Smith hopes input can make the difference for England

Veteran Australian coach Brian Smith is hoping to make a difference as he lends a helping hand to England's Four Nations campaign.

The 56-year-old former Hull and Bradford chief, who guided Sydney Roosters to this year's NRL Grand Final, has been enlisted by England head coach Steve McNamara as performance adviser for the big games Down Under, starting with Saturday's opener against New Zealand.

Speaking before England's training session in Petone, Smith said: "I've been able to give Steve a bit of specific knowledge about almost every player in the other teams.

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"I've told him about the way referees tend to rule on various situations, trends in the game and little odds and ends about individual players, about what makes them good.

"I'm really enjoying just supporting Steve and doing whatever I can to offer the advice that he seeks occasionally but he's in charge and he knows exactly what he wants."

Smith, the older brother of Warrington's former England coach Tony Smith, had his first hands-on involvement with the tourists during Saturday's 18-18 draw against the New Zealand Maori.

Although there was disappointment over the way England let slip an 18-0 half-time lead, Smith believes the exercise will prove invaluable.

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"It was pretty evident that we had guys on different pages," he said. "We were going pretty well for a while but we lost it under pressure and I think that was good for the group to say 'oops, we need to fix this up'.

"I would say the guys are really well coached but they use different systems, particularly around the ruck defence and tackle technique and adjustments with line speed.

"We've been able to work on that this week. We've a little bit more to do but the guys are locking in to playing the system that Steve wants them to now."

Smith, who coached McNamara at both Hull and Bradford at the start of the Super League era, says he has been impressed with the calibre of player in the 24-man England squad. "I was a little taken aback to begin with as to how ego-less this group is and how responsive they are to each other and to Steve and the rest of the staff," he said.

Wigan half-back Sam Tomkins, who picked up a hip injury against the Maori, proved his fitness at training and coach McNamara is today expected to announce a 19-man squad for Saturday's game.