FOUR NATIONS FINAL: England v Australia
Venue: Elland Road, Leeds Date: Sat, 14 November Kick-off: 1930 GMT
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online, plus text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Also live on Sky Sports 2.
Peacock praises 'fantastic' Australia
England skipper Jamie Peacock says there will be no repeat of the disastrous 2004 Tri-Nations final when his team play Australia on Saturday.
Great Britain went into the 2004 game as favourites only to crash to a 44-4 defeat, but Peacock now has the chance of revenge in the Four Nations final.
"The Aussies produced a great display and we didn't deliver. It should be different this time around," he said.
Australia skipper Darren Lockyer added: "It would be difficult to repeat that."
Lockyer was in sensational form in the 2004 final at Elland Road and is one of three Australians likely to play on Saturday that remain from that winning side.
"What we did that night was pretty special," said Lockyer. "It's rare. It would be very difficult to repeat that. I'm sure this game will be a lot tougher."
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After a woeful World Cup campaign last year prompted a change in approach, England coach Tony Smith has put his faith in younger players and been rewarded with a place in the final.
"We knew it would be a big challenge so it's quite an achievement because the southern hemisphere teams are always the favourites," Smith told BBC Radio 5 live.
"But internally we thought we could do well on home soil."
Smith has named the same squad of 17 that defeated world champions New Zealand 20-12 in Huddersfield last Saturday, although he has hinted at possible last-minute changes to the make-up of his starting side.
It means that Sam Tomkins and Kyle Eastmond, both 20, will continue their fledgling half-back combination after impressing against the Kiwis.
Smith hopes 'continuity' pays off
"They are excellent young guys, who don't carry any baggage," said Smith.
"They've handled everything that's been thrown at them in Super League and they've been the same at Test level. They've got level heads and not too bothered about the attention they are getting."
Some of that attention has been in the shape of a response from Australia scrum-half Johnathan Thurston, who replied to a question about Eastmond earlier in the tour with the answer: "Kyle who?"
But the experienced Lockyer was keen to play down any talk of Thurston showing disrespect to the St Helens youngster.
"I think Johnathan regrets that comment but, when we came over here, to be honest there were a lot of names in the squad we didn't know a lot about," he said.
"The two halves were new faces to us. But after the Wigan game, we're fully aware of what they're capable of doing.
"They're unpredictable and, playing behind a big forward pack. They are two guys we've done some homework on this week."
And for his part, Eastmond was happy to accept that his rapidly rising reputation may not have made it all the way to Australia just yet.
"It's fine because I don't expect him to know who I am," said Eastmond.
"It's been quite a quick rise from not playing at St Helens to starting for your country.
"I've got all the respect in the world for a player of his calibre. He's an outstanding player and it's going to be great to play against him this week."
Australia coach Sheens has named an initial squad of 19 and it is thought he will not decide on his final 17 until he has seen the weather conditions on Saturday.
But the Australian is confident the big-match experience of his players will help his team succeed.
"Most of them have played State of Origin," said Sheens. "They know what it's like in a very tough series to keep playing for 80 minutes.
"Queensland and New South Wales have both won and lost games in the last five minutes. It will be an 80-minute effort from both sides, there's no doubt about that.
"It will be a very intense game and, if there is a need to draw on any experience, our guys can play at that level and they will need to in order to beat a much-improved England side."
Australia are favourites going into the final - and Peacock is happy that his side are seen as underdogs.
"We came into that game in 2004 as favourites but we're going into this one as underdogs which is great," added Peacock.
"It's always good to go into a final as underdogs. There's no pressure on you."
Smith said he would take inspiration from New Zealand's display in last year's World Cup final, when they played almost faultless rugby league to stun overwhelming favourites Australia.
"We're looking for the sort of performance that New Zealand produced in the World Cup final," he said.
"It's been a few years since England have had some success and we're in there fighting and hoping we can bring that to the country."
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