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Great Britain? Sorry, Brian, your lot are average at best
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Phil Gould
October 30, 2006
THE ANALYST
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I WILL laugh at the next person who tries to tell me the English Super League is catching up to the standard of the NRL.
Great Britain opened their Tri-Nations campaign with a defeat to New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday night and I believe they'll go through this series without a victory. Two tries in the final 10 minutes brought respectability to the score, but they were never going to win.
After two straight losses to Australia, New Zealand opted for a grinding style of play to ensure their first success of the series. It was a physical encounter but the Kiwis handled their assignment comfortably. They had the game well in hand with a 16-point lead midway through the second half before their worrying habit of conceding late points reared its ugly head. This has to be a concern for coach Brian McClennan and he'll need to toughen their resolve at the back end of games, especially when they play Australia.
Great Britain are well off the pace in this competition. They might be capable of the occasional upset against Australia or New Zealand with the aid of a referee giving them plenty of latitude in front of 50,000 fans on a cold night in Manchester, but Great Britain and English club teams are always badly exposed when they visit this part of the world. They try hard, but have never adequately addressed the weaknesses shown in their football for the past three decades.
I watch English Super League games on pay TV. They are entertaining, with plenty of skill and flair. However, when compared to the week-in, week-out examination faced by players and teams in the NRL, the English competition is only equivalent to a good premier league match in Australia.
Don't get me wrong. Great Britain have some very talented individuals. If I was coaching an NRL team, I'd consider buying a couple of them. Players such as fullback Paul Wellens, centre Martin Gleeson, utility Leon Pryce and five-eighth Danny Maguire would all benefit greatly from a couple of years in our more-intense competition. Star forward Adrian Morley and winger Brian Carney have already succeeded in Australia.
Players like Stuart Fielden, Gareth Ellis, Jamie Peacock, Lee Gilmour and Gareth Gravell have probably left it too late in their careers to gain maximum benefit from playing out here but could still be competitive.
I also see something in Wigan youngsters Gareth Hock and Sean O'Loughlin. But it's as a team that Great Britain comes up horribly short. Their style of play is amateurish and vulnerable to the sustained pressure Australian and New Zealand teams can apply.
They lack the knowledge and attention to detail instilled in every professional football team in this country.
To be fair, national coach Brian Noble can't be expected to instill these important values overnight. It doesn't work that way - it takes years of development. That's the beauty of coaching an Australian team, because it's all been done for you. The high standard of coaching, knowledge, fitness and development ingrained into players at every NRL club through hours of training and video analysis is a huge advantage when our elite players come together in representative teams.
Noble would need two full seasons with this squad to achieve the discipline and structure needed for Great Britain to compete with southern hemisphere countries on a regular basis.
I understand he has already requested his English club team, Wigan, buys the video analysis system used by Australian teams. Six years ago, I said this was the best coaching tool I'd seen in 30 years - and now every team in the NRL uses it.
The English league urgently needs greater intensity in the development of football talent. It appears Noble agrees with this assessment. At the moment, they're giving away a huge start to their rivals and it won't improve unless someone bites the bullet and changes their thinking.
The media always plays the game when telling us Great Britain are improving all the time, how they'll be formidable opposition and that Australia face their greatest test in history to overcome them. Please, spare me that rubbish.
If the Kangaroos are serious - and they will be - they'll run up a big score on Great Britain on Saturday night. And we'll enjoy every minute of it.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/g...1162056867933.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1