Poms urged to believe in Four Nations

[TITAN PETE]

By Ian McCullough AAP Mon, Oct 31, 2011 - 1:19 PM


Chris Heighington is urging his England teammates to believe they can upset Australia in Saturday's Four Nations rugby league clash at Wembley Stadium.

England or Great Britain have not tasted victory over the Kangaroos since 2006, when they triumphed 23-12 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

They haven't won on home soil against Australia since 2004 when they stunned the Kangaroos 24-12 at Wigan in the Tri Nations series before being thrashed 44-4 in the final at Leeds.

Sydney-born Wests Tigers backrower Heighington scored a try and impressed the England fans on his "home" debut in the 42-4 win over Wales at Leigh on Saturday.

He was one of three NRL players to score for Steve McNamara's team, joining Melbourne's Gareth Widdop and Brisbane's Jack Reed.

Heighington was presented with his cap by England football great Stuart Pearce before the game and joined his teammates in singing God Save The Queen.

"We used to have to sing it at school so it wasn't too hard to sing it, although I had to brush up on some of the words," said Heighington.

Although he's under no illusions how tough it will be for the Lions to beat the Kangaroos, the 28-year-old insists they should have no fear.

"You don't go into a game thinking you can't win. We need to throw everything at them, complete our sets and who knows?" Heighington said.

"We need to sit down and look at them and then play to our style on the night and, hopefully, that will be enough."

Sam Tomkins was the star for England against the Welsh, running in four tries and sending the local media into overdrive with comparisons between the Wigan star and Australian star Billy Slater.

Widdop, who plays with Slater at the Storm, believes the 22-year-old has the world at his feet and can be the x-factor for the hosts at Wembley.

"He is an awesome talent," Widdop told AAP.

"His awareness on the pitch is like Billy's and he senses opportunities really quickly.

"There's no doubt he could play in the NRL and he is full of confidence and facing the Aussies won't faze him at all."

Heighington's Wests Tigers teammate Gareth Ellis is also impressed by the progress of Tomkins, but admits he'll need to be at his best on Saturday.

"He is a bag of tricks and makes things look so easy," Ellis told AAP.

"It's great having him in the side and he is the sort of guy who will rise to the big occasion as he's done with Wigan in the last few years.

"Wembley will be a massive occasion for us, but also the Aussies, playing at such a great stadium will motivate them and we mustn't forget that."

[TITAN PETE]

Ya gotta love how it takes an Aussie wearing a Pom jersey to tell them to have a go & believe in yourself

[DIEHARD]

Hahaha good call Pete.

But at least they arent as bad as England RU yet. Poaching Kiwi rugby league reps and making them play for England.