Kangaroos Coach Mal Meninga has named three debutants for the clash, with the Canberra Raiders and Magpies junior joined by Sharks winger Valentine Holmes (No.809) and interchange forward Tyson Frizell (No.810) all wearing the green and gold jersey for the first time.

Sam Thaiday will play his 30th Test match for Australia against the Kiwis.

"This will be a great challenge for this team," Meninga said.

"The Kiwis have picked a very strong squad themselves. It will be great to see how some of our younger players fare against such an opponent."

Boyd was included in the squad after a break-out year with the Raiders, the Cowra junior a monster for Ricky Stuart up front as the Green Machine progressed to the preliminary finals in 2016.

Boyd found out about his selection in the Australian train-on squad while back home on the family farm in Cowra, where he’d been shearing for a week.

The new look Kangaroos will kick-off against New Zealand at NIB Stadium on Saturday at 7.50pm (AEDT).

KANGAROOS: 1 Darius Boyd, 2 Blake Ferguson, 3 Greg Inglis, 4 Josh Dugan, 5 Valentine Holmes, 6 Johnathan Thurston, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Matt Scott, 9 Cameron Smith ©, 10 Shannon Boyd, 11 Boyd Cordner, 12 Matt Gillett, 13 Trent Merrin; 14 David Klemmer, 15 Michael Morgan, 16 Tyson Frizell, 17 Sam Thaiday.