Coote: Brough’s like Austin Powers

Lachlan Coote has likened his new Scotland teammate Danny Brough to Austin Powers as the Bravehearts get ready to face Australia on Friday night.

Coote is set to make his Scotland debut against the country of his birth in Hull.

The fullback will face his Cowboys teammate Michael Morgan and Justin O’Neill on Friday, with fellow North Queensland stars Jonathan Thurston and Matt Scott rested.

“I’ll be stoked to come up against them,” he told Love Rugby League.

“I’m not sure what team they’re going to put out but I’m pretty sure some of them will be rested so it’ll be good to come up against a couple of the old boys.

“There’ll be a bit of banter there, it’s all good fun. Rattle their cage a bit.”

Scotland will be captained by Dewsbury native Brough in the Four Nations.

Coote, originally from Sydney’s west, joked that he’s been doing his best to understand his skipper’s strong accent.

“We’ve had a week at camp led by Danny Brough he does an outstanding job getting the team together,” he said.

“He’s a bit like Austin Powers [his accent] but he’s alright. You can slow him down a bit and you can be in a conversation with him.

“But when they get together it’s hard to stay in a conversation.

“He’s done a good job getting the players nice and tight. I’ve only been here for a week now and I feel like I know the boys pretty well, it’s a credit to him and the way he does things.”

Coote qualifies for Scotland through his maternal grandmother.

The North Queensland outside back admits he knows little about his heritage.

“My mum’s mum was born in Glasgow so that’s how it’s come about and i was eligible to play for the Scottish team,” he said.

“I don’t have much to do with my grandma so I was a bit unknown about my heritage and how they do things in Scotland, so that was another reason why I wanted to come over here and learn a bit.

“It’s been good. We had a week in Edinburgh last week and it was good to go up there.

“I was trying to look up the family name, tartan and crest, but I couldn’t find it.”

Coote knows the skills and dangers of the Australian players well from the NRL, and he will be passing that knowledge on to his new Scottish teammates.

“Some of the boys will be well unknown on what the other guys do and obviously I play against them every week so I can have a bit of input there and help out any way that I can,” he said.

“I’ll be doing that on Friday night to give us any opportunity of winning the game.”