After seeing England Academy defeat Australia for just the fourth time. I caught up with boss Dave Elliott for his reaction:
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT – ELLIOTT PRAISES PERFORMANCE OF HIS BATTLING YOUNG CHARGES
England Academy coach Dave Elliott was full of praise for his super seventeen after England's Academy elite defeated Australia's finest in gripping style on Saturday.
“I'm extremely happy and really proud.” The Cumbrian said.
“I think the guys have shown a lot of passion there for England but also a lot of commitment and patience. We could easily have folded at 30-18 and a big, big pat on the back for the fellas, I thought they were outstanding today.”
At the heart of England's dominant start was Bradford youngster George Burgess. “George had a point to prove.” Elliott said. “It's always hard having a famous older brother but he set a platform for us. He was really strong in go-forward and really strong in the game.”
He wasn't the only one, with the coach quick to praise Wigan scrum half Sam Powell as “sensational”, he continued, “I thought our two halves were really good to be honest. Gaz O'Brien kicked them to death, and Sam was really good, especially when we were behind. Adam Milner was too, he came off the bench when we were 30-18 down and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and got us back into it. As a captain he showed a real passion and gave a real captain's knock. Our back-row impressed and we were really strong off our bench.”
“We said before that we'd train as a team and win as a team and that really stood out.”
England's preparation had been hampered with the team based up in Barrow before the game was switched to Leigh. As a result of the icy conditions it meant much of the preparation was done indoors.
“It was really tough and up until Friday we hadn't had a team run.” Elliott explained, “We'd been training indoors and all weather pitches were we could. We've been working a lot on our metal side and our mental preparation. This week was all to be about fine tuning. It was about keeping the lads together and making them believe that this could be a special week and it's turned out to be.”
“The Australians are big, athletic and physical but I think now people should start looking at our fellas. We've got some big athletic kids who potentially have got big futures in this game. The Australians are a fantastically skilled side. The game was a great advert for rugby league. There were times I was looking on thinking 'that was a fantastic game to watch'. Our fellas should be really proud of their efforts.”
No comments:
Post a Comment