Rugby League: Gb Shaping Up Well for Nz Tests

Tony Smith has been left with more questions than answers after the convincing victory over France in his first game as Great Britain's coach on Friday night but that is exactly what he wanted.

His decision to omit up to a dozen senior players to leave them that little bit fresher for the home three-Test series against New Zealand at the end of the season had the added bonus of giving a group of younger men the chance to increase the competition for places.

Now he has a panel of at least 25 realistic contenders for the Kiwi series and the World Cup that follows in 2008. "I'd like to think there is now a bit of pressure on the guys that didn't play against France," said Smith. "They understand why we went with a younger side and I think most of them were pretty grateful for the break."

The senior figures who were omitted will be involved in reviewing Friday's match, just as they were in preparing for it, although the next meeting of Smith's Great Britain brains trust will be delayed for at least a week because the head coach and his assistant, Steve McNamara, have the more pressing priority of preparing their teams for the Leeds-Bradford derby at Headingley this Friday.

The new mood of friendly competition starts from the top, with Adrian Morley making such a positive impression in his first Test as captain on Friday that he must now represent the most plausible rival to last autumn's Tri-Nations leader, Jamie Peacock, with Paul Sculthorpe's international future looking increasingly bleak after his latest injury, this time a torn achilles.

Peacock remains the most likely skipper, and rightly so after his heroic efforts standing in for Sculthorpe over the last two Tri-Nations campaigns, while Paul Wellens at full-back, Keith Senior at centre and Lee Gilmour for his utility value also seem certain to be included against New Zealand after their consistent excellence at international level. But Stuart Fielden will recognize that he has some work to do if he is to win selection over Andy Lynch or James Graham, who were both strong against France, with Hull's Garreth Carvell and Bradford's exciting Sam Burgess providing further front-row competition.

Great Britain (possible team to face New Zealand in the first Test at Huddersfield on October 27): Wellens (St Helens); Gardner (St Helens), Gleeson (Warrington), Senior (Leeds), Raynor (Hull); Pryce (St Helens), Burrow (Leeds); Morley (Warrington), Roby (St Helens), Peacock (Leeds, captain), Hock (Wigan), Ellis (Leeds), Wilkin (St Helens). Interchange
Gilmour (St Helens), McGuire (Leeds), O'Loughlin (Wigan), Graham (St Helens).