Sailor could sink England's hopes

"When I was in England last year, I spoke to Jason about some of my frustrations about the transition from League, about how I felt I couldn't make any impact in games because I wasn't getting any ball," Sailor explained during England's summer tour Down Under.

"He just said, 'You have to find ways of getting yourself into the game. Don't wait to make things happen.' I listened because Jason felt like a bit of a trailblazer for me when he moved to Union and I watched his transition very closely as he showed it was possible to be world class in both codes.

"Now the best thing for me is that I feel I do know how to get into a game. If I can't get it out on the wing I have to come inside to the rucks."

A few days after this interview, Sailor navigated his 6ft 3in, 16-and-a-half-stone frame through the English defence in Melbourne for a memorable late try.

It was only a consolation effort, but to Robinson it exemplified Sailor's growing menace as he has begun to get to grips with an alien game. For the previous 18 months he had not had the kindest press following his lucrative signing for the Queensland Reds and the immediate rocky transition that followed. Yet Robinson knew he would thrive.

"Even now for me, there are things about Union that I'm still picking up which are not second nature," said Robinson.

"Though people said early on that he hadn't got what it takes and that teams would find him out, Wendell's such a good footballer that he's finding others out. We've battled plenty of times over the last 10 years and he's always been the hardest player to play against.

"I knew better than anyone what he could do with the ball in hand when he came on to the international scene just a year after me.

"A lot of people said, 'Well, he can't kick,' but if you can beat players like he does, then you don't have to kick. He can be devastating; a big guy who's strong, good on his feet and can weave past you. The 90-yard try he scored against Wales in the summer was unbelievable."

The admiration is mutual. "Jason's a true gentleman and a true competitor, the best I've played against. People think they know what he is going to do and they still can't handle him because he's so unpredictable,'' said Sailor.

Maybe it is that quality of exciting unpredictability which the rugby league converts will bring to this World Cup party, concedes Robinson. If it's not him or Sailor, then how about the Wallabies' other dangermen, Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers, especially after the latter also punched a few holes in England's defence in the Melbourne game.

"I think from all of the guys who've come from League, the main thing about the switch was the challenge, the chance to make a huge impact in a sport that, internationally, is far bigger than League," said Robinson. "Going to this competition excites all of us. It's going to make us realise why we made the move."

Yet, Union or League, Robinson reckons one thing never really changes. In 1995 he played in the Rugby League World Cup Final, only for a fancied England side, who had already beaten the Aussies in the preliminary rounds, to get beaten by the Kangaroos at the last hurdle at Wembley.

"Well, you've always got to worry about Australia in whatever sport, haven't you?" he smiled. Yes, but that worry would run so much deeper should Robinson and England have to try at some point to repel a formidable old adversary in full sail.