So you think the World Cup is predictable? Only Australia can win it? Think again, writes Roy Masters.

FIRST impressions always count the most with coaches, even long-retired ones. My immediate reaction to the Storm's loss to Leeds in March in the World Club Challenge match was how strong England would be in the World Cup, beginning today in Townsville.

The speed with which the Rhinos' defensive line moved up on the Storm was very impressive, cutting the thinking time of the then NRL premiers, frustrating their playmakers. Sitting in the Elland Road stadium that bitterly cold night, watching the Rhinos move fiercely forward on every tackle, I recalled the words exchanged by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the movie of the same name when they looked down at a posse they had been unable to elude and asked: "Who learnt them guys?"

Such consistent discipline in defence doesn't derive from an impassioned speech in the dressing room, it comes from hours of drills, and the Rhinos coach, Brian "Bluey" McClennan had only been in the job for four games.

Leeds's coach the previous four seasons had been Tony Smith, who resigned at the end of the 2007 season to take charge of the England team. The Rhinos were far more dominant at the beginning of the season than the end, further evidence of Smith's role.

From being virtually unbeatable in February, they slipped from top-two status, stumbled mid-year, before reaching the Super League grand final again, beating St Helens in an upset.

So, while Bluey was the beneficiary of an inherited team, Smith moved to a new challenge - preparing England for the centenary World Cup.

He flew to Australia early this year and travelled every route the England team will take - from their Gold Coast base to Townsville and then to Melbourne and onwards. He checked out the team's hotels and the facilities for recovery, visiting every training venue.

England players whose teams missed the Super League final were ordered to train in heat chambers. It's no surprise that Smith, the former Steelers, St George and Eels five-eighth, is the brother of Brian, the Knights coach renowned for his micromanaging style. Past Australian coaches placed in charge of England teams, such as David Waite, have been vulnerable to the charge of cant, in the sense an "us versus them" message is empty rhetoric when you're a compatriot of the blokes in the other dressing room. So what did Smith do to overcome that obstacle? He became a British citizen mid-year.

Leeds and St Helens supply seven players each in today's 17-man squad, and England captain Jamie Peacock is the Leeds prop and the best front/back-rower in the world.

Leeds also have second-rowers Gareth Ellis and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, and lock Kevin Sinfield, the Rhinos captain in the English squad. So, too, their halves, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire, along with veteran centre Keith Senior and the man of the match in the Super League grand final, fullback Lee Smith, who usually plays on the wing.

You get the idea that coach Smith, in charge of Leeds during their record-breaking number of successive wins, won't be singing Getting To Know You in the England room. Land of Hope and Glory is a more likely choice.

Furthermore, England have Adrian Morley, a passionate patriot and a former Roosters forward, to complement Peacock. The Roosters have not been the same team since Morley returned to England.

While most Super League clubs have chased size in teams, Leeds have preferred mobility, and this will be a major requirement on Australia's harder, faster grounds. With a mobile team and a coach educated in Australia, the England team could be said to look more Aussie than the Kangaroos, who are basically a mixed NRL team.

Peacock, 31, 195 centimetres and 101 kilograms, was identified early in his career as a champion and was educated in Australian play.

Ten years ago, he came to play for Wollongong University at the instigation of Penrith coach Matthew Elliott, then with Bradford.

Past successful Kangaroos teams have relied on a nucleus of players from a champion club - from St George in the 1960s to Manly in the '70s and Parramatta in the '80s, the Broncos and Raiders in the '90s and early 2000s, and recently the Storm. NRL premiers Manly have one player, Glenn Stewart, in the starting team to play New Zealand tomorrow.

England, quietly flying under the radar, have two nuclei in St Helens and Leeds, with the Rhinos expected to lead the charge when it matters.