Video: Ellis expected to be fit for England at Elland Road

England expect second rower Gareth Ellis to be fit for Saturday’s Gillette Four Nations final against Australia.

The Wests Tigers forward was forced to watch last Saturday’s 28-6 win over New Zealand in Hull after failing to recover from a back injury sustained in the 36-20 defeat by the Kangaroos.

Warrington prop Garreth Carvell was drafted in as the first change in four matches but coach Steve McNamara told a press conference at Elland Road today that Ellis is close to fitness and, with no fresh injuries, he expects to be able to pick from a full-strength squad.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Gareth was very close to being fit and I would be surprised if he wasn’t available this week,” McNamara said.

Australia coach Tim Sheens is Ellis’ club boss at Wests Tigers and knows the importance of the experienced forward to England.

“I think they missed him when they lost him against us,” he said.

“He was having a strong game. He’s a quality player and you want to have all your people available if you can.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sheens’ squad is down to 21 following the loss through injury of full-back Billy Slater and centre Willie Tonga and the return to Australia of hooker Robbie Farah for personal reasons.

Captain Darren Lockyer will return for his 59th and final appearance after resting a shoulder injury in yesterday’s 56-14 win over Wales while forward Tony Williams is available after completing a one-match ban.

Sheens expects second rower Luke Lewis to recover from the sickness that forced him to withdraw from the game in Wrexham but he has yet to announce a replacement winger following Darius Boyd’s switch to full-back.

“We’ve got a couple of bumps and bruises from last night and I’ve got to decide on a wingman,” said Sheens.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We’re pretty close to where we want to be but we’ll make that decision later in the week.

“There was a bit of a bug that went through the place and Lewis went down pretty bad with it. He hadn’t been eating and we didn’t want it to get any worse, particularly with the short turn around.

“But he’s eating a lot better this morning so we expect him to be right.”

Sheens said he was impressed by England’s four-try demolition of New Zealand and believes McNamara is benefiting from having continuity in his selection.

“They were very well drilled,” he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’ve said it all along, they’ve been getting better as a squad.

“They’ve had pretty much the same squad for the last three games so their understanding is much better, particularly amongst the halves.

“They were well disciplined, they controlled the ball and there were not too many mistakes - what it takes to win big games.”

England’s clinical victory over the Kiwis, following on from an encouraging performance against the Kangaroos at Wembley, has sparked a rush for tickets and prompted organisers to open the upper tier at Elland Road.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With around 24,000 tickets sold, the crowd is expected to top the 31,042 from 2009 and could reach the restricted ground capacity of 34,000.

Meanwhile, the Kangaroos are pushing for Australian Matt Cecchin to referee the game ahead of Englishman Phil Bentham and New Zealand’s Henry Perenara.

Officials agreed a policy in advance of having neutral referees throughout the group stages and picking the best man for the final.

New Zealander Leon Williamson was in charge of the 2009 final between England and Australia but Perenara is unlikely to get the appointment after his blunders at Wembley, where he wrongly disallowed an England try and failed to show a red card to Williams for the high tackle which subsequently earned him his suspension.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Representatives of both camps will sit down tomorrow to thrash out the appointments and in the past it has come down to the toss of a coin.

England’s clear preference would be for Super League official Bentham but McNamara said: “It’s not my concern. I’ll leave it up to the authorities.”

Sheens, who was critical of Bentham following his side’s 26-12 win over the Kiwis in Warrington, was more forthright.

“The process is that the best referee will get it,” he said.

“Last year against New Zealand we had (Australian) Tony Archer do the final.

“I think whoever is in the best form should get it, that’s as good a way of selecting it as any.”