Making Britain Great

Phil Clarke looks at the task facing Tony Smith - and wants YOUR thoughts on what's needed for Great Britain.

Email Phil Clarke here When Tony Smith turned up at Huddersfield to coach the Giants back in August 2000 they'd just had five different coaches in less than three years. They'd also finished bottom of the league for the last three years and hadn't enjoyed real success for over four decades. He set about a culture change which almost kept them up in 2001, when they won six of their last 13 games. It may have taken the Giants five more years to become a real force but no one can deny that Tony Smith played a significant part in their progress. He faces a similar challenge with his new team. Great Britain haven't had international success since defeating the Kiwis 3-0 in 1993. It's more than 30 years since they were able to beat Australia in a Series or a World Cup. Like at Huddersfield, he has a limited supply of local talent and has the 'we'll never win' attitude by some people who follow the team. In fact, the team, to a certain extent, have an image problem. Nobody is really sure whether it's Great Britain or England. Tony Smith has been given the job of looking at the necessary changes required to improve our national team's chance of success.

Resistance

He has a difficult job in trying to keep everybody happy whilst also instigating change. Many people have tried hard to alter things before, but been hit by too much resistance. Ultimately there are only four areas over which the coach can influence the performance of his team: TECHNICAL
TACTICAL
PHYSICAL
MENTAL The squad preparing for the Gillette Fusion Test Series with the Kiwis will be the basis of the England squad for the 2008 World Cup. If you were given less than 12 months to prepare this team, which of those would you concentrate on and how would you use what little time you have with the players? I'm asking you because no one person has the right answer. Let me know your thoughts, you could play your small part in winning the World Cup. Email me here or use the feedback form below to send in your ideas.

Now to this week's questions

STEVE PRESCOTT FUND
Hi Phil, I need some info please! I had a few bets on the outcome of the Grand Final with the Rhinos fans and I told them when Saints won I was going to donate my winnings to the Steve Prescott Cancer Fund. I was pleasantly surprised that even though I lost my bets, these Rhinos fans have actually given me some money to donate along with my losing stake to Steve Prescott's Fund. Why I'm writing is I know you have mentioned it a few times on Sky Sports so can you possibly tell me where to send it please - or give me a contact number to find out where to send it?Thanks in anticipation. Steve Wilson
PHIL SAYS: I presume you have access to the internet, if so then just go to www.steveprescottfund.co.uk for all the details. You can donate online and congratulate Steve on his effort in raising over £50,000 for both the Christie's Cancer Charity in Manchester and the RFL Benevolent Fund for severely injured players. WOUND-UP OF WIDNES
Hi Phil, I'm devastated at the news of my beloved Widnes Vikings having to call in the administrator and all things being equal I'm not sure it would have come to this. Firstly we were relegated from Super League despite finishing second from bottom to make way for the Catalans. As a result of this we have had to live and attempt to run a "Super League" club on National League money for two years now, obviously not very succesfully! Secondly I remember only a couple of years ago London being bailed out by the RFL to the tune of £3million pounds debt, but I doubt we'll get the same treatment because we're not in an area that the RFL want to expand the game. Finally Ive heard the Sky team refer to the franchise system and the fact that Salford and Celtic are a "shoe-in" because of the locations these teams are based. I'd appreciate your thoughts Phil, are all things equal for a side and a town called Widnes? Tammie Flanagan
PHIL SAYS: I feel very sorry for Widnes. They were unlucky to miss out on initial entry to Super League back in 1996 and then again when they were relegated and had to make way for the Catalan Dragons. I have no knowledge to the financial history or management of the club and yet have great sympathy for their supporters. On the face of it, they seem to offer as much as Salford, Wakefield, Harlequins, Hull KR and one or two other clubs including the Celtic Crusaders. From what little I know of the RFL, they want to assess each licence bid on its own merits and not geographical location. They want to know about a club's facilities, their finances, their teams (1st, 2nd, 3rd and juniors) and their community programme - are they strong off the field as well as on it? I sincerely hope that your beloved Widnes bounce back thought Tammie, because without them the sport loses an important family member. BRITAIN OR ENGLAND?
Hi Phil. Could you please answer this question. Why have the RFL appointed a top coach in Tony Smith to coach the GB squad when GB are not playing in the 2008 World Cup and England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales are? I can't understand why this is when I can't see any of the four home nations doing anything in the World Cup. Let's face it the GB squad struggles at times against the Aussies and the Kiwis. Also what is your view on there being too many overseas players now playing in our leagues and keeping homegrown players out of our teams? Surely this going to affect our chances in future international matches? Martin Broadbent
PHIL SAYS: Tony Smith will coach England in 2008, Martin. To my knowledge all of the 25 members of this year's Great Britain squad currently qualify for England next year, so you could say that he's coaching England now. I don't know if you followed any of this year's Rugby Union World Cup, but the Argentinean team weren't given a chance by most people, they actually finished third out of 20 teams. I have to be careful when talking about our national team. I used to get so engrossed in the subject that I came out in a severe rash with frustration and my psychiatrist has advised that I go and lie down on the nearest sofa when the subject comes up! I think that you could almost list 100 reasons why Australia have repeatedly beaten us over the last 30 years. Some of those might be as small as the weather, which we can't change, whilst others are much bigger and more complex like the number of overseas players, which we can influence. I tried my best to influence change a few years ago. One of the things that I said was that we needed a full-time coach. Tony Smith has that job and a chance to make a few more changes. See you at the Test Match.