Entry 11, 13th November
AUSTRALIA 12 NEW ZEALAND 16
An exhausting game was ended in the most exhilarating fashion when Nathan Fien added the finishing touch to a wonderful move. Australia were clinging to a 12-10 advantage two minutes from the end of the game when Kiwi maestro Benji Marshall went down the right. Marshall then fired out an accurate pass. Shaun Kenny-Dowall sent Jason Nightingale free and his inside pass was played at by the Australian defence. Marshall followed up and slipped a speculator over his shoulder for Fein to take the second bounce and cross for a try by the posts.
Marshall who kicked the resulting conversion to tie up a 16-12 win, held the trophy aloft and said, "It means an awful lot to us. We are trying to close that gap. I'd like to thank the New Zealand supporters. To my boys its a pleasure to stand up here and be your captain, we've done a lot of hard work this week."
New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said, "We were a lot better than we were last week, it was a matter of giving us an opportunity and we did that tonight, I'm so very proud of the guys. Australia are a champion side but we showed some fairly good qualities tonight too. Last week showed us there is still a gap and for me and the NZ RL it's a matter of closing that gap. We did some of that tonight, but it's an ongoing project."
The contest was one of attrition from the start and Australia got away to a better opening when Darren Lockyer slid a grubber kick behind the defence after referee Tony Archer and touch judge James Child missed a foot in touch by wing Brett Morris. Lance Hohaia struggled to take the bounce and Brent Tate followed up to touch down. The conversion from Cameron Smith gave Australia a 6-0 lead and the Kangaroos continued to keep the pressure on New Zealand.
Midway through the first half, Australia were unlucky to lose Luke Lewis with injury just as the second row appeared to be hitting form.
Gradually, New Zealand worked their way into the game with their pack eventually winning field position and their defence tough and uncompromising. It took until just before half-time for the visitors to unlock the Australian defence and it was through that man Marshall. His short pass looked forward but Kenny-Dowall raced through for his skipper to level matters at 6-6.
A short brawl on half-time between a number of players from both teams saw the temperatures rise further prompting the referee to speak with both captains. This masked a further problem for Australia who were forced to play on without Tate in the second half. The centre was inconsolable having suffered a suspected knee problem.
Despite playing with their backs to the wall, it was Australia who struck with a fine try before the hour as they bashed away at the Kiwi defence and then switched the ball down the left for Greg Bird to conjure up an offload to send Billy Slater into space and past a stranded Hohaia. Again Cameron Smith goaled from a difficult position and it was 12-6 to Australia, heading into the final quarter.
Hohaia continued to remain involved for New Zealand, bravely returning kicks and chiming in where possible while the sheer toughness of Jeremy Smith was to be admired. The Kiwis visibly upped their efforts and forced Australia into a number of errors, forcing a drop out and then a succession of penalties that eventually told.
Once again the Australian lock-picker was Marshall as he weighed up the options open to him in the blink of an eye. He put a tremendous grubber kick to the in-goal and Nightingale timed his run to perfection to claim the try. Marshall's conversion attempt looked good until the final second when it struck the post and bounced out.
Still clinging to their slender advantage, Australia tried to close out but Marshall and company had other ideas with a wonderful attack which brought the spectacular team try for Fien to win the Four Nations Trophy.
Australia: Slater; Morris, Tate, Tonga, Tuqiri; Lockyer (captain), Cronk; Scott, Smith, Shillington; Lewis, Thaiday, Gallen. : Learoyd-Lahrs, Bird, Gidley, Myles.
Tries: Tate, Slater
Goals: Smith 2/2
New Zealand: Hohaia; Nightingale, Kenny-Dowall, Mannering, Perrett; Marshall (captain), Fien; McKendry, Leuluai, Blair; Harrison, Matulino, Smith. : Eastwood, Luke, Nuuausala, Manu.
Tries: Kenny-Dowall, Nightingale, Fien
Goals: Marshall 2/3
Attendance: 36,299.
Showing posts with label Four Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Four Nations. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Friday, 12 November 2010
#rugbyleague BLOG 2010/11: Four Nations Final Preview: This time it's for Real!
Entry 10. 12th November 2010
Four weeks of tough Rugby League action comes to a close in Brisbane tomorrow when the Four Nations final will be played at Suncorp Stadium.
It would be fair to say that Australia owe New Zealand after the Kiwis won the 2008 World Cup with a superb performance in the final. I get the feeling that the Australians have been simmering about that for two years and they will be keen to back up last year's 46-16 Elland Road defeat of England and win their second Four Nations crown on the bounce.
There is no doubting that the Aussies will be confident as well, afterall they did win at Eden Park last week to send the majority of the 44,000 crowd home very unhappy.
For Australia there is no Petero Civoniceva with some speculation suggesting that the big man will not get the opportunity to pull on a Green and Gold jumper again however we must remember the likes of Stephen Price and Reuben Wiki who both carried on pulling on the international uniform.
Billy Slater, Willie Tonga, Luke Lewis and Darren Lockyer all return to the Kangaroos line up with Nate Miles on the bench.
Such is the changing culture of the Australian side that only four of the seventeen played in the 2008 World Cup final while in comparison, New Zealand still call on ten of their number from that fateful day.
Another old face to return for Australia is Darren Lockyer and the veteran halfback still holds the key in my view. This will be his 54th test and what is more he reclaims the captain's armband.
The Australian team annouced is:
Billy Slater
Brett Morris
Brent Tate
Willie Tonga
Lote Tuqiri
D. Lockyer (c)
Cooper Cronk
Matthew Scott
Cameron Smith
David Shillington
Luke Lewis
Sam Thaiday
Paul Gallen
While the bench is expected to see Myles, Gidley, Learoyd-Lars and Watmough.
In comparison, the Kiwis still look strong but they will be hoping to get Marshall as involved as possible. I also think Lance Hohaia is a useful player and he always plays well, particularly against England. Gregg Eastwood has put behind him some patchy form for Leeds and has been stepped up the the front row while Thomas Leuluai continues ahead of Isaac Luke at hooker. With no Frank Pritchard due to injury, Kiwi's boss Stephen Kearney has named another big bench.
Here is the NZ squad.
Lance Hohaia
J. Nightingale
S. Kenny-Dowall
Junior Sa'u
Sam Perrett
Benji Marshall (c)
Nathan Fien
Greg Eastwood
Thomas Leuluai
Adam Blair
Bronson Harrison
Simon Mannering
Jeremy Smith
Interchange (from): Issac Luke, Ben Matulino, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam McKendry, Sika Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Lewis Brown
I think we are in for a cracker - let's just hope it's better than last week, and a different result!
Four weeks of tough Rugby League action comes to a close in Brisbane tomorrow when the Four Nations final will be played at Suncorp Stadium.
It would be fair to say that Australia owe New Zealand after the Kiwis won the 2008 World Cup with a superb performance in the final. I get the feeling that the Australians have been simmering about that for two years and they will be keen to back up last year's 46-16 Elland Road defeat of England and win their second Four Nations crown on the bounce.
There is no doubting that the Aussies will be confident as well, afterall they did win at Eden Park last week to send the majority of the 44,000 crowd home very unhappy.
For Australia there is no Petero Civoniceva with some speculation suggesting that the big man will not get the opportunity to pull on a Green and Gold jumper again however we must remember the likes of Stephen Price and Reuben Wiki who both carried on pulling on the international uniform.
Billy Slater, Willie Tonga, Luke Lewis and Darren Lockyer all return to the Kangaroos line up with Nate Miles on the bench.
Such is the changing culture of the Australian side that only four of the seventeen played in the 2008 World Cup final while in comparison, New Zealand still call on ten of their number from that fateful day.
Another old face to return for Australia is Darren Lockyer and the veteran halfback still holds the key in my view. This will be his 54th test and what is more he reclaims the captain's armband.
The Australian team annouced is:
Billy Slater
Brett Morris
Brent Tate
Willie Tonga
Lote Tuqiri
D. Lockyer (c)
Cooper Cronk
Matthew Scott
Cameron Smith
David Shillington
Luke Lewis
Sam Thaiday
Paul Gallen
While the bench is expected to see Myles, Gidley, Learoyd-Lars and Watmough.
In comparison, the Kiwis still look strong but they will be hoping to get Marshall as involved as possible. I also think Lance Hohaia is a useful player and he always plays well, particularly against England. Gregg Eastwood has put behind him some patchy form for Leeds and has been stepped up the the front row while Thomas Leuluai continues ahead of Isaac Luke at hooker. With no Frank Pritchard due to injury, Kiwi's boss Stephen Kearney has named another big bench.
Here is the NZ squad.
Lance Hohaia
J. Nightingale
S. Kenny-Dowall
Junior Sa'u
Sam Perrett
Benji Marshall (c)
Nathan Fien
Greg Eastwood
Thomas Leuluai
Adam Blair
Bronson Harrison
Simon Mannering
Jeremy Smith
Interchange (from): Issac Luke, Ben Matulino, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam McKendry, Sika Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Lewis Brown
I think we are in for a cracker - let's just hope it's better than last week, and a different result!
Sunday, 7 November 2010
#rugbyleague BLOG 2010/11: Australia Stun Kiwis at Eden Park
Entry 6. 7th November
This was supposed to be the game where New Zealand showed the sporting public that there is a true shift in power in the Southern Hemisphere. What eventuated was a case of clinical ruthlessness from Australia. Even with a few changes to their side, no Darren Lockyer or Billy Slater as a casing point, this still showed New Zealand what they have to apsire towards.
New Zealand made a confident start but a disappointing kick was snapped up by Darius Boyd. It then took the Australians just six minutes to open scoring after Paul Gallen and Cameron Smith kept the ball alive for Cooper Cronk to shoot through the defence. Smith converted and it was 6-0.
Australia kept the pressure on with Todd Carney forcing a drop out but the Green and Golds were unable to add to their score and when David Shillington went high with a tackle at the other end of the field, Benji Marshall planted the ball between the posts to put the Kiwis back within striking distance at 6-2.
As the Kiwis massed their attack, a sound grubber kick from Lance Hohaia forced a drop out but again Australias defence held firm.
A couple of minutes later Carney spun a pass wide for Brett Tate and he was able to smuggle the ball out of a Sam Perrett tackle for Brett Morris to touch down. Again Smith made it six points with the conversion and New Zealand went through the horrors when they booted the ball out on the full from the restart. After moving within striking distance, Tate became try scorer with a lunge from dummy half and hooker Smith again goaled for an 18-2 lead.
It was then that the Kiwis finally got going. Frank Pritchard won a penalty and all of a sudden New Zealand moved with purpose. Marshall's excellent grubber kick was chased by Nathan Fein and forced a drop out while the Kiwi Marshall almost got things moving with Hohaia only for an Australian hand to intervene.
The pressure did eventually tell on Australia when Thomas Leuluai found Pritchard and he went through the heart of the defence for a power-packed try. Marshall converted and the Kiwis could count themselves unlucky a couple of minutes later when Simon Mannering broke the line but instead of finding Jason Nightingale, he popped the ball up into the grateful arms of Dean Young.
A dust-up between Shillington and Isaac Luke livened the game up further before the break but with the clock ticking down, Marshall booted his third goal to send the Kiwis in with just an eight point deficit at half-time.
As in the first half, Australia scored first in the second when a flying Morris threw the ball inside for Boyd and he scored his first international try. It was too far out for Smith and Australia had to be on their guard when quick thinking from Marshall saw him tap a penalty and duck and weave downfield for a forty metre gain. Again this came to nothing while at the other end a knock-on from Hohaia was touched by New Zealand hands meaning a penalty to Australia. With field position and possession, Australia did what they do best.
Robbie Farrah darted out of dummy half and slid a pin point kick to the in-goal area for clubmate Chris Lawrence to chase. The debutant grounded cleanly and Carney goaled to make it 28-10. Another mistake from the Kiwis was punished as they compounded a knock-on by not setting up correctly at the scrum. Australia used numbers well with Tate handing on to Morris and he seared 40 metres down the wing to the try line. Carney added his second goal and at 34-10 the contest was over.
New Zealand continued to plug away and will certainly fancy their chances next week in the final if they can get Benji Marshall a proper platform to work his magic from. A rare mistake from Boyd came after 63 minutes and it was the Kiwis turn to punish as a superb Marshall offload found Nightingale for an unconverted try.
The New Zealand stand-off was incredibly unlucky eight minutes later when he just lost the ball over the line after some great footwork but he did not let this deter him and a majestic pass bamboozled the defence and allowed Shaun Kenny-Dowall to score the final try of the game in the 76th minute. Marshall booted his fourth goal but the Kiwis lost out 34-20 and must regroup ahead of next Saturday's final in Brisbane.
I for one can't wait for that!
This was supposed to be the game where New Zealand showed the sporting public that there is a true shift in power in the Southern Hemisphere. What eventuated was a case of clinical ruthlessness from Australia. Even with a few changes to their side, no Darren Lockyer or Billy Slater as a casing point, this still showed New Zealand what they have to apsire towards.
New Zealand made a confident start but a disappointing kick was snapped up by Darius Boyd. It then took the Australians just six minutes to open scoring after Paul Gallen and Cameron Smith kept the ball alive for Cooper Cronk to shoot through the defence. Smith converted and it was 6-0.
Australia kept the pressure on with Todd Carney forcing a drop out but the Green and Golds were unable to add to their score and when David Shillington went high with a tackle at the other end of the field, Benji Marshall planted the ball between the posts to put the Kiwis back within striking distance at 6-2.
As the Kiwis massed their attack, a sound grubber kick from Lance Hohaia forced a drop out but again Australias defence held firm.
A couple of minutes later Carney spun a pass wide for Brett Tate and he was able to smuggle the ball out of a Sam Perrett tackle for Brett Morris to touch down. Again Smith made it six points with the conversion and New Zealand went through the horrors when they booted the ball out on the full from the restart. After moving within striking distance, Tate became try scorer with a lunge from dummy half and hooker Smith again goaled for an 18-2 lead.
It was then that the Kiwis finally got going. Frank Pritchard won a penalty and all of a sudden New Zealand moved with purpose. Marshall's excellent grubber kick was chased by Nathan Fein and forced a drop out while the Kiwi Marshall almost got things moving with Hohaia only for an Australian hand to intervene.
The pressure did eventually tell on Australia when Thomas Leuluai found Pritchard and he went through the heart of the defence for a power-packed try. Marshall converted and the Kiwis could count themselves unlucky a couple of minutes later when Simon Mannering broke the line but instead of finding Jason Nightingale, he popped the ball up into the grateful arms of Dean Young.
A dust-up between Shillington and Isaac Luke livened the game up further before the break but with the clock ticking down, Marshall booted his third goal to send the Kiwis in with just an eight point deficit at half-time.
As in the first half, Australia scored first in the second when a flying Morris threw the ball inside for Boyd and he scored his first international try. It was too far out for Smith and Australia had to be on their guard when quick thinking from Marshall saw him tap a penalty and duck and weave downfield for a forty metre gain. Again this came to nothing while at the other end a knock-on from Hohaia was touched by New Zealand hands meaning a penalty to Australia. With field position and possession, Australia did what they do best.
Robbie Farrah darted out of dummy half and slid a pin point kick to the in-goal area for clubmate Chris Lawrence to chase. The debutant grounded cleanly and Carney goaled to make it 28-10. Another mistake from the Kiwis was punished as they compounded a knock-on by not setting up correctly at the scrum. Australia used numbers well with Tate handing on to Morris and he seared 40 metres down the wing to the try line. Carney added his second goal and at 34-10 the contest was over.
New Zealand continued to plug away and will certainly fancy their chances next week in the final if they can get Benji Marshall a proper platform to work his magic from. A rare mistake from Boyd came after 63 minutes and it was the Kiwis turn to punish as a superb Marshall offload found Nightingale for an unconverted try.
The New Zealand stand-off was incredibly unlucky eight minutes later when he just lost the ball over the line after some great footwork but he did not let this deter him and a majestic pass bamboozled the defence and allowed Shaun Kenny-Dowall to score the final try of the game in the 76th minute. Marshall booted his fourth goal but the Kiwis lost out 34-20 and must regroup ahead of next Saturday's final in Brisbane.
I for one can't wait for that!
Friday, 5 November 2010
#rugbyleague BLOG 2010/2011: Looking ahead to the Kumuls
Entry 4: 5th November
There may well be fireworks tonight but be rest assured there will also be some tomorrow when New Zealand take on Australia and Papua New Guinea meet England in the Four Nations.
I've already gone into quite a lot of detail as to where I feel there have been deficiencies in the England game but pride really is at stake against a PNG team shorn of many of their stars and struggling.
Having said that, the Kumuls are not to be taken lightly. They boast a quintet of players that all have experience of the English game, playing for teams such as Sheffield (Menzie Yere), Featherstone (and from next year Wakefield in the case of Jessie Joe Parker), Halifax (Makali Aizue) and Hunslet pair Michael Mark and the superbly named Charlie Wabo.
Yere has just completed his second season in the Championship with the Eagles and still appears to be improving. His defensive work against Australia earned him the nickname "Jukebox" in the Aussie press.
Parker was having a tremendous season with Featherstone before having to return home. Certainly for the first half of the year, the raw boned centre was Rovers main go-to attacking player and even claimed a couple of tries against Warrington in a 48-24 defeat.
Aizue has had something of a mixed year at Halifax. After joining them in the close season and playing a few games, he got injured and then fell out of favour only to force his way back into contention in the closing stages. He turned in a couple of inspirational performances at the end of the season, including a crackerjack performance in the Championship Grand Final as Halifax recovered from 22-4 down to win 23-22 in extra time.
The last names I mentioned were those of Michael Mark and Charlie Wabo. Both have done well for Hunslet this year having first come over to try their luck in England after the 2008 World Cup. Wabo is a clever hooker and caused the Kiwi defence a couple of problems last week, especially when he chipped over the defence and regathered to then send stand off Glen Nami racing to the line. Mark is a winger small in stature, big on heart that has had little chance to show his wares in this competition but has scored a number of memorable tries for the Hawks.
It is hoped that England do not take to their task with any complacency. The team should have too much for PNG and for the first time on tour, club halfbacks Kevin Brown and Luke Robinson are paired together while Tony Clubb of Harlequins returns to the international side alongside Warrington's Garreth Carvell who is on the bench. There is also a recall at substitute for Gareth Widdop.
Here is the England team in full:
1 Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
2 Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
3 Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants, Newsome)
4 Tony Clubb (Harlequins RL, Greenwich Admirals)
5 Tom Briscoe (Hull FC, Featherstone Lions)
6 Kevin Brown (Huddersfield Giants, Thatto Heath)
7 Luke Robinson (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
8 James Graham (St Helens, Blackbrook) (capt)
9 James Roby (St Helens, Blackbrook)
10 Sam Burgess (South Sydney, Dewsbury Moor)
11 Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers, Castleford Lock Lane)
12 Ben Westwood (Warrington Wolves, Normanton Knights)
13 Sean O'Loughlin (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Interchange
14 Darrell Griffin (Huddersfield Giants, Oxford Cavaliers)
15 Garreth Carvell (Warrington Wolves, Stanningley)
16 Ben Harrison (Warrington Wolves, Barrow Island)
17 Gareth Widdop (Melbourne Storm, King Cross)
Hopefully I'll be blogging a little more positively after the game!
There may well be fireworks tonight but be rest assured there will also be some tomorrow when New Zealand take on Australia and Papua New Guinea meet England in the Four Nations.
I've already gone into quite a lot of detail as to where I feel there have been deficiencies in the England game but pride really is at stake against a PNG team shorn of many of their stars and struggling.
Having said that, the Kumuls are not to be taken lightly. They boast a quintet of players that all have experience of the English game, playing for teams such as Sheffield (Menzie Yere), Featherstone (and from next year Wakefield in the case of Jessie Joe Parker), Halifax (Makali Aizue) and Hunslet pair Michael Mark and the superbly named Charlie Wabo.
Yere has just completed his second season in the Championship with the Eagles and still appears to be improving. His defensive work against Australia earned him the nickname "Jukebox" in the Aussie press.
Parker was having a tremendous season with Featherstone before having to return home. Certainly for the first half of the year, the raw boned centre was Rovers main go-to attacking player and even claimed a couple of tries against Warrington in a 48-24 defeat.
Aizue has had something of a mixed year at Halifax. After joining them in the close season and playing a few games, he got injured and then fell out of favour only to force his way back into contention in the closing stages. He turned in a couple of inspirational performances at the end of the season, including a crackerjack performance in the Championship Grand Final as Halifax recovered from 22-4 down to win 23-22 in extra time.
The last names I mentioned were those of Michael Mark and Charlie Wabo. Both have done well for Hunslet this year having first come over to try their luck in England after the 2008 World Cup. Wabo is a clever hooker and caused the Kiwi defence a couple of problems last week, especially when he chipped over the defence and regathered to then send stand off Glen Nami racing to the line. Mark is a winger small in stature, big on heart that has had little chance to show his wares in this competition but has scored a number of memorable tries for the Hawks.
It is hoped that England do not take to their task with any complacency. The team should have too much for PNG and for the first time on tour, club halfbacks Kevin Brown and Luke Robinson are paired together while Tony Clubb of Harlequins returns to the international side alongside Warrington's Garreth Carvell who is on the bench. There is also a recall at substitute for Gareth Widdop.
Here is the England team in full:
1 Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
2 Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
3 Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants, Newsome)
4 Tony Clubb (Harlequins RL, Greenwich Admirals)
5 Tom Briscoe (Hull FC, Featherstone Lions)
6 Kevin Brown (Huddersfield Giants, Thatto Heath)
7 Luke Robinson (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
8 James Graham (St Helens, Blackbrook) (capt)
9 James Roby (St Helens, Blackbrook)
10 Sam Burgess (South Sydney, Dewsbury Moor)
11 Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers, Castleford Lock Lane)
12 Ben Westwood (Warrington Wolves, Normanton Knights)
13 Sean O'Loughlin (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Interchange
14 Darrell Griffin (Huddersfield Giants, Oxford Cavaliers)
15 Garreth Carvell (Warrington Wolves, Stanningley)
16 Ben Harrison (Warrington Wolves, Barrow Island)
17 Gareth Widdop (Melbourne Storm, King Cross)
Hopefully I'll be blogging a little more positively after the game!
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Four Nations Final Thoughts
Well it's happened again hasn't it?
England came up against an Australian side in determined mood and despite giving everything they had for a tad over an hour, the Aussies then flexed their muscles and showed their class to take the score from a highly competitive 22-16 in their favour to a 46-16 blow out.
Although the experts will point to the loss of centre Michael Shenton as the turning point, carried off with concussion after an almighty clash with Australian prop Ben Hannant and the floor, I think the rot set in earlier.
Right after scoring to take the lead for the third time through Sam Burgess (whose two tries will have done his growing reputation on the world stage no harm whatsoever), England's next two sets of possession were poor. In fact I'd go as far to say that in their own half England were pedestrian, predictable and never looked like making yards. The same can not be said when in the Australian half where in Kyle Eastmond and Sam Tomkins there was much unpredictability and it looked like the defence could be broken if these two players had the ball in their hands more often.
I felt that when Billy Slater barged over for a soft try from dummy half that the writing was on the wall and there were also some worrying tell tale signs in the first half despite England scoring first through a superb Burgess run.
Brett Morris had already seen a try chalked off by the video referee when he hurtled in at the corner. Scrum half Thurston matched Kevin Sinfield with the conversion.
Eastmond then put a kick to the corner and Peter Fox did very well to get above Jarryd Hayne to touch down but back came the Australians with a confidential try which started first of all with two mesmerisingly quick passes in midfield before the ball was chipped low to the corner and Greg Inglis, a modern day Mal Meninga if ever there was one, won the race but the video replays suggested the ball had just been lost.
To the amazement of the bulk of the 31,042 crowd the try was awarded, Thurston converted and added a penalty to make it 14-10 to Australia at the break.
Crucially for me, England looked laboured in those last ten minutes of the half with the Australians ominously making breaks while some tidy work at dummy half from Cameron Smith plus quality passing from Jonathan Thurston and the constant promptings of Darren Lockyer gave glimpse to their potential.
England tore into their opponents from the start of the second half and things were looking up as within seconds of taking his place on the field, Burgess hit a great line to go under the posts.
Sinfield converted with the Elland Road crowd teasing the Australians with taunts of "who are you?"
It would be fair to say we all knew who they were half an hour later.
As mentioned Slater started the momentum with a try from dummy half and he was quickly followed over the line by Cameron Smith following an astounding piece of play in the in-goal area by Slater, Morris scored a second, Slater claimed his second and third tries and Hayne got in at the corner.
Some people had suggested they'd not seen a lot of Lockyer, winning his 50th cap for Australia but that was foolhardy. He broke the line once in the first half and almost got through again, but in the second half, particularly the last 25 minutes, he was excellent. He made two further breaks with his kicking producing two tries and his passing helped set up another pair of scores.
Without doubt he will go down in Australian Rugby League legend as a champion player and if he does call time on his representative career, the international game will be all the poorer for it.
Thurston ended up with seven goals as England became tired and dispirited and the crowd, so vociferous in the first half, drifted away from the ground during the closing stages.
It all meant that once again a team from these shores had been handed it's backside on a plate by Australia. The pattern is familiar and sad and will drag into a 38th year. I have to say though, fourteen years of Super League rugby with better facilities and more science thn you can shake a theory of relativity at and we are still light years behind Australia!
Cue months of soul searching from the RFL and a conclusion to do things more the Australian way. That would be a bigger mistake in my eyes. I have said before we need to find our own way of playing the game. For me skills and decision making on the field has to take a precidence, plus let's bring the fun back, this is what crowds associate with. I certainly saw the visible lift when the exciting talent that is Kyle Eastmond ran at the Australians. He looked to be enjoying himself.
Off field, Franchising needs to go, it doesn't work and things stagnate.
We all too readily look at the Australian game, lets look somewhere else for inspiration, or shock horror, (dare I say it) come up with something entirely new!
England came up against an Australian side in determined mood and despite giving everything they had for a tad over an hour, the Aussies then flexed their muscles and showed their class to take the score from a highly competitive 22-16 in their favour to a 46-16 blow out.
Although the experts will point to the loss of centre Michael Shenton as the turning point, carried off with concussion after an almighty clash with Australian prop Ben Hannant and the floor, I think the rot set in earlier.
Right after scoring to take the lead for the third time through Sam Burgess (whose two tries will have done his growing reputation on the world stage no harm whatsoever), England's next two sets of possession were poor. In fact I'd go as far to say that in their own half England were pedestrian, predictable and never looked like making yards. The same can not be said when in the Australian half where in Kyle Eastmond and Sam Tomkins there was much unpredictability and it looked like the defence could be broken if these two players had the ball in their hands more often.
I felt that when Billy Slater barged over for a soft try from dummy half that the writing was on the wall and there were also some worrying tell tale signs in the first half despite England scoring first through a superb Burgess run.
Brett Morris had already seen a try chalked off by the video referee when he hurtled in at the corner. Scrum half Thurston matched Kevin Sinfield with the conversion.
Eastmond then put a kick to the corner and Peter Fox did very well to get above Jarryd Hayne to touch down but back came the Australians with a confidential try which started first of all with two mesmerisingly quick passes in midfield before the ball was chipped low to the corner and Greg Inglis, a modern day Mal Meninga if ever there was one, won the race but the video replays suggested the ball had just been lost.
To the amazement of the bulk of the 31,042 crowd the try was awarded, Thurston converted and added a penalty to make it 14-10 to Australia at the break.
Crucially for me, England looked laboured in those last ten minutes of the half with the Australians ominously making breaks while some tidy work at dummy half from Cameron Smith plus quality passing from Jonathan Thurston and the constant promptings of Darren Lockyer gave glimpse to their potential.
England tore into their opponents from the start of the second half and things were looking up as within seconds of taking his place on the field, Burgess hit a great line to go under the posts.
Sinfield converted with the Elland Road crowd teasing the Australians with taunts of "who are you?"
It would be fair to say we all knew who they were half an hour later.
As mentioned Slater started the momentum with a try from dummy half and he was quickly followed over the line by Cameron Smith following an astounding piece of play in the in-goal area by Slater, Morris scored a second, Slater claimed his second and third tries and Hayne got in at the corner.
Some people had suggested they'd not seen a lot of Lockyer, winning his 50th cap for Australia but that was foolhardy. He broke the line once in the first half and almost got through again, but in the second half, particularly the last 25 minutes, he was excellent. He made two further breaks with his kicking producing two tries and his passing helped set up another pair of scores.
Without doubt he will go down in Australian Rugby League legend as a champion player and if he does call time on his representative career, the international game will be all the poorer for it.
Thurston ended up with seven goals as England became tired and dispirited and the crowd, so vociferous in the first half, drifted away from the ground during the closing stages.
It all meant that once again a team from these shores had been handed it's backside on a plate by Australia. The pattern is familiar and sad and will drag into a 38th year. I have to say though, fourteen years of Super League rugby with better facilities and more science thn you can shake a theory of relativity at and we are still light years behind Australia!
Cue months of soul searching from the RFL and a conclusion to do things more the Australian way. That would be a bigger mistake in my eyes. I have said before we need to find our own way of playing the game. For me skills and decision making on the field has to take a precidence, plus let's bring the fun back, this is what crowds associate with. I certainly saw the visible lift when the exciting talent that is Kyle Eastmond ran at the Australians. He looked to be enjoying himself.
Off field, Franchising needs to go, it doesn't work and things stagnate.
We all too readily look at the Australian game, lets look somewhere else for inspiration, or shock horror, (dare I say it) come up with something entirely new!
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