Australia wary early slip could usher them towards exit door

Australia may be odds-on favourites to reclaim the Gillette Four Nations title but they admit to being fearful of needing to win against England at Wembley to actually stay in the tournament.

The competition was launched at Elland Road yesterday with Leeds United’s stadium the venue for its final on November 19.

But wary Australia coach Tim Sheens, whose side lost the trophy against New Zealand in Brisbane last year, knows they must overcome world champions New Zealand in Friday’s opener to stand a realistic chance of progressing.

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It may simply be a tactic to deflect pressure from his 4-11 favourites but he maintains they have the toughest schedule of all.

With England facing 100-1 newcomers Wales on Saturday before meeting Australia at Wembley a week later, Sheens said: “In 2009, we came out and they (New Zealand) should have beaten us in the first game.

“We were lucky to grab a draw (at Harlequins) then and we’re very wary of that.

“We were under the pump for the whole Four Nations from then on and I don’t want to have to play England at Wembley this time having been beaten by New Zealand.

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“Wembley is England’s spiritual home. Australia played there in ‘94 and lost the first Test to England so I’m very, very wary of England at Wembley.

“And so, if you lose to New Zealand, you can find yourselves out of the tournament. It’s a tough draw for us.

“Darren (Lockyer) is the only one of our players who have played at Wembley.”

Captain Lockyer, a veteran of so many tours here having made his first in 1997 – the last time international rugby league was played at the national stadium – reiterated his coach’s view.

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“In the Four Nations in particular it’s not very forgiving if you don’t perform well early,” said the Brisbane Broncos star.

“You’re under pressure and I don’t think we’d like to be in a position where we haven’t picked up any points and we’re going to Wembley to play England.”

Australia thrashed the Kiwis 42-6 in Newcastle a little over a week ago but Sheens insisted: “A big issue in all of the games we’ve played against New Zealand is that of all of the Tests we’ve ever played, the next time you play they’re a different team again.

“They’ll bounce back and you have got to make sure you‘re as fired up again.

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“We still have that 2010 final in our minds so we want to really use that. We’ve come out this year and won both Tests during the season but this is a competition where you’ve got to win this game.

“It’s not quite sudden-death but it’s certainly a game you don’t want to lose.”

Meanwhile, Sheens backed England coach Steve McNamara’s decision to select Chris Heighington, the Australian back-row he coaches at Wests Tigers who has earned a place in the hosts’ squad due to his father being born in Durham.

Heighington, along with New Zealand-born Rangi Chase and Brisbane-based Jack Reed, both debuted in Friday’s win over France and are now expected to feature in England’s Four Nations, causing some controversy.

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But Sheens said: “England need to win something desperately to lift the profile of rugby league in this country. Steve has copped some criticism from some ex-British greats but I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

“I was talking to Chris two years ago about coming to England to play so he could qualify.

“We’re so strong in the back-row in Australia with so many good back-rows and we’ve left so many behind too.

“As good a player as he is, he was going to battle for it but with the current coach (McNamara) now going this way (using residency and family qualification) he’s seen an opportunity. I did talk to him strongly about it. If there’s going to be 40 or 50 tackles made he (Heighington) will make them and will be someone who tightens the centre of their ruck if he does get the opportunity.

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“Chris will definitely give his all for that and the jumper.”

Sheens added: “I think he’s still earning the right to be an English player – it’s been in the news a bit and he’s still a bit worried about the way it happened, being brought in in front of other English players that didn’t get a game.

“He won’t be bragging about anything but will just work hard for the side if he does get the opportunity and it will be interesting to see after the French game if Steve will go with all of them or not.”

McNamara reported no injury problems from their win in France while he was taken aback by Wales’ “passion” after travelling to Neath to see their warm-up game versus Ireland.

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Wales, with former Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls star Iestyn Harris now in charge, make their Four Nations bow after gaining a shock win over France in last year’s European Cup.

With the 2013 World Cup their main target, he admits the tournament has come earlier than expected. But Harris, who may be without the high-profile Gareth Thomas at the weekend due to “family problems”, said: “We’re not going to shout from the rooftops about what our goals are.

“It’s a very strong competition. We’re against the three best teams in world rugby league.

“We’ve got some aims for what we want to achieve in this tournament but we’ll keep them to ourselves.

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“Some great strides have been made in Wales over the last six or seven years. There are lots and lots of young men playing rugby league.

“We’re probably ahead of schedule being in this tournament but it’s something everybody is excited about and we’ll give it our best dig.”