Maori warm-up likely to be hot for England ahead of Four Nations

England have been promised the tough test they requested ahead of next weekend's Four Nations opener against New Zealand, when they take on the Maori in Auckland on Saturday. "They were looking for opponents to ask them some questions, and I don't think the team we have selected will leave them disappointed," said Richie Blackmore, the former Leeds and Castleford centre who will coach the Maori. He has added two young forwards from the full Kiwi squad – Lewis Brown and Sam McKendry – to a side who already included two of the outstanding overseas players from the 2010 Super League season in the Crusaders second-row Weller Hauraki and the inventive Castleford stand-off Rangi Chase. Timana Tahu, the Parramatta centre who will be representing his father's Maori heritage for the first time after playing for Australia at rugby league and rugby union, added: "We aren't there to be a team to be walked over and it's not just a training run. I take this stuff seriously. I'm preparing just the same I would for any representative game. We want to go out there and put pride in our performance." "They'll be a very strong team, without a doubt," the England coach, Steve McNamara, said. "But that's what we wanted. We've entered competitions in the last couple of years, against France and Papua New Guinea, and not performed. We've learned from that experience. So even if we take a couple of injuries in the Maori game, the benefits will far outweigh that. It will be vital for a lot of our players to get some game time, and to work on our combinations." McNamara plans to use 23 of his 24-man squad, and most interest will surround the half-back positions after suggestions before last Friday's departure that he would stick with the combination of Kevin Brown and Sam Tomkins that worked well in the mid-season international against France, with the Halifax-born Melbourne Storm youngster Gareth Widdop at full-back. The exception will be Stuart Fielden, the Wigan prop who only arrived in Auckland today after staying in England for an extra four days to be with his partner for the birth of their first child – although Fielden headed straight from the airport to training at the Mount Smart stadium in the compression clothing he had worn on the flight. "I'm ready and raring to go, but I understand Steve's position," he said. England will hope for a more convincing performance than the flattering 22-12 win secured by Great Britain in their last match against the Maori at the same venue 11 years ago – a game which was the equivalent of naughty-boy nets after consecutive defeats by Australia and New Zealand in the Tri-Nations series, and staged as a curtain-raiser before the final. "There's just no dignity," the veteran forward Denis Betts reflected at the time. This game will also be the first part of a double header, before the Kiwis finalise their Four Nations preparations with a first full Test against Samoa. But the mood should be more celebratory, as England and the Maori commemorate the centenary of the Northern Union's first game in New Zealand – a 29-0 win in July 1910 at the Auckland Racecourse. Warrington have agreed contract extensions with two England forwards – Ben Westwood, whose deal now runs until 2013, and Ben Harrison, who has signed until the end of 2014. New Zealand Maori team v England K Locke (NZ Warriors); S Earl (Penrith), T Tahu (Parramatta), C Toopi (Gold Coast, capt), K Manihera (Northern Pride); A J Taumataa (North Queensland), R Chase (Castleford); J Tamou (North Queensland), A Heremaia (NZ Warriors), R Packer (NZ Warriors), W Hauraki (Crusaders), J Horo (Parramatta), B Thompson (Gold Coast). Interchange J Smith (Salford), K Proctor (Melbourne), S McKendry (Penrith), L Brown (NZ Warriors). Four Nations fixtures 23 Oct NZ v Eng (Welington), 24 Oct Aus v PNG (Sydney), 30 Oct NZ v PNG (Rotorua), 31 Oct Aus v Eng (Melbourne), 6 Nov Eng v PNG, NZ v Aus (both Auckland), 13 Nov Final (Brisbane).