If they gave us Cherry-Evans i still believe Mac would select Sinfield and Chase in the halves.

I have been watching Australian teams come to these shores since 1986, I am sure many posters have seen more than me. If I were to look at this team and then think which players would make a 17 made up of the best Aussies I have seen only three of them would come close

Billy Slater is probably the best Australian full back I have seen but he prone to real calamitous errors

Cam Smith is the best hooker I have seen play for Australia

Greg Inglis is a fantastic player and would probably get into a Dunbar best ever Australian 17… although centre would be hugely competitive with the likes of Meninga and Miles to name just two

Of the rest, I can honestly say that they wouldn’t get near a best 17

Yes, Thurston is good but not when he is next to Lewis, Kenny or Lockyer

Cronk is good but he is no Andrew Johns

The wingers are solid but remember when we used to see Sailor, Tuqiri (at his best) and Folau named on the wings – now those were scary names

I could go on but the bottom line is that team is very beatable. I hope that the English team see it even if the fans don’t

Yes, but Australia probably will only be beaten by New Zealand.

As for Thurston he is probably one of the five best players in the world today, along wth Inglis, Smith, Slater ad SBW.

Is Jennings injured then?
And is Brent Tate really the third best aussie centre available? For all the flair on show in the NRL he seems decidedly average.

We need to stop this professionalism stuff that's in evidence in SL and start a fight in the first 5 minutes. Send one of the Burgii to tvvat Thurston straight away, then the whole pack goes in.
The Aussies are superb, but just like the Germans, they don't like it up em.

As great as the Aussies are, that team isn’t unbeatable. Of course they are favourites but there are weaknesses.

You swap the name of that team for England and we would be seeing people complaining that we have a full back on the wing, and a fullback in the centre being played out of position. That we have an out and out 13 playing in the 2nd row to fit in a prop playing at 13. That Luke Lewis is a jack of all trades master of none.

Thanks for that... not really anything to do with my post but thanks anyway

Im not sure id quite go along with that but every Australian high tackle, every bit of foul play needs the forwards in and about, pushing and shoving. If an ocker swings a punch, two or three swinging back at him straight away. If you are grabbed round the neck, he is punched in the head before has time to think. If they are laying on and slowing the tackle, throw them off, get in their face and get them worrying, get them thinking.

I've gone from thinking "oh sheite" from the first post, to thinking there's actually a chance if England go hell for leather. Get yourself doing the team talk pre match (along with Wacko from Mike Bassett, obviously).

That's not the strongest OZ line up I've seen. As another poster said,
Compare it to the other OZ teams, it's not as good IMHO
(Could still have the potential to post 50+) passed us though.

We're much stronger in the backs than 5 years ago. We had Welllens at fill back and Gardner and Smith on the wing.

This time we have Tomkins/Charnley/Hall.
We have a lot of speed and size in the pack. Trouble is can our half backs use them.

The biff is an ancient tactic now.
Don't like it up 'em? Do you not watch SOO? They seem to be able to handle themselves there.

Hard fast skillful rugby will win.

It's just always appeared to me that the times we've been at our best against the Aussies, when we've either won or given them a good game, our pack has stood up to them. And like Smokey says, don't take anything from them. Peacock standing up against Mason, Sculthorpe & Fitzgibbon, Morley's 12 seconds, Edwards sending off, McDermott and...well pretty much anyone. Also, whenever we start giving the Aussies a game they start niggling and getting aggressive. So let's be the aggressive ones first and don't let them settle.

If we lose from giving away too many penalties for hitting an Aussie then I don't mind. It's when we go down with a whimper that it annoys me.

I've no idea why punching an Aussie should be a penalty anyway. Ridiculous rule.

It should be actively encouraged IMHO.

You mean where each side usually resorts to biff to try and unsettle the opposition?

You can't play fast, skillful rugby at this level without battering them. If you hold off them and play nicely, nicely they'll walk over us. They're a better team. The better teams never lose if their pack is dominant.

Its test rugby league. A bit of Biff should be mandatory. Im not generally in favour of it but if you can’t hit a guy wearing a green and gold jersey in a rugby league test match then we have lost something beautiful.

+1
In a Nutshell.

History really does repeat itself. Same old opinions expressed immediately prior to an encounter against Australia. Australia aren't that good, average players, etc.

Where is Roughyedspud these days?



That Brent Tate is nothing special, neither is Joel Monaghan. Scott Prince? They are having a laugh, he really is crap! Anthony Laffranchi? LOL! Steve Price? You're kidding right? Josh Perry? Bwahahahahaha! England will beat that lot, England got best pack in the world you know, nothing to fear, etc.

[uResult[/u: Australia 52 England 4





Here's hoping for a close and competitive game on Saturday as it's the only opportunity to grab a win for the first time in 7 years.

The strength and weakness of the Aussies are the same thing really. They have a plan and stick to it, some call it relentless, some call it rigid.

If the Aussies go 6 nil down, they won't change anything. Just get back to the plan. And if they go ahead by 6 they will just keep at it.

To even get close to them, you have to defend smart. Get your numbers right on the edges and stop the pack rolling and getting on top.

I think we'll play a bit more ad lib in attack, mixing up the kicking game. But if we are to get close, or win, we must must must defend well. Especially on kick chase. Make Slate carry it back at us instead of handing it off to Boyd or Morris.

It's do-able, but we have to concentrate in defence and keep turning up.

I'd rather Burgess smashed them in the tackle and got them to react, than just punch them.

Hard tough rugby - yes
Defend your mates if anything kicks off - absolutely
Go in with intention of roughing them up against the rules - penalty....Aussies get good ball on our line....try

I have seen stronger Australian sides in the past, the likes of Tate, Boyd, Bird & Scott don't particularly worry me too much.

But the spine of the team is very strong though...Slater, Thurston, Cronk & Smith are class and know each others game inside out via Queensland dominance .

Gallen is very good too but we could knock him off his game with some clever niggle.

Inglis in the centres is interesting...will playing full back all season at his club affect him?...I hope it does

I believe Spud plies his trade on another Forum nowadays.
The song is still the same though, bless him.

I'm not sure why anyone is surprised how strong their team is.
They could have swapped a few players around and still had the same effect.

But ther is only 13 on the field at any one time same as us. We only need the 13 on the field to be better than theirs....that's all

I'm one of the most realistic fans you could meet, but let's see some positivity guys. As has been mentioned, our pack is as good as theirs. If we can utilise the pace we have on the flanks, we can score points. Hit them hard, hit them early, keep turning them round.

We'll sh*t 'em