Relax.We can still see new World Champions crowned in Rugby League before the end of mankind if English coach Tony Smith is correct in his beliefs.
Relax.We can still see new World Champions crowned in Rugby League before the end of mankind if English coach Tony Smith is correct in his beliefs.
Smith yesterday rejected suggestions that the 10-team tournament is a one-horse race, espousing a strong belief that his side man-for-man can stand up to the big brother of international rugby league, Australia.
The two-time premiership winning former Leeds Rhinos coach made his thoughts known on a day when he and Aussie coach Ricky Stuart announced changes to their line-up for Sunday’s clash at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
“I think we’re a pretty good team across the park. I think we’ve got a pretty decent pack of forwards, I’m really pleased with our halves and I like our outside backs,” Smith said.
“They’ve got some very good players in some positions and I think we’ve got some very good players in all positions, so I’m quite happy with the team that we’ve got, and I think we can challenge them in all sorts of areas.”
The most important area being the scoreboard in the World Cup final.
Smith may very well have given a big clue as to why this tournament isn’t a foregone conclusion as well.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement needed and we felt that we’ve got a lot of improvement in us.”
Both teams did score 30 points or more in the opening round which suggests that heading into their clash, they aren’t too far apart in attacking ability. England’s challenge will be to bridge that gap further.
More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold and some are hopeful that up to 50,000 will turn up on Sunday night to avoid having to stay up late to watch the game on delay thanks to everyone’s favourite tv network, Channel 9.
