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Kangaroos win but expect changes
Glenn Jackson
November 1, 2010
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SHORTLY after castigating the Kangaroos for a below-par performance last night, Australian coach Tim Sheens watched the seven members of the Australian squad who are yet to play in the Four Nations tournament put through drills on AAMI Park.
Both happenings showed there will be significant changes to the squad for their final pool match against New Zealand in Auckland next Saturday night - and all seven players could be playing against the Kiwis.
Advertisement: Story continues below The Kangaroos' 34-14 victory over England means next week's match will be a dress rehearsal for the final - the only difference being a number of players are still auditioning for the November 13 decider.
''I don't think some of the players played well enough,'' Sheens said of last night's display.
''There'll be some changes. [And] if guys stand up next week and have outplayed guys that I've given two games to, they will be considered for the final for sure. It wasn't quite up to our standard.''
Having played the same 17 players against PNG and England, Sheens is now likely to send Emus Darius Boyd, Dean Young, Robbie Farah, Matt Scott, Greg Bird and Chris Lawrence out against the Kiwis. He will keep his ''spine'' of full-back Billy Slater, five-eighth Darren Lockyer, half-back Cooper Cronk and hooker Cameron Smith, all of whom are displaying some rust, but everyone else appears fair game.
Second-rower Luke Lewis is already ''long odds'' to play, according to Sheens, after suffering a calf injury against England.
But it was a rather lethargic second half that was worrying Sheens more than niggling injuries.
''Our second half was pretty ordinary,'' Sheens said.
''I am concerned about how easily they walked through us in the middle. As I said to the guys, New Zealand will be licking their lips at the thought of some of the defence in the middle. We're going to have to be a lot better than that.
''We might be rated as the favourites, but … we had a lot of players unavailable, and that's showing a little bit in respect of our game. New Zealand went in with a lot of their key players playing really well, particularly their forwards, and I think they've showed that.
''The next two games are going to be very interesting.''
Lockyer added: ''There's room for improvement there. We're in the final, and that's a positive, but that second half … there's a lot of guys in there [the dressing room] not feeling great about things.
''We know we've got some work to do. We can do better.''
The blight on international football right now is that Australia is through to a major final - and it has failed to look great to do so.
The Kangaroos never really needed anything more than third gear as England was let down by the fingers of its own players and those of the video referee - both sets producing confusing displays. They did what they had to do.
''We're bitterly disappointed,'' England captain James Graham said.
But England has long struggled to put 80 minutes into its matches against Australia. On this night its competitiveness lasted about 18.
The English were not helped by the officiating. After 18 minutes, Lockyer kicked and Lewis was awarded his second even though there appeared to be a touch from Cronk in the lead-up. Centre Brent Tate's 28th-minute try was also controversial, after Tate appeared to have bounced the ball in the act of scoring, while England's awful luck was evident when a bad pass allowed Lewis a cut through a shredded English defensive line and hand the ball on to centre Willie Tonga, who scored the Kangaroos' fifth try of the first half.
Neither side was happy with the refereeing. Sheens described the officiating of the play-the-ball as ''a joke''.
''If you're going to expect that sort of rubbish on the ground. They just choked us on the ground and … no penalties,'' Sheens said.
''That standard's not acceptable, as far as I'm concerned.''
No one was apparently happy with anything, really. Except seven players being put through their paces an hour after a match in which they didn't play.
Glenn Jackson
November 1, 2010
\
\
SHORTLY after castigating the Kangaroos for a below-par performance last night, Australian coach Tim Sheens watched the seven members of the Australian squad who are yet to play in the Four Nations tournament put through drills on AAMI Park.
Both happenings showed there will be significant changes to the squad for their final pool match against New Zealand in Auckland next Saturday night - and all seven players could be playing against the Kiwis.
Advertisement: Story continues below The Kangaroos' 34-14 victory over England means next week's match will be a dress rehearsal for the final - the only difference being a number of players are still auditioning for the November 13 decider.
''I don't think some of the players played well enough,'' Sheens said of last night's display.
''There'll be some changes. [And] if guys stand up next week and have outplayed guys that I've given two games to, they will be considered for the final for sure. It wasn't quite up to our standard.''
Having played the same 17 players against PNG and England, Sheens is now likely to send Emus Darius Boyd, Dean Young, Robbie Farah, Matt Scott, Greg Bird and Chris Lawrence out against the Kiwis. He will keep his ''spine'' of full-back Billy Slater, five-eighth Darren Lockyer, half-back Cooper Cronk and hooker Cameron Smith, all of whom are displaying some rust, but everyone else appears fair game.
Second-rower Luke Lewis is already ''long odds'' to play, according to Sheens, after suffering a calf injury against England.
But it was a rather lethargic second half that was worrying Sheens more than niggling injuries.
''Our second half was pretty ordinary,'' Sheens said.
''I am concerned about how easily they walked through us in the middle. As I said to the guys, New Zealand will be licking their lips at the thought of some of the defence in the middle. We're going to have to be a lot better than that.
''We might be rated as the favourites, but … we had a lot of players unavailable, and that's showing a little bit in respect of our game. New Zealand went in with a lot of their key players playing really well, particularly their forwards, and I think they've showed that.
''The next two games are going to be very interesting.''
Lockyer added: ''There's room for improvement there. We're in the final, and that's a positive, but that second half … there's a lot of guys in there [the dressing room] not feeling great about things.
''We know we've got some work to do. We can do better.''
The blight on international football right now is that Australia is through to a major final - and it has failed to look great to do so.
The Kangaroos never really needed anything more than third gear as England was let down by the fingers of its own players and those of the video referee - both sets producing confusing displays. They did what they had to do.
''We're bitterly disappointed,'' England captain James Graham said.
But England has long struggled to put 80 minutes into its matches against Australia. On this night its competitiveness lasted about 18.
The English were not helped by the officiating. After 18 minutes, Lockyer kicked and Lewis was awarded his second even though there appeared to be a touch from Cronk in the lead-up. Centre Brent Tate's 28th-minute try was also controversial, after Tate appeared to have bounced the ball in the act of scoring, while England's awful luck was evident when a bad pass allowed Lewis a cut through a shredded English defensive line and hand the ball on to centre Willie Tonga, who scored the Kangaroos' fifth try of the first half.
Neither side was happy with the refereeing. Sheens described the officiating of the play-the-ball as ''a joke''.
''If you're going to expect that sort of rubbish on the ground. They just choked us on the ground and … no penalties,'' Sheens said.
''That standard's not acceptable, as far as I'm concerned.''
No one was apparently happy with anything, really. Except seven players being put through their paces an hour after a match in which they didn't play.
