Preview: Great Britain and Ireland v Australia

[DIEHARD]

Great Britain and Ireland v Australia (Sat)

KC Stadium, Hull
Saturday, 19 November
Kick-off: 1815 GMT

Great Britain and Australia do battle at the KC Stadium on Saturday with a place in the Tri-Nations at stake.

The tournament is finely balanced with both teams hoping to do enough to edge out New Zealand for a place in the Elland Road final on 26 November.

Britain have been hit by injuries and Hull's Gareth Raynor is set to make his GB debut on the left wing.

Australia have decided to drop prop Steve Price with St George Illawarra's Jason Ryles starting in his place.

The tournament was thrown wide open last week when Britain, who had looked down and out, thrashed New Zealand at Loftus Road.

And Great Britain will seal a place in the final if they beat Australia but a defeat will end their tournament.

The game with New Zealand was overshadowed by the horrific facial injuries suffered by Paul Deacon following a Nigel Vagana tackle.

The Bradford player, who needed two hours of treatment in the dressing before undergoing surgery, will be out for a lengthy period.

Paul Wellens is also out while coach Brian Noble has been without the services of a host of key players, such as Danny McGuire and Paul Sculthorpe, for the whole campaign.

Richard Horne is set to take Deacon's place while winger Brian Carney has been cleared for the game after suffering a hamstring injury in the 38-12 win over New Zealand.

The selection of Raynor marks a massive turnaround for the 27-year-old former Leeds winger, who swapped codes in 2003 and played for union side Leicester before joining Hull.

Hull coach John Kear said: "The Aussies won't have seen anything like him, not since Jason Robinson tormented them a few years ago.

"They didn't like playing against him because of his pace off the mark and tricky footwork and I know they won't like facing up to Gareth for those reasons."

Australia have not lost a series since being defeated 2-0 by France in 1978 but could go out if they lose by more than eight points.

Danny Buderus, leading the side in the absence of the injured Darren Lockyer, admits that history weighs heavily on his shoulders.

"That's the burden I'll get if we do go home in that situation," he said. "As long as we play well, the scoreline will look after itself.

"It's very interesting, an exciting finish with a lot of scenarios.

"We just need to win, we don't want to get involved in all those sort of theories. All we're focused on is winning the game."

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Great Britain and Ireland Lions

L Pryce (Bradford)
B Carney (Wigan)
M Gleeson (Warrington)
K Senior (Leeds)
G Raynor (Hull)
I Harris (Bradford)
R Horne (Hull)
S Fielden (Bradford)
K Cunningham (St Helens)
A Morley (Sydney Roosters)
J Pea**** (Bradford, capt)
P Johnson (Bradford)
K Sinfield (Leeds)
M Higham (St Helens)
L Gilmour (St Helens)
J Thackray (Hull)
G Ellis (Leeds)
C Walker (Leeds).

Australian Kangaroos

A Minichiello (Sydney Roosters)
M King (Melbourne)
M Gasnier (St George Illawarra)
M Cooper (St George Illawarra)
B Tate (Brisbane)
T Barrett (St George Illawarra)
C Gower (Penrith)
P Civoniceva (Brisbane)
D Buderus (Newcastle, capt)
J Ryles (St George Illawarra)
L O'Donnell (North Queensland)
C Fitzgibbon (Sydney Roosters)
B Kennedy (Manly).

Replacements
C Wing (Sydney Roosters)
T Waterhouse (Penrith)
M O'Meley (Canterbury)
W Mason (Canterbury).

Source: BBC SPORT

[DeeGan]

Good to see Brian Carney is fit and ready to go again, lets hope he completes 80 minutes on Sunday morning.

I like our side, though I still cannot see how dropping Steve Price from the entire squad improves the side. Yes Bennett is looking for balance, though I would still have him AT LEAST on the bench (well I would start him and get rid of Petero as most know) in place of Waterhouse who I believe Bennett is reluctant to use when it comes to the crunch.

DeeGan

[Teegy]

I would have liked to see Ben Creagh on the bench instead of waterhouse

[DIEHARD]

like our side, though I still cannot see how dropping Steve Price from the entire squad improves the side. Yes Bennett is looking for balance, though I would still have him AT LEAST on the bench (well I would start him and get rid of Petero as most know) in place of Waterhouse who I believe Bennett is reluctant to use when it comes to the crunch.

DeeGan

I totally agree with that assessment. But I still think our side will run right over them.

Roos by 22. :box:

[DeeGan]

I have pushed the Ben Creagh burrow all tour as well Teegy from the get go - it looks like this tour was just a way to 'blood' him for future honors.

He will be a better player for it mingling with the elite in 2006, some good news for Dragons fans.

DeeGan

[Teegy]

At least he will have a permant position in the Dragons after Thommo left. creagh will be the dragons no.1 2nd rower. he deserve the bench spot

[Ipswich Fan]

The Aussie side looks alright although i would've had Grothe on the wing ahead of Tate. Tate's defence on the wing worries me.

[Steelers]

I would have liked to see Ben Creagh on the bench instead of waterhouse

Can't agree with you more. Waterhouse has not done much on this tour. I dunno why Bennett hasn't used Creagh yet on this tour (other than against France)