Rugby League: Hard man eyes up the English

LEEDS - New Zealand's record-breaking tackler, Richard Swain, should play a vital part in the rugby league World Cup semifinal against England at Bolton on Sunday.

The Kiwis are expecting a torrid time on defence from the English and, according to statistics, Swain is the ideal man to stop their runners.

His 872 tackles in the NRL competition this year was a record for the season - 133 more than his nearest rival.

His defensive effort earned him Melbourne Storm's club man of the year award which included two $A1000 ($1316) tickets to the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.

Swain, whose parents come from Whenuapai, says he expects plenty of English players to run at him if he gets selected for the game.

"Their blokes are going to run at me because I'm a lot smaller than anyone else in the pack. The fewer tackles the other guys have to make means they will have more energy to run on attack for us," the Tamworth-born hooker said.

"Topping the tackle count is not something I pride myself on. I would rather be a top linebreaker and a better attacker than defender, for sure.

"But I do a lot of the cleaning up around the rucks. I've tried to put on extra weight, but I can't keep my fitness up if I'm a bit heavier. So I have to stay around the 85-87kg mark. If I get up to 90kg I lose speed."

Swain will be striving to hold on to his hooker's spot, because coach Frank Endacott has not ruled out moving five-eighths Henry Paul to hooker during the semifinal to possibly allow young brother Robbie Paul to come off the bench.

The 25-year-old Swain was blooded into the Kiwi squad last year, making his mark in the Tri-Series with England and Australia.

"It will be great to have a decent game with England this weekend," he said, "because we need to get into an arm-wrestle if we are going to play Australia in the final. This is a make-or-break game for us.

"We haven't been in a real tough game yet. But England are one of the three best teams in the tournament and our goal is to win the World Cup.

"If we don't get past them, we haven't achieved our goal."

Swain said losing to Australia by 52 points in the Anzac test still hurt.

"But the Aussies aren't that arrogant that they think they will do it again. They still respect us and, inside, they know we are a threat."

Australian coach Chris Anderson was at the Kiwis' quarter-final against France on Monday to search for any chinks in the Kiwi armour.

Endacott will select his squad of 17 tomorrow. The Kiwis had another rest day yesterday, but most of the players did extra fitness work before a major training session today.

- NZPA

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