Four Nations Previews - Week 1

Australia v New Zealand

The 2011 Four Nations tournament kicks off on Saturday from Warrington in the UK when the Kangaroos play New Zealand at Halliwell Jones Stadium. The Wolves' home ground will dish up a maximum of 13 degrees and for those of you excited enough to wake up at 6am on Saturday morning, you will see a game of footy that may take a while to warm up. The first game of the series will see Australia better prepared and the Kiwis defensive liabilities shown up again.

As we saw in the 4 nations trial match in Newcastle, New Zealand have a fairly new backline and this has damaged their cohesion. Especially with a player like Benji Marshall running the show, it will take the likes of Lewis Brown and Kevin Locke a few more games to get used to his rhythm.  Speaking of rhythm, no team marches to a better beat of the drum than the Australians. Once again it will be Smith, Thurston, Lockyer and Slater in charge and the rest is history - and another 30 point blowout.

Tip: Australia 36-6

Man of the Match: Matt Scott

England v Wales

England, also known as