Michael Clarke begins mentoring his youngster teammates ahead of Ashes opener David Warner and Michael Clarke bat for NSW. MICHAEL Clarke has morphed into a supercoach to lift and mentor his Australian team only days out from the start of the Ashes. The Pup showed he was Top Dog when he gathered his three frontline fast bowlers in a semi-circle for a 15-minute animated pep-talk and then had a series of one-on-one tutorials with his batsmen in the Brisbane nets. Test skipper Clarke did not bat in the outdoor practice nets at Allan Border Field but instead used his time to give words of guidance to his players, in much the same fashion as former skipper Ricky Ponting. Clarke firstly sat fast bowling weapons Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle on the ground and had a prolonged discussion, often gesticulating with his hands as he ran through bowling plans to English batsmen. When that was done, the Test skipper disappeared for an indoor net session before returning to keep an eagle eye on Shane Watson batting in the nets. As he did before a tour game in England during the Ashes last winter, Clarke stood by the side of the nets and helped school his former vice-captain with some batting tips. Watson had a horrendous run with lbws against the English bowlers but has worked hard on correcting some of the balance issues that floored him in England. The Australian team, torn apart by internal feuds at times in the last 18 months, appears to be coming together as a unit with only four days to go until the first Test at the Gabba. Fast bowling coach Craig McDermott, the Test legend, had Australia's pace attack around to his home in Brisbane for dinner on Saturday night as they bonded and fine-tuned plans for the Poms. McDermott has been particularly impressed by Johnson, the left-arm firebrand who has taken 205 Test wickets but has often had far too much of a gulf between his best and his worst bowling. Chairman of selectors John Inverarity and Michael Clarke. Johnson will be targeted by England's Barmy Army but McDermott is confident he won't let it rattle him. "'I like where Mitchell is at the moment from an attitude or a headspace point of view," McDermott said. 'We are not worried about the Barmy Army. They are not on the cricket field, they don't influence our cricket do they? 'I have not seen Mitchell bowl this well for quite a while, with his pace and his seam position. Our attack is very well balanced and the guys we have picked have already got a lot of Test wickets between them. I would back their ability to knock anyone over. The Gabba - once a feared spicy pitch but more recently a batsman's paradise - is almost always a bat-first wicket but McDermott says Australia will not have any hesitation in bowling if conditions suit. If conditions are right, why wouldn't we have a look at something like that? McDermott said. We have certainly got the attack that can bowl well on that sort of wicket. Having a lot of storms around at the moment ... conditions could favour having a trundle first. Ashes fever will start to rise in Brisbane today when England's squad arrive at the airport this afternoon before checking into their swank city hotel.