ENGLAND coach Steve McNamara has admitted the home side need to over-power 118kg Kangaroo X-factor Tony Williams to have any hope of smashing a 41-year Australian hoodoo in the Four Nations final.
Wrecking ball Williams caused the English all sorts of problems in the Wembley Test a fortnight ago and the Kangaroos will again use him to target halfback Rangi Chase.

"We need to be a little bit better than last time. That was one of the areas we didn't quite deal with as well as we could have," McNamara said. "He's a tough customer to deal with but we'll come up with a plan and hopefully it will be the right one for us this time around."

English captain Jamie Peacock, who will play the final with a knee injury, said his side needed to get numbers on Williams and avoid being isolated in defence.

The Poms have been boosted by the return of Wests Tigers backrower Gareth Ellis, who has recovered from back spasms and will take his place in the starting side.

"He's one of those blokes you need three and four people to tackle," Peacock said. "You have to be aware when he gets the ball it's not just the person in front of him who has to tackle him but it's the three and four around him as well."

Jharal Yow Yeh has won the duel for the wing position vacated by Darius Boyd, with Akuila Uate a chance of switching sides to Australia's left wing.

Yow Yeh and Uate have trained on both the left and right sides with the Kangaroos squad in Leeds and coach Tim Sheens will keep the English guessing up until an hour before kickoff.

England coach McNamara said attempting to target retiring Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer was a difficult assignment as the Australian outfit had so much alternative strike power.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/poms-plotting-t-rex-extinction-to-break-jinx/story-e6frexnr-1226199452734

Brissie Kid said the following on Sat Nov 19 12:19 2011

Put Heighington on him again! How funny was that!

Moondog said the following on Sat Nov 19 18:19 2011

No way, we've got his DNA. TRex is back.......... and we're cloning more.

eagles2win said the following on Sat Nov 19 21:45 2011

I gotta funny feeling they might do us tomorrow. Have had the same feeling before 08 world cup, last years 4 nations final. But I hope I'm wrong

Stevo said the following on Mon Nov 21 11:05 2011

lol..

mozgrame said the following on Mon Nov 21 11:55 2011

Well the old extinction trick failed. I do hope Tony gets used to putting some more shoulder into his tackles. These lazy loose arms are creeping up a little too much. I'm not talking about the big hits he pulls off, they're fine. I mean a little more Gallen style would great.

Jethro said the following on Mon Nov 21 12:48 2011

Quote From: 'mozgrame' Well the old extinction trick failed. I do hope Tony gets used to putting some more shoulder into his tackles. These lazy loose arms are creeping up a little too much. I'm not talking about the big hits he pulls off, they're fine. I mean a little more Gallen style would great. Yes, I would like to see him put more shoulder into his tackles too but I think that the Poms ducked a lot into his tackles which I think could possibly be what they were talking about to make him extinct in that final i.e. get him sent off for a high shot.

mozgrame said the following on Mon Nov 21 15:09 2011

AAHHH! I never thought of that Jethro. Clever little Poms!

Jethro said the following on Mon Nov 21 17:03 2011

Quote From: 'mozgrame' AAHHH! I never thought of that Jethro. Clever little Poms! Well think about it, how many high shots did he appear to make in that game and how many did he make for the entire 2011 NRL season? The poor bugger has to already aim low with his tackles because he is taller than the others and in that game to stop doing high shots he would have had to bend down to their belly buttons to prevent himself from doing the high shots.

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