still help this group."

© AAP 2022

At least 146 people have been killed in a crush when a huge crowd celebrating Halloween surged into an alley in a night life area of the South Korean capital Seoul.

A further 150 people were injured in the melee on Saturday night in Seoul's Itaewon district, Choi Sung-beom, head of the Yongsan Fire Station, said in a briefing at the scene.

Many of the injured were in serious condition and receiving emergency treatment, the officials said.

It was the first Halloween event in Seoul in three years after the country lifted COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing. Many of the party-goers were wearing masks and Halloween costumes.

Some witnesses described the crowd becoming increasingly unruly and agitated as the evening deepened. The incident took place about 10.20pm.

"A number of people fell during a Halloween festival, and we have a large number of casualties," Choi said. Many of those killed were near a nightclub.

Many of the victims were women in their twenties, Choi said.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes moments before the stampede, with the police on hand in anticipation of the Halloween event at times having trouble maintaining control of the crowds.

Social media footage showed hundreds of people packed in the narrow, sloped alley crushed and immobile as emergency officials and police tried to pull them to free.

Choi said all the deaths were likely from the crush in the single narrow alley.

Other footage showed chaotic scenes of fire officials and citizens treating dozens of people who appeared to be unconscious.

An unnamed woman who said she was the mother of a survivor said her daughter and others were trapped for more than an hour before being pulled from the crush of people in the alley.

A Reuters witness said a make-shift morgue was set up in a building adjacent to the scene. About four dozen bodies were carried out later on wheeled stretchers and moved to a government facility to identify the victims, according to the witness.

The Itaewon district is popular with young South Koreans and expatriates alike, its dozens of bars and restaurants packed on Saturday for Halloween after businesses had suffered a sharp decline over three years of the pandemic.

Foreigners were among those transferred to nearby hospitals.

"The area is still chaotic so we are still trying to figure out the exact number of people injured," said Moon Hyun-joo, an official at the National Fire Agency.

With the easing of the COVID pandemic, curfews on bars and restaurants and a limit of 10 people for private gatherings were lifted in April. An outdoor mask mandate was dropped in May.

Authorities said they were investigating the exact cause of the incident. President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over an emergency meeting with senior aides.

© RAW 2022

Rock'n'roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has died aged 87.

The US musician, whose hits included Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On, was one of the last survivors of a generation of groundbreaking performers that included Elvis Presley and Little Richard.

Lewis, nicknamed "The Killer", died at his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, south of Memphis with his wife Judith by his side, his publicist announced on Friday.

Following his death, global stars including Elton John, Ronnie Wood and Ringo Starr paid tribute to his "trailblazing inspiration" in the world of music.

Announcing the news, his publicist Zach Farnum said: "Lewis, perhaps the last true, great icon of the birth of rock'n'roll, whose marriage of blues, gospel, country, honky-tonk and raw, pounding stage performances so threatened a young Elvis Presley that it made him cry, has died.

"He was there at the beginning, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and the rest, and watched them fade away one by one till it was him alone to bear witness, and sing of the birth of rock'n'roll."

Lewis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's first class in 1986.

Born in 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana, Lewis later moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he found work as a studio musician for Sun Studios.

Emerging as one of rock music's early showmen in the 1950s, his music went on to be a hit in the pop, country and R&B charts.

He also became known for his stage antics, such as playing standing up and even lighting the occasional piano on fire.

However, in 1958 his status came crashing down after the media learnt he had married his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown while he was touring in Britain. The tour was cancelled and he was blacklisted from the radio.

Over the following decades, Lewis struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, legal disputes, illness and many divorces.

Lewis reinvented himself as a country performer in the 1960s, and the music industry appeared to forgive him as he rose to prominence again.

Paying tribute to Lewis, Elton John said: "Without Jerry Lee Lewis, I wouldn't have become who I am today."

The veteran musician, who has previously cited Lewis as an influence for his love of the piano, added: "He was groundbreaking and exciting, and he pulverised the piano.

"A brilliant singer too. Thank you for your trailblazing inspiration and all the rock 'n' roll memories."

Wood posted a series of photos of him alongside the late musician on Twitter. The Rolling Stones guitarist wrote: "R.I.P. JLL the Killer- What a man."

The Beatles' Ringo Starr posted: "God bless Jerry lee Lewis peace and love to all his family Ringo."

KISS star Gene Simmons tweeted: "Sadly, One of the pioneers of rock 'n' roll has passed. A rebel to the end. RIP, Jerry Lee Lewis."

© PAA 2022