England fly out for Rugby League World Cup

Oct 13 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

ENGLAND will fly out to Australia today as the best prepared rugby league team ever to leave these shores.

No stone has been left unturned during the meticulous planning and preparation for the World Cup, which began almost 12 months ago.

The Rugby Football League have played their part by funding a fact-finding trip by coach Tony Smith and team manager Graeme Thompson in January – and they have upgraded the 24-man squad and 11-strong backroom team to business class for the flight to Brisbane.

“We’ve done pretty well so far,” said Thompson, who took over as manager from Abi Ekoku in 2007.

“Tony is well known for his attention to detail.”

Smith and Thompson checked over every hotel and training base during their whistle-stop visit and left nothing to chance.

“It was all about getting a feel for what it’s going to be like out there,” said Thompson.

“Even how far it is from the hotel to the nearest coffee shop, a bit of local knowledge helps.

“It’s a matter of making things as good as possible for the players to perform. Living away from home for such a long time brings its own demands.

“We viewed all the hotels and training venues and made some choices of our own. When I went back out there in May for a holiday, I took the opportunity to meet the liaison officers. You can’t beat meeting people face to face.”

The England squad will spend the first seven days of their trip on the Gold Coast – and they will come across at least one familiar face when they train at Burleigh Bears, where former Castleford favourite and one-time Super League Man of Steel Adrian Vowles is the chief executive.

“He’s very keen to help, and we’d had a very warm welcome from the Gold Coast council – who have bent over backwards to help us,” said Thompson.