18th October 2011 - Mardo Gray, Rugby League correspondent

It’s the end of the season and that can only mean two things - finals and internationals.

Despite having teams in all three grades, the Auckland Warriors only came away with the Juniors Trophy. In the main event, the Manly-Warringah Sea-Eagles won convincingly, 24-10. While competitive in the first half, the visitors could not match the Silvertails, and as such, Manly will represent the NRL in the World Club Championship Early next year against the Leeds Rhinos, who defeated St Helens 32 to 16 in the ESL final.
Darren Lockyer got the Australian home soil farewell he deserved at a sold out Newcastle Stadium, when The Kangaroos humiliated the Kiwis, by 8 tries to 1. A New Zealand side with many debutantes was no match for the cohesiveness of the Australians and the 42 to 6 score line was a fair reflection of the difference between the two sides. Whether the Kiwis will stumble in the upcoming Four Nations remains to be seen, they are a team who often produce their best performances in finals, not in warm up games.

The Four Nations tournament kicks of October 28 with the rematch in Warrington. This year Wales make their entry into the competition having defeated France to earn the fourth spot. The difference between the favourites and number one seeds, Australia, and the seventh ranked Dragons will show just how effective the RL Europe has been in lifting the game's standard.

Four Nations Fixtures
Oct 28: Australia v New Zealand (Warrington)
Oct 29: England v Wales (Leigh)
Nov 5: Wales v New Zealand (Wembley)
Nov 5: England v Australia (Wembley)
Nov 12: England v New Zealand (Hull)
Nov 13: Wales v Australia (Wrexham)
Nov 19: Final (Leeds)
For those looking forward to the 2013 Rugby League World cup, qualifiers are underway for the remaining two places in the 14 team roster. In the Atlantic, Jamaica, South Africa and hot favourites, the USA, are battling it out in North America this week, games are live-streamed on the AMNRL website if you are interested. Despite losing a warm-up match to Canada, the Tomahawks defeated South Africa and are confident of their3rd straight win over Jamaica to secure their spot. In Europe the match between Italy and Lebanon will most likely decide the European slot.  Russia and Serbia could not come close to the Azzuri or the Cedars, both of whom had ex-pat player experience.