McDermott took over as coach of Harlequins from Tony Rea in July 2006

By George Riley BBC Radio 5 Live rugby league expert

The obvious talk since England's Four Nations final appearance has been of the man best-placed to succeed Tony Smith.

Yet his departure, less than 24 hours after England had been beaten 46-16 by Australia at Elland Road, hit home that there are much wider issues left unresolved in terms of making the national team competitive.

One of the most vocal, passionate and animated supporters of our great game, Brian McDermott has his own theory on the direction the sport must take in order to properly compete on the international stage.

Having toppled world champions New Zealand and battered the Aussies for an hour before running empty, England's performances should give much reason for optimism.

The problem we have isn't talent, coaching or performance, it is preparation and resources Harlequins coach Brian McDermott

But what does McDermott think?

"The promising signs are irrelevant," says the former Bradford and Great Britain forward. "The problem we have isn't talent, coaching or performance, it is preparation and resources.

"Australia's dominance has nothing to do with coaching. Billy Slater is not an incredibly more skilful player than Kevin Sinfield, while Kyle Eastmond is not way off the pace when you liken him to Jonathon Thurston or Darren Lockyer. Their preparation, though, is a different galaxy."

McDermott is tipped as a possible successor to Smith, but when I put that to him he wastes little time firing his response.

"Even for you, George, that is an irrelevant question," he says. "We're all coming at this from completely the wrong angle," he says.

"What Tony's done is manage a group of people who aren't as well prepared, aren't as well resourced as we'd like.

"He's picking from a small pool in a competition that struggles to fill 14 Super League teams with strong 25-man squads.

"It doesn't really matter who is in charge until we sort out these issues."

Still, Smith has endured his fair share of criticism, noticeably after England's dismal failure at the 2008 World Cup.

"It frustrates me that all arrows are pointed at the coach who has limited time with a group of players who have come from an under-resourced, under-paid environment that most Super League clubs are in," says McDermott.

England's James Graham tries to keep hold of the ball in the Four Nations final

"Criticism of him is completely wrong."

McDermott may come across as outspoken, but he talks a huge amount of sense, while his passion for the cause is palpable.

"I'm not having a crack at the Rugby Football League. The roots they have set down and the direction we are heading in is good," he says.

Yet his faith in the RFL is countered by his own desire to see the game reshaped behind the scenes.

Moreover, his own solution to what he perceives the problem to be is an eyebrow-raiser for any fiercely-proud rugby league fan.

"If I was in charge, I would go to rugby union and ask how they got from an amateur sport in 1995 to be world champions in 2003," he says.

"How did they ride that wave of success to get to a situation today where most Premiership clubs have outstanding facilities and resources?

"We can learn from union, as much as we'd hate to admit it. They market their sport incredibly well.

"We always talk about league being the best sport, but we're still suffering the same problems we had when I started playing in the early 90s.

We just don't have the funding, the resources and the staff that top union clubs do... we have to accept that Former England coach Tony Smith

"So something is not right, and it is ridiculously narrow-minded to blame the coach when the international team fails."

But what does Smith think?

"We are doing a lot right and making massive strides," says the Warrington Wolves coach.

"I agree with a lot of what Mac (McDermott) says but it just isn't viable. We need to be resourceful, and I think the RFL have been brilliant at that.

"We just don't have the funding, the resources and the staff that top union clubs do. We have to accept that.

"We can learn from them, but there can't be a copycat approach because they have more cash."

Smith was clearly the best coach in Super League when he was awarded the England job.

But, as McDermott points out, you can put the best coach around with a high quality group of players and still not get results.

Yet the nature of the sports fan is to blame individuals rather than circumstances.

And it wasn't just Smith under fire. Some of his players bore the brunt of the nation's frustrations, like Danny McGuire.

The flak, though, comes with the job, and both Smith and McDermott agree that being England coach remains the best job the sport has to offer.

"Being coach of England remains the ultimate and I can't see why any Super League coach would not want to do it," says Smith.

McDermott agrees.

"I would love the England job," he says. "Why would I not want to coach my country? That is your goal in life."

I suggest to him that he is a strong candidate to replace Smith.

"George, there's only half a bloody dozen of us that it could be," he points out in his own unique way. "That's as daft a question as your earlier one."

You can follow George at: www.twitter.com/georgeyboy

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