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The fun and games - or, more accurately, the mind games - started on Wednesday when England coach Tony Smith made public his in order to comply with World Cup regulations.

Winger Ade Gardner and half-back Danny McGuire - both rested last weekend but widely expected to return - were not in the squad. Gardner had conducted a series of interviews on Tuesday during which he talked about how much he was looking forward to his forthcoming match-up with .

Both the announcement and some of the selections did not make sense. I phoned England media manager Andrew Whitelam in Australia but he said there was little he could tell me - except that the final 17 for the match might not necessarily all be in the preliminary 19. Ah.

So it all was some kind of ruse designed either to keep the Kiwis or his players guessing - or perhaps both.

It is behaviour that we are accustomed to seeing in England - but in football and not rugby league. Or perhaps the England rugby union team under Sir Clive Woodward. It is a point worth making that league in Australia, certainly in New South Wales and Queensland, has a profile similar to football in England. precisely because he can walk down the promenade at one of them without being recognised.

The players are not used to this white-hot scrutiny and it has caused problems in the past, with .

Since the announcement of the preliminary squad Smith and skipper Jamie Peacock have been keeping a very low profile while a closed-door policy has restricted access to most of the squad.

Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney spiced up Saturday's clash by .

"I think we have a responsibility to promote the game," said Kearney. Skipper Nathan Cayless added: "The more access you get to players, the more interest there will be in the game."

Smith is a straightforward coach. He picks his team and trusts them to get on with the job. He was born and raised in Australia and normally has an attitude to the press typical of sportspeople down under, where the dressing room is open.

Earlier in the week when questioned about his team's form he said that it was "only people outside the group that have any doubt". It was a telling comment, one that explains why he has shielded his players. He does not want them infected by the severe and, it has to be said, largely warranted criticism. The squad are also angry by , with prop Adrian Morley admitting that it "really does hurt".

A further degree of intrigue has been added by a story in the linking Smith with the coaching vacancy at , a club once coached by his .

A source in the England camp has been quoted as saying that this "smacks of disruption" and has only added to the siege mentality.

Whether Smith's smoke and mirrors tactics have energised or unsettled his players remains open to question. Second rower Ben Westwood admitted: "I don't quite know what is happening; he hasn't named the team yet."

But winger Mark Calderwood said: "There's been a real buzz around training this week."

Yet despite the off-the-field antics all that really matters is what happens at the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

Smith has said there are some areas his team need to "tidy up". England have conceded 20 tries in three games and you could drive a bus through the right side of their defence. They have failed to score in the second half of their last two games. They have an ageing back line that lacks penetration and there is no established combination at half-back. The kicking game remains a shambles.

For all that, and despite surrendering a 24-8 lead against the Kiwis last Saturday, England do have the ability to reach the final.

And in a week when the build-up ranged from the bizarre to the ridiculous there were words of comfort for Smith and his men from a most unexpected source.

Australians are hardly known for their words of pity and support for Poms but

They'd better be or their shoddy World Cup campaign will be swiftly terminated.