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From the SMH:
The Kangaroos' "Contiki" tour of Europe was declared officially over after a disturbingly narrow win against England A in London on Tuesday.
"The last couple of weeks have been mental, it's like we've been on a Contiki tour, getting on and off buses, getting pissed," interchange forward Willie Mason said after the 26-22 victory at Griffin Park, Brentford.
"In this day and age, your mental preparation is as important as your physical preparation. You can't go out on the piss for three days and expect to play Test football. You've got to mentally prepare and we haven't been doing that."
Mason argued the ARL's decision to allow the players to relax and bond in Paris and Barcelona after a long domestic season would pay off.
"We've still come away with two wins," he said. "There's a positive there. We'll probably have a few beers tonight but once we get to Leeds: party hats off and business hats on.
"Great Britain will have their tails up because of our performances but we're confident as a team that we can do it."
At 26-6 after 45 minutes on Tuesday night, there was every reason to suspect the new-look Australians had found their feet. "We were getting some more structure in attack and our defence was really coming together," said replacement forward Michael Crocker.
But the new breed of English footballers quickly deflated any burgeoning Kangaroos confidence. Tries to centre Martin Aspinwall (57th minute), his partner Martin Gleeson (55th) and prop Andy Lynch (76th) left the tourists extremely nervous, skipper Darren Lockyer pinching the ball in the dying moments with England A on the attack.
There is now only one game before Great Britain try to win back the Ashes after 30 years - against Wales in Bridgend on Sunday.
Fullback Lockyer called Tuesday's "a poor performance", halfback Brett Kimmorley admitted "they put a scare up us", and coach Chris Anderson wasn't disguising his disappointment.
"It was a bit silly," he said. "I think they were gone at 26-6. We let them back into the game. They got excited and played some good footy.
"We didn't learn a great deal out of today . . . there wasn't a lot of great performances."
It took 14 minutes for the Kangaroos to open the scoring against an England A side whose average age was 21. Cronulla's Kimmorley made the break, Brisbane's Lockyer backed up and hooker Danny Buderus was on hand to score after the raid seemed to have broken down. Second-rower Craig Fitzgibbon landed the first of his five successful kicks, but five minutes later Lockyer's pass went to ground with a try in the offing, and England winger Ade Gardner raced 80 metres to a converted try.
It was a willing first half, halfback Rob Burrow, Parramatta-bound five-eighth Chris Thorman and hooker Matt Diskin causing Australia much grief in the middle of the field.
Asked if Great Britain would have learnt from this match that the Kangaroos struggle against quick, little men, England A coach John Kear said with a wry smile: "I think that will have been picked up, yes."
Anderson agreed: "It's a dangerous game . . . a good bit of second-phase footy. Little halfbacks nipping around. It's like going back 20 years."
Winger Matt Sing scored off a Kimmorley kick in the 29th minute, and when the chance came for a penalty goal just before half-time Fitzgibbon took it for 14-6.
The injection of vice-captain Robbie Kearns and the Bulldogs' Mason into the contest appeared to put the tourists in control. Prop Kearns scored two minutes into the second half, the Roosters' Crocker three minutes later and a sizeable scoreline was likely.
But Burrow involved himself three times before Aspinwall scored and Foreman kicked for Gleeson to cross over. When Lynch crashed over there was a chance of a major upset.
In between it all, five-eighth Craig Gower - whose combination with Kimmorley seemed to go well - and England A interchange forward Danny Sculthorpe were sent to the sin bin after a fight that excited the 6817 crowd.
Still, Anderson insisted: "I think one more game will be enough for us. We've got a bit of time now. Our preparation is going to be a lot better than it has been for the last few weeks.
"Because we've got a fairly inexperienced squad, they've struggled mentally because our preparation hasn't been good."
Australian prop Shane Webcke missed the match with a back injury but is not in doubt for the first Test against Great Britain on November 8.
AUSTRALIA 26 (D Buderus, M Sing, R Kearns, M Croker tries; C Fitzgibbon 5 goals) bt ENGLAND A 22 (A Gardner, M Aspinwall, M Gleeson, A Lynch tries; C Thorman 3 goals). At Griffin Park. Referee: G Black. Crowd: 6817.
The Kangaroos' "Contiki" tour of Europe was declared officially over after a disturbingly narrow win against England A in London on Tuesday.
"The last couple of weeks have been mental, it's like we've been on a Contiki tour, getting on and off buses, getting pissed," interchange forward Willie Mason said after the 26-22 victory at Griffin Park, Brentford.
"In this day and age, your mental preparation is as important as your physical preparation. You can't go out on the piss for three days and expect to play Test football. You've got to mentally prepare and we haven't been doing that."
Mason argued the ARL's decision to allow the players to relax and bond in Paris and Barcelona after a long domestic season would pay off.
"We've still come away with two wins," he said. "There's a positive there. We'll probably have a few beers tonight but once we get to Leeds: party hats off and business hats on.
"Great Britain will have their tails up because of our performances but we're confident as a team that we can do it."
At 26-6 after 45 minutes on Tuesday night, there was every reason to suspect the new-look Australians had found their feet. "We were getting some more structure in attack and our defence was really coming together," said replacement forward Michael Crocker.
But the new breed of English footballers quickly deflated any burgeoning Kangaroos confidence. Tries to centre Martin Aspinwall (57th minute), his partner Martin Gleeson (55th) and prop Andy Lynch (76th) left the tourists extremely nervous, skipper Darren Lockyer pinching the ball in the dying moments with England A on the attack.
There is now only one game before Great Britain try to win back the Ashes after 30 years - against Wales in Bridgend on Sunday.
Fullback Lockyer called Tuesday's "a poor performance", halfback Brett Kimmorley admitted "they put a scare up us", and coach Chris Anderson wasn't disguising his disappointment.
"It was a bit silly," he said. "I think they were gone at 26-6. We let them back into the game. They got excited and played some good footy.
"We didn't learn a great deal out of today . . . there wasn't a lot of great performances."
It took 14 minutes for the Kangaroos to open the scoring against an England A side whose average age was 21. Cronulla's Kimmorley made the break, Brisbane's Lockyer backed up and hooker Danny Buderus was on hand to score after the raid seemed to have broken down. Second-rower Craig Fitzgibbon landed the first of his five successful kicks, but five minutes later Lockyer's pass went to ground with a try in the offing, and England winger Ade Gardner raced 80 metres to a converted try.
It was a willing first half, halfback Rob Burrow, Parramatta-bound five-eighth Chris Thorman and hooker Matt Diskin causing Australia much grief in the middle of the field.
Asked if Great Britain would have learnt from this match that the Kangaroos struggle against quick, little men, England A coach John Kear said with a wry smile: "I think that will have been picked up, yes."
Anderson agreed: "It's a dangerous game . . . a good bit of second-phase footy. Little halfbacks nipping around. It's like going back 20 years."
Winger Matt Sing scored off a Kimmorley kick in the 29th minute, and when the chance came for a penalty goal just before half-time Fitzgibbon took it for 14-6.
The injection of vice-captain Robbie Kearns and the Bulldogs' Mason into the contest appeared to put the tourists in control. Prop Kearns scored two minutes into the second half, the Roosters' Crocker three minutes later and a sizeable scoreline was likely.
But Burrow involved himself three times before Aspinwall scored and Foreman kicked for Gleeson to cross over. When Lynch crashed over there was a chance of a major upset.
In between it all, five-eighth Craig Gower - whose combination with Kimmorley seemed to go well - and England A interchange forward Danny Sculthorpe were sent to the sin bin after a fight that excited the 6817 crowd.
Still, Anderson insisted: "I think one more game will be enough for us. We've got a bit of time now. Our preparation is going to be a lot better than it has been for the last few weeks.
"Because we've got a fairly inexperienced squad, they've struggled mentally because our preparation hasn't been good."
Australian prop Shane Webcke missed the match with a back injury but is not in doubt for the first Test against Great Britain on November 8.
AUSTRALIA 26 (D Buderus, M Sing, R Kearns, M Croker tries; C Fitzgibbon 5 goals) bt ENGLAND A 22 (A Gardner, M Aspinwall, M Gleeson, A Lynch tries; C Thorman 3 goals). At Griffin Park. Referee: G Black. Crowd: 6817.
