KEY POINTS:
Kiwis coach Brian McClennan is calling for the Anzac test to be played on a Sunday so his side will have more of a fighting chance.
New Zealand have beaten the Kangaroos only once in seven Anzac tests - when they triumphed 22-16 in 1998 at Auckland - and last year were on the receiving end of a 50-12 trouncing.
Once again, McClennan is largely unable or unwilling to call on British-based players for Friday's test because of scheduling and the effects of travel. Brent Webb is still likely to be called on despite playing for Leeds on Monday morning (NZ time) because of the dearth of fullbacks, while Motu Tony and Jason Cayless are other British-based options.
"Friday night is an inconvenient time to play a test match but if it was on a Sunday then we would have time to prepare the team," McClennan said. "It's really difficult to get English [based] players down.
"If they [the ARL and NRL] are serious about international football, then they have to do it. They think a game between two suburbs is more important than one between two countries. Everyone has been brainwashed."
It's been a common refrain from McClennan in his two years in the job and was also a bugbear of former chairman Selwyn Bennett. But the Kiwis boss is not optimistic of change any time soon. He even said it might take a change of personnel at international board level before changes could be made.
McClennan will tomorrow name a 19-man squad to take on Australia in Brisbane and will announce his playing 17 the following day.
The Kiwis coach has developed a reputation for thinking outside the square and reports surfaced this week that he was considering pairing Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall in the halves.
"It's an option," McClennan confirmed. "We will consider all options. We will do whatever we think is best for the team and for the future. Sonny Bill can play anywhere."
Although it still looms as a longshot, especially with Ben Roberts playing well at halfback for the Bulldogs, McClennan has more than one eye on 2008.
"We will do everything we can to win, but we will treat it as a development game because we are mindful of the World Cup. This is step one in planning for the World Cup."
It was going to be a young side anyway with the raft of retirements and injuries. Roberts and Broncos lock Greg Eastwood are leading candidates to be handed debuts.
Australia are likely to stick closely to the side that won last year's Tri Nations but Greg Inglis is out with a knee injury.
