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Barnsley defender Darren Moore has been promoted to the Premier League four times in his career - twice with West Brom and once with both Bradford and Derby.

I can't think of anybody who has gone up more often to the top flight - certainly not in recent times - so when he starts talking about what it takes for a team to reach the supposed Promised Land it probably makes sense to listen.

And with this in mind, there is one undoubted buzz word that crops up time and again during a conversation with the giant defender - consistency. For example, Moore is adamant that the current Barnsley squad is as good as most of the teams he has been promoted with - but talk is cheap.

"It is about showing that consistently and doing the right things at the right time," Moore told me.

And if you think that Big Dave, as he was known at West Brom, has lost it by suggesting the Tykes, currently 14th in the Championship, are in with a shout then perhaps you should think again.

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over the red-hot Australians on Saturday was not only the biggest sporting upset in many a year but ranks as one of the most significant results in the history of rugby league.

It might sound fanciful, some might argue ridiculous, to suggest that one match can transform the legacy of a World Cup but the importance of the Kiwis' fully deserved triumph cannot be underestimated.

Not since in Tokyo in 1990 has such a hot favourite been dispatched in such dramatic fashion.

Not for nothing did describe it as the "upset of the century", while Australian great placed the match superbly into a wider context of the tournament as a whole when he said: "All the cynics that bagged it ... the final was one of the great games."

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On a midweek night in late September Preston North End manager Alan Irvine drove down to South Wales to watch .

Nothing unusual in that you might think, as it gave Irvine the chance to check up on the form of two rival teams.

Except that the game was live on television and the 50-year-old Scot could surely have saved himself the bother of a round trip that was close to 500 miles?

"You only see what the television shows you," Irvine told me as he explained why he made the long journey into Wales. "There is no substitute for going to games."

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England's disappointing World Cup campaign was finally put out of its misery with .

Tony Smith's team left British shores full of optimism but after a suffered their record World Cup defeat against and lost twice in consecutive weeks to New Zealand.

But how did the England players rate during the tournament? Here is what I think. Feel free to disagree - I'd be disappointed if you didn't.

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once said that rugby league is a simple game played by simple people, before adding that rugby union was a complex game played by, well, you'll have to guess the last part.

England, however, seem to have spent the last few days disproving the first part of Daley's maxim.

The build-up to has been anything but straightforward - and hints at both the inadequacy of England's performances so far and the effects of the barrage of criticism to which they have been subjected. It will be on Saturday and England seem to be feeling the heat.

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Mike Newell has a problem.

Since taking charge of the 43-year-old has spent so much time driving up and down our beloved motorway system that he is in danger of violating the mileage limit on his lease car.

The reasons for his endeavours are simple. Grimsby have collected just and have not won since 22 March. If Luton and Bournemouth had not started the season with hefty point deductions then the Mariners would be rock bottom. but are already three points clear of Newell's team.

It is with a wonderful mastery of understatement that Newell says: "There is a problem here in terms of getting wins."

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England's World Cup campaign has so far been little short of a shambles.

Tony Smith's team were supposedly the best prepared touring side to leave our shores but they were scratchy at best against Papua New Guinea and pulverised by Australia.

England's might have been excused on any number of levels - the weather in Townsville, the display of a team still searching for rhythm and form or a bit of an off day.

But the manner of was nothing short of X-rated viewing to everyone who thought England could leave Australia with the trophy in their grasp.

It leaves any arguments that England can win this tournament sounding like the ramblings of a madman.

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