England captain Jamie Peacock has hinted that he may follow coach Tony Smith out of the international arena.

Smith, 42, announced an end to his three-year tenure in the wake of England's 46-16 Gillette Four Nations final defeat by Australia in order to spend more time with his family and concentrate on his club role with Warrington.

Now Peacock may consider stepping down as skipper and making himself unavailable for next autumn's series Down Under for similar reasons, although even at 32 he has not given up hope of playing in the 2013 World Cup.

"I'll think about that next year," he said, as he pondered the latest disappointment in his international career.

"My time is running out. Every time it's another less year to play."

A final that promised to end 37 years of hurt when England led 16-12 early in the second half unravelled in spectacular fashion as the Kangaroos plundered 24 points in the final 15 minutes to silence a 31,000 crowd at Elland Road.

Even amid the desolation of defeat, though, Peacock was able to glean a host of positives from England's Four Nations campaign and he paid tribute to Smith for his bold selection policy in the wake of their World Cup disaster.

Half-backs Sam Tomkins and Kyle Eastmond both burst spectacularly onto the scene while another 20-year-old, forward Sam Burgess, added another impressive line to his CV as he prepares to leave for Australia with an explosive two-try performance at Elland Road.

Peacock added: "The performance of Sam Burgess was a real positive to come out of the series and some of the young players that Smithy has had the courage to pick have done their country proud.

"You could go through the team - Briscoe, Hally, Foxy, Shents and the three young lads have all been great all the way through. They have been fantastic and really lifted the country."

Shaun Briscoe, Ryan Hall, Peter Fox - who scored England's other try in the final - and Michael Shenton all played their part as England twice established a winning position before it was blown away by hat-trick hero Billy Slater.

"That's what they can do to you," said Peacock. "I thought we deserved better than that but all credit to Australia for taking their chances in the last 20 minutes.

"We really believed we could win it, that's probably the worst thing. Unlike last time (when England lost 44-4 in 2004), we thought we were going to win it. That makes it even worse, it's a worse feeling."

Smith will help unearth his full-time successor after agreeing to work with a four-man panel appointed to draw up a list of suitable candidates.

The big four are RFL chief executive Nigel Wood, former Wigan and Great Britain centre Barrie Jon Mather, who joined the League as head of player development this summer, head of human performance Clive Brewer and head of England's elite training squad Paddy Mortimer.

Among the names already being linked with the position are two former national coaches in John Kear and Ellery Hanley while ex-Australia coach Wayne Bennett could be a contender if the net is spread worldwide. Another approach for Wales rugby union defence coach Shaun Edwards is unlikely to be any more successful than last time.