League: Kiwis shaping up faster than foes

The composition of the Kiwis team for the Anzac test next month is more clear-cut than that of the Aussie side.

Of last year's World Cup performers, the part-time captain Nathan Cayless has retired but all others are available. And we can add into the mix players who were unavailable last year due to injury - including test regulars Frank Pritchard, Roy Asotasi, Sia Soliola, Steve Matai and Jeff Lima.

Plus there are new contenders, such as Souths' Christchurch-born secondrower Eddy Pettybourne and Auckland-born Junior Sau, who is a regular performer in the Knights' centres.

And Auckland-raised Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki, who played five and four tests respectively for the Kiwis in 2007, were told by Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney last year that if they were not selected for the World Cup campaign they were free to look at Tonga due to their heritage in 2008, then return to the fold. They have. "I told them they would be welcomed back, that form was the criteria as it always has been."

Kearney has been in touch with most prospects to check their fitness and is confident he will field a side capable of maintaining the recent good record against the Kangaroos at Suncorp Stadium on May 8.

"We just want them to get through the next two weekends without injury or suspension," he said.

Only the Eels centre/fullback Krisnan Inu is out of form, dropped to the Eels reserve grade this weekend. Kearney hasn't ruled Inu out of Kiwis selection and said he was paying the price for a poorly performing team. "But it's when we have to go to the second tier that we get in trouble."

The coach is taking it as read that Stacey Jones will not make himself available ... but he does intend to ask. "I spoke to him a month ago and he wasn't keen. It's not the right time to ask him this week when he has a big game against the Storm in front of him. We'll talk about it afterwards," said Kearney, also the Storm's assistant coach. "We've got options [at halfback]."

Those options include bringing Wigan's Thomas Leuluai into the picture, and while Kearney has not ruled out using Super League players, he is wary of the toll the flight from England takes due to the late release from club commitments. "The experience of last year has made me wary in the sense that it is a tough ask, but I can't discount using someone like him or [fullback] Brent Webb."

The Kangaroos meanwhile will have pencilled in Darren Lockyer as captain, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau and Cameron Smith - but few others. The Manly players David Williams, Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough are struggling in a poorly performing team, Billy Slater is out of form too and the first choice fullback Brett Stewart is out for two months with a leg injury, Paul Gallen returns this weekend after a long injury layoff, his Sharks team mate Anthony Tupou

has not earned a place yet and nor has Titans backrower Anthony Laffranchi nor Roosters centre/wing Joel Monaghan.

Others previous test players including Braith Anasta and Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan and Mark O'Meley have not even made the 40-man squad from which the New South Wales State of Origin selectors will pick. The Cowboys' Carl Webb is suspended for bad behaviour and their captain Johnathan Thurston is well short of his usual game-breaking ability, perhaps due to repeat injuries and off-season surgery. Warriors centre Brent Tate is out after knee surgery.

Of course, the Aussies will always find capable replacements. But they will lose any cohesion they had and must start again under a new coach in Tim Sheens.

Kearney said he was looking forward to locking horns with the longest-serving coach in the NRL and, although he does not have the in-camp help he had from Wayne Bennett (the NRL's second-longest server) that he enjoyed last year, the Dragons coach will offer advice over the phone.

Meanwhile, Kearney's immediate focus is on getting the Storm to blow hot after a three-from-six start that has seen them struggle to score points.

last year;'s finalists had also struggling to adjust to the dual-referee system. " We're finding our way a bit, just like everyone else in the competition."

"The defence has been good, we're the only team that hasn't had 20 points put on us."