Shillington will play England, says SmithAUSTRALIA forward David Shillington is expected to play in Saturday’s Wembley Stadium clash with Four Nations hosts England while Willie Tonga will make way for Greg Inglis.
Australia forward David Shillington will play against EnglandShillington was the recipient of a cannon ball tackle in Friday’s 26-12 win over New Zealand with initial fears he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament however the 28-year-old’s movement has improved each day.
Centre Willie Tonga also picked up a pectoral and hip injury which may rule him out of the remainder of the tournament.
Speaking to 2KY, Kangaroos hooker Cameron Smith said he believes Shillington will play against the Poms.
“Yes I think he will (play),” said Smith.
“He was a little bit worried about his knee or ankle after the match.
“I think he’s pulled up okay so I think he’s going to be training (today) and the other guy Willie Tonga, he’s in a fair bit of doubt.
“There was a lot of concern about his pec at first but it seems to be okay.
"I think the major concern is his hip pointer so he won’t be running tomorrow.”
Should Shillington be ruled out of Saturday’s clash Beau Scott is in line to make his Test debut with coach Sheens giving the Canberra big man until Friday to prove his fitness.
Scott has been a member of the Australian squad since May's one-off Test against New Zealand, appearing as 18th man for the Kangaroos three times.
Brisbane Broncos lock Corey Parker is also a slim chance to debut if Anthony Watmough fails to recover from a hyper-extended elbow although the Manly forward is expected to play.
Referee Phil Bentham has been the major talking point of last week’s win with coach Tim Sheens very vocal in his disappointment of the match officials.
Sheens and his team receive a reprieve with former NRL player Henry Perenara appointed referee for Saturday's match in what the side expects to be a faster, free-flowing game which will increase the ruck speed.
“He refereed the England-Wales game which Tim Sheens and a couple of our other coaches that watched and said it was pretty much refereed like an NRL game,” Smith said.
“It was high intensity, quite fast, he wasn’t afraid to blow some penalties and I think Sheensy was quite happy with that and we could probably play a similar style to what we did do in Newcastle.”
Despite the impressive victory, Smith said his side still has much work to do before the final, should they beat England and Wales.
“Particularly our start in the second half,” Smith said of the areas to address.
“We probably didn’t come out with as much intensity as we needed to.
“We allowed the Kiwis to get back in the game when we could have put them to bed early.”
Source: Sports News First
Topic: Shillington will play England, says Smith
