Former Great Britain winger Martin Offiah believes Australia are “there for the taking” as England prepare to deliver the knockout punch in the Four Nations Series.
The Kangaroos are on the brink of failing to reach the final of a major international tournament for the first time since 1954 following their surprise 30-12 defeat by New Zealand in Brisbane and Offiah says England will go into Sunday’s crunch clash in Melbourne full of confidence following their hard-fought 32-26 win over Samoa.
Australia, forced to field five debutants against the Kiwis, may have to make further changes should halfback Daly Cherry-Evans fail to recover from a hip injury and Offiah believes they are under mounting pressure to avoid another defeat.
“They lost quite handsomely to New Zealand, who played fantastically well,” he said.
“Admittedly, there were about 11 changes from the team that won the Anzac Test so they’re doing it a little bit tough.
“This Australian team are there for the taking.
“I don’t know the last time they last lost back-to-back Test matches against different nations but I think the statisticians are saying the last time they failed to appear in a final was back in the 1950s so there is a lot of pressure on Australia.
“I’m sure that the press are making them well aware of the fact they need to beat England.”
England are hopeful of having skipper Sean O’Loughlin back for Sunday’s match despite naming a team without him, and Offiah says his availability would add to England’s strength.
“I was very impressed by the big English pack on Saturday,” Offiah said.
“I thought James Graham led from the front as he always does and the Burgess brothers had fantastic games and showed there is life after Sam Burgess.”
By their own admission, England will need to improve defensively from their opening game and Offiah would also like to see more attacking flair from their outside backs.
“I’d like to see a bit more of our back three, that’s where we’ve been strong in recent years, with the likes of Josh Charnley, Ryan Hall and Sam Tomkins,” Offiah said.
“They call Ryan Hall the world’s best winger but he’s turning into the world’s biggest winger at the moment.
“I wouldn’t like to see him get any bigger than he actually is now. If he gets the ball close to the line, he’s going to be pretty hard to stop.”
tigerdave
Guest
I was extremely confused but now your comments make a lot of sense. Manu is an enigma. If they pepper him with bombs and pressure him early, there is a good chance of him dropping one or the lot. He is a confidence player and he wouldn't be worth much to the KIWI's for the rest of the game.. On the other hand if they leave him alone to play footy, he's a real match winner. I'm an Aussie but he is one of my favourite players. He is always smiling and enjoying his footy. .
tigerdave
Guest
I think Offiah is on the money. It's not the pomms that I worry about. They can trot whoever they like out, but if Australia play like they did against NZ, we are surely doomed. Tim Sheens, Bird and Smmith were spruiking about how they worked on their defence in the lead up. They must have locked DCE and Jennings out of drill. The first try from Bromich was between them and they should have scored a second much easier try apart from a forward pass. Eastwood has been a really good player in the past, but of later days he has been off the pace. He is overweight, he is slow by normal standards. He is still a good ball player before the line. IN the NRL he rarely runs more than a few yards. He strolled through our line at the edge of the ruck (What bloody edge)and ran over 20m. The replacement full back got him but there were no chasers. No cover defence at all, and it resulted in a quick play the ball and a Johnson try. The initial miss is inexcuseable, that noone chased epitomised the attitude of most of the Aussie players. Our attack was understandibly misfiring and that will get better. For a side of the best Australian NRL players in the competition available, they wouldn't have beaten a middle of the table NRL team. 30 points put on us, and should have been more, evidences that whatever they did in defence coming into the match just didn't work. As for DCE, this is one of the most overrated players in the competition. In the last 12 months he has not played anywhere near his wraps. I reckon he would struggle to be in the top 8 halvesin the competition.In the first game he was a turnstile whilst he was on the field. Personally to plug up the weakness on the edge of the ruck, I'd play Bird at 6. Granted if the backrowers actually tackled, they may well have covered those weaknesses.
cedric
Guest
yeah his weakness is to drop the ocassional bomb, just like Beale did last Saturday. However he has the ability to return the ball with such strength that it usually takes 2 or 3 to bring him down, and in defence the opposition know he will come out occassionally with the big hit. Well, he sounds like a pretty good fit in any team, 17 trys I think it was this year and players player of the year, what does that award say. In defence of kiwis' selectors, maybe it was all a big smoke screen and they were just playing with the Roos' heads in leaving him side lined in the last test. There must be some logical excuse? An excuse to take Nightingale from his 200 odd game right wing and put him on the left side to make way for Watene (6? game NRL vet)and then Beale (fullback/center maybe wing). I suppose it's similar to Sheens one front rower and a spare hooker on the bench. If the Roos' lose Sheens has goooone! That would never happen to Kearney, in NZ most only care about the All Blacks and are suprised to hear that the Kiwis' beat Oz!! Go the kiwis, it will be a shame to see Samoa lose ( I hope ) as I'm always a sucker for the underdog! Whoops thought I put this on artical about Manu!!!!!!!!!!!!!