League: Brits far from the easy-beats, Kiwis warned

Steve Matai

CHRISTCHURCH - The Great Britain side will be an unknown quantity to many but the champion Kiwi halfback Stacey Jones has warned they will be far from Tri-Nations easy-beats.

The Kiwis last night lost centre Steve Matai, who has been ruled out of Saturday's clash against the British in Christchurch because of a shoulder strain suffered in the loss to Australia in Melbourne.

He joins Shontayne Hape on the sideline, although Hape's knee is improving quickly. Dene Halatau (shoulder) will resume contact training today and is back in contention.

There are worrying signs the test at Jade Stadium will be sparsely attended. However, New Zealand Rugby League chairman Sel Bennett remains optimistic about the crowd numbers.

Great Britain have been criticised for basing themselves in Sydney and travelling to Christchurch, Brisbane and Wellington two days before their matches.

"I think the people of Christchurch deserve to see them around town and to see them at a training run," Kiwi coach Brian McClennan said.

Tri-Nations officials are also disappointed but Great Britain's manager Abi Ekoku hit back, saying his side's mission was to win the series.

The Britons were helping promoters by sending an advance party of non-test players, he told the Herald from Sydney.

"The travel was agreed to back in May.

"We have hosted the last two tournaments and done a pretty good job.

"Our priority is winning and we wanted stability in our preparation."

The best promotional tool, of course, is television, and most of the British side will be largely unknown to New Zealanders.

But Great Britain showed their class by smashing a below-par Kiwi side this year, and NZRL officials have quietly admitted they underestimated how strong they would be in agreeing to the test.

The Kiwis signed autographs at a fan day in Christchurch yesterday before heading to lengthy team and individual review sessions.

Those eight fateful minutes in Melbourne will live in many memories: errors including Nigel Vagana's high tackle and allowing Australia to reclaim a short kick-off will cast it as a victory that got away.

But the Kiwis must quickly turn their attention to the British.

Jones, who plays in the Super League for Les Catalans, warned they would be particularly strong in the forwards with Stuart Fielden, Adrian Morley and co.

"I think they will be very strong - they've done a lot of work including camps so will be well drilled," said Jones. "The mid-year test helped and will give them a lot of confidence.

"The public doesn't know a lot about them because there are only a couple of early morning games on television.

"But they have really good forwards and little guys like Sean Long and Danny McGuire who can tear you apart and [fullback] Paul Wellens around the ruck as well.

"They've also got some of the best support players in the game.

"We're confident, although we know we can't just turn up.

"Melbourne was very disappointing but we've refocused."