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Updated Wednesday, February 25, 2009 11:42 am TWN, AP

Sheens to be Australia rugby league coach

SYDNEY -- West Tigers coach Tim Sheens will take charge of the Australian rugby league team. The 58-year-old Sheens, the most experienced coach in National Rugby League history with 568 games, was appointed Tuesday to replace Ricky Stuart, whose contract as Australia coach ended after the Kangaroos' upset World Cup final loss to New Zealand last November.

Stuart decided not to reapply after being sanctioned and fined by the International Rugby League Federation for verbally abusing a World Cup referee and an England official in the team hotel the morning after the final.

Sheens got the job ahead of Manly's NRL premiership winning coach Des Hasler and Mal Meninga, who is the most-capped Australian rugby league international of all time and who has guided Queensland to three successive State-of-Origin series wins over New South Wales.

Sheens' first match will be the May 8 test against New Zealand in Brisbane.

"We believe we have the best man for the job," ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said Tuesday. "The ARL had an outstanding group of coaches to select from and that is an indication of the regard Tim Sheens is held in.

"Tim's record speaks for itself -- he has won four premierships and has coached more games than anyone in the game's history.

"There are very few coaches out there who have achieved such sustained success over such a long period of time."

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