League: 'Don't count us out', warns Jones

Stacey Jones

Stacey Jones has warned Great Britain to expect a Kiwis backlash when the two rugby league sides next cross swords in this year's Tri-Nations.

This year's series will be played in Australia and New Zealand, and Great Britain will head to the southern hemisphere in high spirits after claiming a 46-14 win over the Kiwis in St Helens today (NZ time).

Jones was the Kiwi captain for the one-off test in the absence of Ruben Wiki and Nigel Vagana but could do little to prevent a comprehensive victory for the hosts.

Brian McClennan's men were under-prepared and under-strength and needed a last-minute Henry Fa'afili try to avoid the ignominy of a record losing margin against Great Britain.

"They've got some world-class players and they showed that tonight," McClennan said.

"It's disappointing but we always knew we'd be up against it.

"But we haven't played them in New Zealand for some time and we're playing them in our back yard next so we'll see how we go then.

"I'd say we'll be pretty fired up. If you went in the changing room you'd see that we're all disappointed and the coach is disappointed.

"We gave it our best but it's never good to lose like that."

The defeat is another blow to the team's morale after the 50-12 humbling in the Anzac test earlier this year.

However, Jones has tipped McClennan to revive the Kiwis in time for their Tri-Nations defence and believes home advantage will a useful asset.

"I've played Great Britain up here 13 or 14 times and played them in New Zealand just three times, it'll be a good change for us," said the star halfback.

"The crowd will be behind us, especially after winning the Tri- Nations last year, and it's going to be a big tournament.

"The result in Australia was disappointing, and now we've had this result, so I guess we'll have to go back to the drawing board a bit and reassess where we're going," Jones added.

"But Brian is a bright enough bloke to get the team back on track.

"We'll leave it up to him and see where it goes from there, but I'm confident he's got something up his sleeve for us going into the series."

Great Britain coach Brian Noble was pleased with his side's performance but was under no illusions about the size of the task that faces them in the Tri-Nations.

With Australia having won the Anzac test, he knows this year's series promises to be one of the most keenly-fought in years and admits he is already wary of the Kiwis' response.

"It's a timely reminder with 10 weeks to the end of the season and 12 weeks till we go away," he said.

"We know that it's going to be tough down there.

"What we've done now is poke a bear in the ribs, in respect of New Zealand. They'll add some players -- six or seven to that team -- so we need to be a bit more cohesive, a bit better than we were tonight.

"We've also got Australia, who re-established themselves by beating the New Zealanders quite comfortably in the end in the Anzac test.

"So I think it's a reminder for our team that it's going to be a big ask down there, and we're going to have to have the same attitude that we saw over the last couple of days here over six weeks."

- NZPA