Rugby League: Top Kiwis squad ready for Britain

New Zealand Rugby League has confirmed that the original Kiwis squad picked for next week's World Cup in Britain will fly out on Monday.

And it won't take any action against some players it had picked out as instigators of a possible boycott of the cup because the new owners of the Warriors club had refused to roll over players' contracts.

NZRL spokesman Don Mann confirmed last night that the full squad would fly to London on Monday.

The Kiwis have been in camp in Auckland preparing for the cup, but a number of players, including Warriors Logan Swann, Ali Lauitiiti and Joe Vagana, were reportedly leading the boycott of the cup by New Zealand players.

Boycott talk spread across the Tasman, where the Warriors received much support.

National Rugby League players met in Auckland and Sydney yesterday to discuss the boycott and eventually decided to scrap it.

The NZRL then met to discuss the players' action.

"We will send the best possible team," NZRL chairman Gerald Ryan said.

He said the NZRL was determined not to let any outstanding commercial issues stand in the way of sending a Kiwi team capable of representing the country and the game at the highest level.

"We have selected the best players available and have made arrangements to ensure that those selected can play," he said.

"We have provided full insurance cover for all players, regardless of whether they are under contract or not.

"The players we have spoken to are committed to playing in the tournament and representing New Zealand. They are not about to let Australian interests prevent them from competing."

Earlier in the day the Sydney-based Rugby League Players' Association backed away from their boycott threat after a meeting involving player representatives and managers, as well as officials from the NRL, Australian Rugby League and the newly named New Zealand Warriors.

RLPA president Tony Butterfield recommended that players not boycott the cup.

New Warriors owner Cullen Investments, which owns about 75 of the stakes (NZRL is also part-owner of the club), signed up four players yesterday, to follow the six they picked up earlier in the week.

Kiwi skipper Richie Barnett, identified on Thursday night as one of the players involved in the hinted-at cup walkout, was furious that he was linked with it, and denied suggestions of a mass walkout by his squad members.

He said there was some doubt over Swann, Lauitiiti and Vagana - who did not have club contracts and were worried about their future should they be injured during the cup campaign. However, Mann said the matter had been settled.

At yesterday's meeting, the RLPA and the NRL agreed to investigate implementing an insurance policy to protect players' wages.

Butterfield said the NRL had to ensure the fiasco over the Warriors never happened again.

He said a strategy to underwrite players' wages would be discussed after the World Cup, from October 28 to November 25.

He could not say whether the NRL or the RLPA would underwrite the players' payments should a club fold.