'Sharp and crisp' Britain settle in

Brian Noble is content with the way his Great Britain team has gelled since arriving at their Sydney base ahead of their Tri-Nations match against New Zealand on Saturday. "I'm pleased with our training this morning," the coach said. "We looked sharp and crisp and that element of familiarity is coming. If practice is anything to go by, I think we're ready to play."

Noble is hopeful forward Stuart Fielden and winger Brian Carney will both overcome knee injuries to play, while New Zealand have made a raft of changes. The Bradford threequarter Shontayne Hape suffered a knee ligament injury in last week's defeat by Australia and will be replaced on the wing by Tame Tupou. The centre Steve Matai is also injured with Nigel Vagana shifting to centre and Jerome Ropati to stand-off.

At home, Bradford and Wakefield have agreed a £200,000 deal that will take the New Zealander David Solomona to Odsal. However, the Rugby Football League has launched its investigation into claims that Bradford made an illegal approach for the player during the last few weeks of the season.