Rugby League: Anderson expects another tight battle

3.30pm

New Zealand coach Daniel Anderson is expecting a tough, tight State of Origin-style battle when the Kiwis take on Great Britain in a high-stake tri-nations rugby league clash at Huddersfield on Sunday morning.

Victory for either side would make them firm favourites to join Australia in the final in Leeds on November 27. For the losers, the path to the playoff narrows considerably.

If Great Britain go down, they will have to win their last two round-robin matches, against Australia then New Zealand, to get through.

If the Kiwis are beaten, their fate is no longer in their own hands, and they will be hoping for a Kangaroo victory over the Lions the following weekend to keep their hopes alive.

Anderson said the closeness of the competition and the quality of the sides was encouraging safety-first tactics.

This was evident in Great Britain's 12-8 defeat by the Australia in Manchester, and in the Kiwis' own play, he said.

"I think the Great Britain team were pretty conservative last week," he said.

"There was a genuine, I think, fear that they did not want to turn the ball over to the Australians."

Anderson said the Kiwis had the same attitude for three of their four halves of football so far in the tournament -- during their 16-16 draw with Australia in Auckland, and in the first spell of the trans-Tasman rematch in London.

New Zealand led 12-8 at the break at Loftus Road, but mistakes cost them dearly after the interval as they fell to a 32-12 defeat.

"In the final half, we didn't have that fear and did turn the ball over and got punished," he said.

"It does remind me a little bit of the State of Origin in that it's a mental wrestle as much as it's a physical wrestle.

"Teams don't want to give the ball to the opposition to give them an opportunity."

The Kiwis have made three changes to their starting 13, one of them forced by winger Lesley Vainikolo's recall by Bradford for off-season surgery.

That berth has gone to clubmate Shontayne Hape, who will be making his test debut.

At centre, Clinton Toopi returns in place of Paul Whatuira after coming back from a thumb operation, while in the forwards David Kidwell comes into a reshuffled pack, with Nathan Cayless dropping to the bench.

Also on the bench is Ali Lauitiiti, who joined the New Zealand tour party this week after spending time with relatives overseas.

Great Britain coach Brian Noble has named a 19-man squad, and is not expected to confirm his 17 until match day.

The Lions' preparations have been disrupted by a virus within their camp, which prevented "three or four" of their players from training this week, including skipper Andy Farrell.

Noble hoped everyone would be right by Saturday, but was preparing for all contingencies.

While Great Britain turned in a top performance in almost holding Australia to a draw last weekend, Noble was sure his side could move up a step against the Kiwis.

"We definitely needed that hit-out," he said.

"You could see our skills, our touch on the kicks and our fluency has been the better for it."

Noble believed that the Kiwis might try to chance their arm at some stage, despite Anderson's comments.

"They're going to look to play a bit of footie as well," he said.

"The danger is when you clock off on any particular play. But we've drilled some information into our boys and they (the Kiwis) will have to be good as well, because I think we'll improve this week."

- NZPA