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4 November 2009
Soliola out to end England hopes
New Zealand centre Iosia Soliola hopes to make a big impression on his new St Helens team-mates - by ending their interest in the Four Nations.
The 23-year-old Sydney Roosters centre or second rower is Saints' big signing for 2010 and has already been doing his homework on the club's England players ahead of the crunch clash at Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium.
Prop James Graham, hooker James Roby and utility back Kyle Eastmond look certain to keep their places after impressing in last Saturday's 26-16 defeat by Australia while back row forward Jon Wilkin, who was 18th man at Wigan, is hoping to get the nod when coach Tony Smith announces his team tomorrow lunchtime.
"I've been looking out for them over the last couple of weeks to see how they go," said Soliola. "They're good players and I'm pretty excited to come up against them.
"I've been a big fan of Roby after I played against him in the Tri-Nations in 2006. He's a bit of a gun, I've huge raps for him.
"Graham is always a good forward, winning the Man of Steel award, so I'm looking forward to facing him too."
With centre Steve Matai ruled out with an eye injury, New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney is considering switching Soliola from the pack to fill the gap against England.
Although he has played primarily as a back row forward for both his club and country this year, Soliola is seen by St Helens as a centre and he would be happy to make the switch.
If that happens, he could find himself up against rising star Eastmond, who played at centre in the Super League Grand Final last month and slotted effortlessly into that role for the second half against Australia.
"He's pretty nippy and has a bit of footwork so, if I do play centre, I'll have to be on the ball and do a lot of video work on him with our staff," said Soliola, who will win his 11th cap.
"Depending on where I'm playing, I'll be ready."
Soliola, who is making his first visit to England, missed the Kiwis' World Cup triumph a year ago with hernia and shoulder injuries and is hoping to make up for that disappointment by helping them win the inaugural Four Nations.
They made an impressive start with a 20-20 draw with the Kangaroos and turned on the style in the second half against France to run out 62-12 winners but Soliola says they will need to find more improvement against England.
"We've got to improve the start of our game," he said. "It was a definite scare in the first half against France.
"We spoke at half-time about that and there were signs of what we showed against Australia in the second half.
"This is do or die for both of us so we're expecting it to be tough. England showed a lot of pride in the jersey in the second half last Saturday and we're expecting that full throttle this week.
"It's a tough comp, there is a lot of pride on the line. England have got some big forwards and stopping them will be a huge task with the likes of Moz, Graham and their captain.
"They also have nippy backs like McGuire and Roby who can dip out of the ruck. There are a few players we need to stop and we've got our staff looking at that."
