League: Kiwis desperate for a win, says Cayless

1.00pm

LEEDS - Prop Nathan Cayless says the pressure is growing on the New Zealand rugby league team to notch up their first win in the Tri-Nations rugby league tournament.

The Kiwis have two more tests in the round-robin stage, both against Great Britain, with the first at Huddersfield on Saturday.

So far, their record is a draw and a loss in their two matches against title favourites Australia, who have already progressed to the final thanks to their 12-8 victory over Great Britain last weekend.

One point of interest is whether the Lions can reproduce the same level of intensity they displayed against the Kangaroos in Manchester before they were sunk by a last-minute try.

Australian coach Wayne Bennett said after the match that Great Britain faced the difficult task of repeating, within a week, what he described as an outstanding performance.

Cayless said Great Britain played with plenty of passion and were unlucky not to come away with at least a draw.

"I'm sure they were really pumped up to play Australia and it's going to take a fair bit to get back up after their first game," he said.

"In saying that, we will really have to be on our game. The pressure is starting to build. We've not won yet and we have to get a win up."

Because of their bye last weekend, the Kiwis will have had two weeks to prepare between their 32-12 loss to Australia in London and the upcoming test against Great Britain.

Cayless said the extra week had been a help in acclimatising after the long flight from New Zealand.

"It's allowed us to get used to the weather over here and to get into our sleep patterns," he said.

"The week leading up to the Australian game, the boys still had a lot of jet lag. We feel really adjusted now and we're ready for this one."

The Kiwis paid for their second-half errors against the Kangaroos at Loftus Road and Cayless said cutting down the mistakes and completing sets of tackles were priorities.

"We also have to get quick play-the-balls for our small blokes like Robbie Paul and Thomas Leuluai, so they can really have a crack around the ruck area."

The Parramatta skipper was looking forward to locking horns with a big Great Britain side.

"All three teams have big packs, but they're big across the park," he said.

"But that's we expect and that's why we play international football. It's the type of intensity you don't get every week in the NRL."

- NZPA