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Smith to help in successor hunt
THE RFL is searching for a new England coach following Tony Smith's decision to step down.
Immediately after Saturday's 46-16 loss to Australia in the Gillette Four Nations final, Smith said a decision on his future would be made after talks with his family and the governing body.
But the RFL released a statement yesterday revealing Smith had confirmed before the tournament began that he would not seek an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of this month.
The 42-year-old former Leeds Rhinos boss is keen to concentrate on his role of director of coaching at Warrington Wolves, but will be involved in the appointment of his successor.
RFL chairman Richard Lewis said: "Tony explained to us before the start of the Gillette Four Nations his reasons for not wanting to continue, which we appreciate and we wish him well for his future.
"Our aim is to win the 2013 World Cup and, by including so many youngsters in his squad, Tony has certainly set the wheels in motion to achieve this."
Smith said he "greatly enjoyed" his time as national coach, but added: "All of my coaching career I've put my personal aspirations first, however I must now consider the needs of my family.
"After talking to them it's clear that it's very difficult for me to cover the demands of both the club and international game.
"Next year the Four Nations is in the southern hemisphere and after a long domestic season with Warrington it would mean at least six weeks away from home with England."
Reflecting on Saturday's defeat, Smith felt the final margin was cruel on England, but he admitted the Kangaroos "came up with special tries at the end and blew the scoreline out".
He added: "They are a very good team who can punish you if you're not great in every area.
"For 60 minutes it looked like it could have gone either way. In that respect, it's probably an advancement for us on what we've done in the past against Australia."
Aussie coach Tim Sheens described their win as "really hard work".
He said: "The scoreline blew out at the end, but they put us under pressure at the start of the second half.
"Once we got 12 points up we started to play some footy but, up to that point it was very, very difficult."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
