Just watched the trans tasman test I had recorded from the other day. If Australia play against us like they did in the first half against NZ they will put well over 50 points on us. NZ were terrible in the first half but improved a great deal in the second half. If they hit form after the first 4 nations game we are well and truly in the brown and smelly stuff.

Looking at the England v France trial game from the other day doesnt exactly instill confidence in me.

Anyone else feel decidedly nervous about the 4 nations?

I'm sure we went through this in 08. "The unbeatables", "the greatest OZ team ever."
Shame we don't take a leaf out of NZ's book.

I am not nervous just realistic, consistently we are the third best rugby league playing nation. The aussies and the kiwis can raise their game a level to which we have,nt got. Rugby league is their national sport, they have a different mind set. We have a very good product in super league, it is better to watch than NRL, but you only have to watch the intensity of the origin games to see how many light years we are behind. Having a coach that the bulls fans could,nt wait to get rid of and the performance against catalans dose,nt exactly get the pulse racing and the desperate measures taken at half back dose,nt help either. Hey ho...we might do the kiwis

No way, NZ were garbage in that game and the only way England will have the same score put on them is if they don't turn up the same as NZ didn't.

There was,nt a smilie for tongue in cheek...

england players just need to clear there minds and truely believe there man for man as good as aus and we will give them a run for there money, the big question is why does it take a fight for the lads to get enough fire in the bellys to give it a good crack.

There is no doubt that the new zealand and aus players are lucky they play in a better overall comp all year round but just by the english players in that same comp shows are elite players are good enough to play on the same field...

The major difference between nrl and superleague is the top teams are not better than ours its that the lower teams are miles better than the lower teams in superleague

That was as bad as I've seen a NZ side play. Their wide defence was schoolboy stuff - centres and wingers flying out of the line in vain attempts to stifle passing moves or put a big hit in, leaving gaps all over the place for Aus to exploit. They seemed to go back to the old days of relying purely on muscle rather than disciplined defence.

As ever, Aus are a superb RL side, but they didn't need to do much that day to whoop NZ all over the park. NZ made it very easy.

I'm not saying we'll beat either of them, but I wouldn't read much into that particular Test. Both can be beaten but the England players need to reach and maintain an intensity they probably hit only 2-3 times a season in SL. And they need to do it for 80 flawless minutes.

We have nothing to lose really so I just hope we give it a massive crack.

I think we can reach the final and if we did that and kept it competative against a classy Australian side then that will be a big stride forward. Our pool of players is growing and whilst it looks unlikely we'll ever catch up with the Aussies and be on a par with them I don't see why we can't win some games here and there and one day law of averages says we'll shock them in a final.

Nothing to do with luck.Its the players and coaches that make the NRL a far superior comp than sl.

I think if we keep using aussie trained players 'even if they play over here now' i think we will get much closer to them than we have done for many years.

We need our players to play at their best, individually and as a unit. Too often we look beaten as soon as we take the field, or as soon as we let in a try. Heads drop and whatever gameplan we had falls to bits in both attack and defence. I know its difficult to generate real confidence based on historic results, but over the course of a tournament like the 4N we need to build belief amongst the team that we can compete and have a chance to win, if not this time then next year.

the fact that we have a number of players in the NRL should get the players out of the mindset of the Aussies being invincible, which has been the biggest problem we have faced in the past.