Accent is firmly on producing a shock at Wembley

WITH their surreal Australian accents, there are a couple of Yorkshiremen better prepared than most of their England colleagues for Wembley on Saturday.

Jack Reed and Gareth Widdop were both born in the Broad Acres but when it comes to their rugby league their background is as Australian as the kangaroos emblazoned on their imminent opponents’ jersies.

Each have enjoyed breakthrough seasons in the NRL with Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, respectively, and so know all about the threats posed by legends like Darren Lockyer, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater.

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Indeed, such names are daily training partners so if England coach Steve McNamara wants any further insight into the Australians he knows just where to look.

Reed was born near Keighley but left this country for Australia with his parents when aged just two.

The strapping centre’s tale is remarkable. Now 23, he had been working as a plasterer while striving to get a shot with Canberra Raiders.

Struggling to make his mark, he came to England on holiday and played a couple of games for amateur club Silsden Rangers in the Pennine League, contemplating perhaps trialling with Keighley Cougars.

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A couple of years later – after getting that much-awaited chance with Brisbane’s feeder club – he found himself thrust into the first grade when superstar Israel Folau switched to Aussie Rules.

He grasped the opportunity and suddenly was being deemed one of the NRL’s top rookies in 2011, gaining McNamara’s attention.

On Saturday, in his third appearance with England, he is likely to face the world’s greatest centre, Greg Inglis, while also locking horns with his club captain, Lockyer.

“It has been a great year and I pinch myself every day because I am living a dream,” Reed told the Yorkshire Post, having scored against France on his debut and in last weekend’s Gillette Four Nations opener versus Wales.

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“It’s always good to get across the line. Hopefully, I can keep that going against Australia.

“It’s a huge honour to now be able to play against them and at Wembley as well.

“It’s a great arena and you hear so many people talking about the place and all its history.

“We felt pretty strong out there against Wales and there were plenty of positives but we’ve still had a bit to work on this week ready for this.”

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Playing alongside the iconic Lockyer, who will retire at the end of the tournament, has been a footballing master-class for Reed.

“He’s just the ultimate rugby player,” added the flame-haired three-quarter. “He rolls up no matter what the occasion ready to play and is an amazing footballer.

“He’s done it for 17 years now and it’s going to be fun playing against him. Australia are dangerous across the board, though, and a great team if Lockyer’s on fire.

“Hopefully, I can pass on some knowledge to the boys (about Australian players) but they could turn up with different attack or defence ploys.

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“It doesn’t really matter as long as we do what we’ve planned.”

Widdop is of a similar belief.

With an accent not as broad as his new international team-mate – Widdop emigrated to Victoria from Halifax at 16 – the Melbourne player reckons it is futile trying to second-guess what the tournament favourite will do.

He debuted with England as a full-back last year but has just enjoyed an outstanding campaign as Melbourne’s new stand-off.

With Brett Finch having moved to Wigan, Widdop filled the vacancy and helped them to the minor premiership, lining up directly opposite Lockyer along the way.

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“It was a good experience playing against him in his final year and now I’ll be going up against my Storm team-mates, too, in Cameron (Smith), Billy (Slater) and Cooper (Cronk), who have all helped me this year,” he said.

“It’s a massive honour to play versus some of those names and there are probably ways of trying to stop them but it’s hard – they are world-class players who will always come up with new things.

“It’s a massive challenge but we’ll be ready.”

Widdop made an impressive try-scoring cameo off the bench against Wales, showing the skills which saw him become the second highest line-breaker in the NRL this year, and offering extra guile outside Kevin Sinfield.

He may have to settle for a place among the replacements again in London with Rangi Chase tipped to continue alongside Sinfield when McNamara names his squad today.

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But Widdop, 22, said: “I enjoyed it and was pretty happy with what I did in that 30 minutes against Wales.

“I had a bit of an impact and am happy to just play wherever the coach wants me to. The opportunity to play half came up at Storm and I ended up playing there all year. Hopefully, I can push on and do that for England where we’ve got some good exciting players and some older heads, too.

“Kev’s been around a while and knows how to control things in the middle and he’s great at doing that.

“Hopefully, I’ll get another chance to come in and do something, too.”

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Australia defeated New Zealand 26-12 in their first match but were far from their usual exuberant selves.

“It was their first game so they were going to be a bit off the pace,” said Widdop. “It’s definitely going to be a tough one on Saturday.

“Wales came out and were very tough but it’s going to be so much tougher against Australia.

“The boys are really looking forward to it. We’ve not played at Wembley much in the last 20 years so everyone’s very excited.

“We’re ready to go out there and give it a real crack against the Aussies.”