Australia coach Wayne Bennett lauded halfback Scott Prince as proof that perseverance pays off after naming him to make his Test debut in Saturday's Tri-Nations clash with Great Britain.

Prince's inclusion for the injured Andrew Johns was one of two changes to the defending champions' line-up for the JJB Stadium international, the other being Nathan Hindmarsh and Willie Mason added to a five-man bench at the expense of Trent Waterhouse.

Interchange forward Jason Ryles (quadriceps) and Parramatta's Hindmarsh (knee) require fitness tests.

"I just sidled up beside him and said 'congratulations, you're an Australian Test player - now get out there and keep training'," Bennett said of Wests Tigers' Prince, who has suffered a string of serious injuries as well as losing his father in a car accident since making his first grade debut at 18.

"The important thing for him now is to think he's running the Wests Tigers forward pack. I don't want him to think because he's playing for Australia, he's got to do something different.

"If he does what he does for the Tigers every weekend, we'll be more than happy with that."

Bennett was coaching Prince at the Broncos when he suffered a fractured tibia in 2002, but said: "He's had a bit of good luck in the last 12 months, I can tell you.

"It always reminds you what's great about the sport: perseverance. It's too easy for the guys who do it tough to wonder if they'll ever get the chance to play again.

"I'm sure he's someone who appreciates going out to play every week. At one stage he probably thought it wasn't going to happen for him."

St George Illawarra's Ryles has an injury which has prevented him training with the team this week while Hindmarsh is bidding to make a return from a knee problem suffered on the eve of the NRL finals.

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