Four Nations: Wales v Australian Kangaroos

[DIEHARD]

Wales v Australian Kangaroos
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham - Monday, November 14 Channel 9 ? Live: 3:30am AEST / 4:30am AEDT

[DIEHARD]

Update on Wales vs Australia broadcast. It will be telecast delayed on Monday 7:30am AEST / 8:30am AEDT on Fox Sports.

Nine refused to show it and Fox Sports don't wanna pay the additional fee for a LIVE broadcast.... *sigh*

[DIEHARD]

Wales v Australia
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham Monday, 3.45am AEST

The good news for the Kangaroos is that part one of their Four Nations mission is complete. Last week?s hard-fought win over hosts England, coming just a week after they accounted for New Zealand in the tournament opener, saw Australia progress to their third consecutive Four Nations final and they head into Sunday night?s clash with minnows Wales knowing that they can relax a little? at least for the time being.

However, with injury and suspension woes hanging ominously above their collective heads, there will be no such grace period for coach Tim Sheens. The veteran mentor was forced into an impromptu reshuffle last week that saw back-rower Luke Lewis shunted out to the wing and he faces a number of selection headaches that must be sorted ahead of next week?s tournament showdown with the winner of Saturday night?s England-New Zealand clash.

One thing for certain is that star fullback Billy Slater won?t be taking any further part in the Four Nations after he broke his collarbone against the Poms. While his shoes will be ably filled by Darius Boyd, the Kangaroos? depth is bound to be tested with Robbie Farah and Willie Tonga also unavailable and Tony Williams likely to be sidelined following his high shot on Ben Westwood last week.

Farah?s absence throws Sheens? original plans of giving the Wests Tigers hooker his opportunity against Wales into disarray, while Williams? destructive presence will also be sorely missed.

Despite his side?s injury concerns, Sheens has chosen to rest departing five-eighth Darren Lockyer to ensure he is fit and firing as he aims for a fairytale farewell in a week?s time.

Wales have their own worries, with impressive young back-rower Tyson Frizell in doubt after injuring his arm against New Zealand last week. The Cronulla Sharks junior had been one of Wales? best performers in their loss to England a fortnight ago.

The Welsh can?t afford to face Australia at less than full strength as they look to continue a Four Nations campaign in which they have been far from embarrassed by their much more accomplished opposition.

Watch Out Kangaroos: Australia must focus on pressuring the kicker against the Welsh, whose captain Lee Briers is among the most complete in world football. Renowned for his extremely accurate long-kicking game, he punished England in their Four Nations debut two weeks ago as he kicked for a whopping 483 metres and backed that up with 362 against the Kiwis last weekend.

The Kangaroos? ability to pressure Briers will provide a good indication of their attitude against a side they are expected to beat comfortably.

Watch Out Wales: The Welsh will have their hands full containing Greg Inglis following the Australian centre?s devastating return against England last week. Inglis tormented England with his powerful runs ? brushing off multiple players with one of his first touches ? and scored a simple try following a brilliant delayed pass from Johnathan Thurston. Expect him to see plenty of football against Wales.

Plays To Watch: The presence of Darius Boyd at fullback in place of the injured Billy Slater is sure to see the Kangaroos focus on their left-side attack. Boyd?s three years at St George Illawarra saw the Dragons develop a pet play on their left in which a second-man play would see Boyd chime into the backline before either slicing through himself or, more often, send the ball out for winger Brett Morris to score. The Kangaroos are also partial to the second-man play and Wales will need their right-edge defence to be on the ball whenever Boyd drifts out to that side of the field.

The History: Played 3; Kangaroos 3, Wales 0. Wales have never beaten Australia and that trend is unlikely to end this weekend. Although the two nations have only played three full internationals (all of them since 1975), they have actually faced off on nine other occasions since 1911, with Australia also winning each of those encounters.

Ironically, the Kangaroos? biggest winning margin against Wales in a full international is only 24 points (winning 46-22 at Huddersfield in the 2000 World Cup) so there is a good chance they will break that record this week. However, their biggest win in all contests was a massive 76-4 thrashing at Bridgend in 2003.

Conclusion: The real question here isn?t whether Australia will win but by how much. With his injury and suspension woes causing some headaches, expect to see coach Tim Sheens experiment with a few options out wide as he looks to find the perfect combination to take into next weekend?s final. Rugby league purists will no doubt recognise how one-sided this promises to be ? although the good news for Aussie fans is that they can expect plenty of points to be scored.

Match Officials: Referee ? Phil Bentham; Sideline Officials ? Paul Holland & Tim Roby; Video Referee ? Ben Thaler.

Televised: Fox Sports 1 ? Delayed, Monday, 3pm.

? Statistics: NRL Stats

http://www.NRL.com

[Steelers]

Update on Wales vs Australia broadcast. It will be telecast delayed on Monday 7:30am AEST / 8:30am AEDT on Fox Sports.

Nine refused to show it and Fox Sports don't wanna pay the additional fee for a LIVE broadcast.... *sigh*

Channel 9 are a disgrace.

[Smakked]

Channel 9 sucks balls, i hope they loose the rights next time around.

[shamus]

Update on Wales vs Australia broadcast. It will be telecast delayed on Monday 7:30am AEST / 8:30am AEDT on Fox Sports.

Nine refused to show it and Fox Sports don't wanna pay the additional fee for a LIVE broadcast.... *sigh*

That's crap!.....I am at work at 7:30 as are most of us (or on our way). I intended getting up to watch it then head off to work. Would have got an early mark an all....Betcha if it was England V Australia it would have been live..

[DIEHARD]

Tim Sheens names new-look side for Four Nations clash with Wales

TIM Sheens, as expected, has named a new-look Australia side for Sunday's Four Nations clash against Wales in Wrexham.

With Billy Slater, Tony Williams and Robbie Farah all unavailable due to injury, suspension and compassionate grounds respectively, the veteran coach announced a reshuffled starting line-up on Thursday.

Sheens has rested skipper Darren Lockyer, so Cooper Cronk will start at five-eighth alongside Johnathan Thurston at halfback.

Rookie of the year Daly Cherry-Evans will come off the bench in the second half for his first taste of international rugby league.

Josh Morris starts on the right wing, with Jharal Yow Yeh on the left.

Willie Tonga is also unavailable after failing to recover from a pectoral injury, so Chris Lawrence and Greg Inglis remain as the starting centres.

The forward pack is also shaken-up with lock Corey Parker making a long-awaited international debut at the age of 29.

Luke Lewis, and another debutant Beau Scott, complete the back row with David Shillington and Keith Galloway getting their first starts at prop in the tournament after coming off the bench in the opening two fixtures.

Cameron Smith will skipper the side from hooker.

Paul Gallen, Matt Scott, Anthony Watmough and Sam Thaiday all drop to the bench alongside Akuila Uate.

Sheens said Uate and Watmough are the most likely to drop off, but both are certainties for the final against either New Zealand or England, who play in Hull on Saturday.

"Choc (Watmough) has not really had a break as he played in the grand final for Manly,'' Sheens said.

''(Matt) Scott is also nursing a bit of a back problem, so we will wait on him and Uate may also drop off, but we'll wait and see.''

The Australians will wear poppies on their shirts for the game at the Racecourse Ground to commemorate Remembrance Sunday.

AUSTRALIA: Darius Boyd, Jharal Yow Yeh, Greg Inglis, Chris Lawrence, Josh Morris, Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston, David Shillington, Cameron Smith (capt), Keith Galloway, Beau Scott, Luke Lewis, Corey Parker. Interchange: Paul Gallen, Daly Cherry-Evans, Matt Scott, Anthony Watmough, Sam Thaiday, Akuila Uate. (Two to be omitted)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/

[Smakked]

ANyone find a live stream online

[Smakked]

http://www.freefootball.org/events/2...Australia.html

If anyone is up. no idea if they are going to work

[Smakked]

The white rat tv link works well

Actually espn tiawan is working

[Smakked]

Wales score first

[Smakked]

Australia are playing crap

Wales over again

[Nick]

this is funny to watch. Gotta love the Welsh spirit, they just are not allowing our pitiful aussies into it!

[Smakked]

Australia will get rolle d, they just came out expecting it to be an easy win

[Smakked]

Aussies finally over the line