Players need to refocus after delay

Greg Inglis looks a major threat. Photo / Cameron Spencer

Postponing the Anzac test from Friday night was the right call but I worry about the effect it will have on players today.

Players are funny beasts. I was one of them.

Preparations are mapped out for the week right down to the last minute - timing is so clinical trainers usually set their watches with the referee - and it will be difficult for some players to reset their own clocks and go again. They work themselves into a state to be ready to play and will have to pick themselves up mentally and physically again.

I used to hate it when a match was delayed by even a minute or two, let alone two days. Not many players would have experienced that.

I played in a handful of games that were cancelled but never postponed. There were occasions when the ground was frozen over, making it unplayable, and another in the mid-1980s when the Kiwis were due to play in Papua New Guinea but it was called off because of stones on the ground.

I used to be a stickler for routine and my own didn't change from the one I adopted in my mid-teens.

From the amount and type of food I had during the week to when I refrained from alcohol, it was always the same. Then I adopted the same sequence at the same time at the ground - socks, boots and shorts on first, a warm-up and then shoulder pads and my jersey. It never deviated.

One thing that might help is the fact players might have a better understanding of the game plan and what is required of them. Studies have shown it can take 36-48 hours for messages to sink in and, if this is done on a Thursday night before a Friday night game, it might be too late.

I don't think what should be improved conditions will change too much for either side. Both will want to play on a dry track.

I think the forwards will cancel each other out and the game will be decided by the backs. Greg Inglis is a major threat and, to me, he's more dangerous at fullback than in the centres.

Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney has shown a lot of faith in his players and they must repay him. Kearney is going to cop a fair bit if the halves in particular don't show up, especially with the debate about Benji Marshall in the background, and halfback Shaun Johnson needs to fire.

I admire Stephen for the stand he has taken but it will come back to him if the players don't front.

Perhaps there was a little karma in the fact the weather was atrocious in Brisbane on Friday night. It can't be forgotten that the game should have been played in New Zealand, given the NZRL gave up their rights to host last year's Anzac test so they could host it this year on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

It was shameful that it was taken away from them and shows that TV rules the game - not the governing bodies.