KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's fight to have Brent Webb and Thomas Leuluai released to play in Friday's Centenary test has significant implications for future mid-season tests.
Friday's match against Australia was due to be the last Anzac test, with the NZRL arguing last year that there was little point persisting with the international if they continually struggled to get access to players and were heavily beaten as a result. In the past five years, the Kiwis have lost 30-6, 52-10, 32-16, 37-10 and 52-0.
They also thought it would be something of a goodwill gesture to both NRL and UK Super League clubs towards their Kiwi Roots origin concept that would be played at the end of the club season.
The Australian Rugby League reluctantly agreed at the time but they are, like new NZRL chairman Ray Haffenden, keen to see the Anzac test continue beyond this year.
NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz said last week's wrangling over Webb and Leuluai was something of a test case to see whether the Anzac test was worth pursuing.
"Commercially it makes sense for both of us," Cordtz said. "The concerns we have are about the impact of the Kiwi brand and the credibility of the international game if we continue to allow ourselves to be offered up as a mid-season slaughter with under-strength sides.
"If you look at both 2005 and 2006 we were spectacularly competitive in the Tri Nations but a lot of that good work was undone when we rocked up for the Anzac tests the following years.
"That's what a lot of this [the battle over Webb and Leuluai] is all about. We had to put a stake in the ground and say, 'if these mid-season internationals are to be taken seriously, we have to be able to pick our best side'. It's a test case of sorts. We need to be sure we are in a position to secure our best sides if the Anzac test debate is genuinely going to be back on the table."
An indication of the commercial success of the Anzac test can be seen in the fact the ARL handed the NZRL a $350,000 advance in January on profits from Friday's test.
The match normally provides the NZRL with at least that much and, given they recorded a $1.7 million deficit in 2007, this is much-needed. The Kiwis are traditionally the only cash cow for the national body.
The international calendar is likely to be a hot topic when the international federation meets in Sydney on the eve of Friday's test.
Haffenden, ARL chairman Colin Love and RFL boss Richard Lewis will be present and the issue of mid-season tests is likely to be thrashed out.
The British clubs are clearly upset about being obliged to release players and believed there was an "arrangement" whereby New Zealand would not select British-based players.
ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said they were keen to see the fixture return next year, and especially if it was in Brisbane where it was held between 2005 and 2007.
"We are happy to talk to the NZRL and if they want to see it continue we can't see any reason not to play again because it's a ratings winner," he said.
"There would be a strong desire to play at Suncorp Stadium because we have had 40,000-plus crowds for two of the last three years.
"Although people have an interest in end-of-year tests, it's not as financially viable as mid-season ones. People have had a full season by then and the grand final is seen by many as the end of the season."
