KEY POINTS:
Great Britain's players don't think the Kiwis should lose their Tri-Nations competition points, but the New Zealand Rugby League needs much more than that to stave off an embarrassing boardroom defeat here today.
Under-fire NZRL chairman Selwyn Bennett will pick up the telephone at 10.30am for a conference call with fellow Rugby League International Federation executive committee members Colin Love (Australia), Richard Lewis (Great Britain) and National Rugby League chief executive David Gallop, its secretary.
They will decide whether the NZRL's written submission, prepared with the help of its lawyer, can sway them from the popular belief that they broke the rules by including Australian-born Nathan Fien after it was falsely stated his grandmother was born in New Zealand.
Love, chairman of the RLIF executive and the Australian Rugby League, said on Monday the Kiwis' two competition points for their 18-14 win over Great Britain were at stake, or a fine.
Bookmakers have suspended betting on the Tri-Nations pending today's outcome, but they would be offering short odds on the Kiwis losing their hard-earned points from Christchurch on Saturday.
While Bennett and the NZRL have fended off criticism with the ferocity of a Shane Bond bouncer this week, the Kiwis found support from an unlikely source, their beaten opponents.
Lions centre Martin Gleeson and tough prop Adrian Morley said they would prefer to beat the Kiwis where it counted, in Wellington on November 11.
"I think it would be daft to deduct them points. We want to get into the final but we want to get there the right way," Gleeson said.
Morley was more diplomatic.
"I don't want to get into the politics about it all. They beat us fair and square last Saturday, that's all I've got to say."
If the Kiwis beat Great Britain by a handsome margin in Wellington and the Kangaroos beat Great Britain twice, the Kiwis will make the November 25 final even if they are docked points.
Both rival coaches condemned "Granny-gate", which erupted this week when Bennett confirmed Fien's New Zealand allegiance came from his Wanganui-born great-grandmother, not grandmother as previously stated.
"If the rules have been breached they should be docked two points," Great Britain coach Brian Noble said.
Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart said the rules were too loose but it was still "an embarrassment" for the Kiwis to choose an Australian.
"I'd be very embarrassed if I was a Kiwi player. And the fact they probably knew it before he took the field - that's the most embarrassing part of it." The wording of the rules and the fact no penalties for such a breach are outlined in the RLIF constitution are the basis for the NZRL defence.
Bennett insists the rules are ambiguous in the section.
- NZPA
