Kangaroos ready for 'short' tour

The Rugby League is quietly confident that a meeting of the Kangaroo squad in Sydney on Monday will elect to tour Britain after all.

The seven-match tour was cancelled on Wednesday after half the party said they did not want to travel, but the Australian Rugby League has now agreed to put before them a plan for a scaled-down visit, consisting of three Tests on consecutive weekends next month.

"Their board on balance has approved it," said the Wigan chairman, Maurice Lindsay, who has been acting as an intermediary trying to resuscitate the tour. "It is just a matter of getting the players to say yes."

The signs from Sydney are that enough of them will be willing to do so, with several fringe Test players going on the record as being prepared to be drafted in.

The original tour captain, Brad Fittler, has forestalled any attempt at getting him back on the plane by bringing forward the international retirement he had planned for the end of the tour, but it is thought that some other "refuseniks," such as Andrew Johns, might change their stance.

"If our safety was guaranteed, I'd definitely go," he said, although the Kangaroo coach, Chris Anderson, described the players as "relieved" by the original decision not to go.

"We have had a lot of help from the government with assurances about safety and both our television partners, BBC and Sky, have been very flexible," said Lindsay.

Under the new blueprint, Tests would be played as scheduled on 17 and 24 November, with one slotted in beforehand on 11 November, allowing the Kangaroos to be in and out of the country in the space of two and a half weeks – not a tour in the full sense of the word, but a lot better than nothing for the RFL, which badly needs both income and credibility.

"We are taking nothing for granted, but we are cautiously optimistic," said Lindsay. "It's vital for the game. I think the game would be killed if they don't come."

Another former Australia captain, coach and current selector, Artie Beetson, has joined Bob Fulton in calling for the tour to take place – and reaction in Britain is not dying down, with the Rugby League Supporters' Association urging fans to bombard the ARL with e-mails.

Among the sources of embarrassment for the ARL is the revelation that there are currently 20 Australian sports teams touring in Europe, including the New South Wales Police rugby league team and a girls' schools hockey squad.