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Kangaroos to tour
<table width=250 align=right> <tbody> <tr> <td><!-- SectionID: --><!-- SectionID: --></td></tr></tbody></table>By PETER FRILINGOS
16oct01
AUSTRALIAN Rugby League directors will today declare the Kangaroo tour is back on after a change of heart by players concerned about terrorist attacks.
Talks with the players plus expected security assurances from the British Government have convinced ARL board members to reconsider their decision last week to cancel the tour. The tour will be shortened to three weeks with three Tests to be played against Great Britain on consecutive Saturdays from November 3 at Bolton's Reebok Stadium. But scheduled warm-up matches against leading clubs St Helen's, Leeds, Bradford and Wigan will be scrapped. The decision comes after a storm of criticism was levelled at officials and players over the decision to cancel the tour. After spending most of yesterday in talks with fellow directors and players, ARL chairman Colin Love would not confirm the truncated tour would go ahead. "We won't be in a position to announce a decision until we're in possession of security details from the British Government," was his only comment. However, it's understood most of the 12 players who told the ARL they were concerned about touring because of terrorist alerts have changed their minds. The fact that there have been no breaches of security in England and particularly in the north of the country, where the Kangaroos will be based, reassured squad members. Although ARL directors are known to be far from unanimous on giving the shortened tour the green light, they have been encouraged by the attitude of the players and the lack of incidents in England. It is also nine days since the bombing of Afghanistan started and fears of reprisals -- factors in last week's decision to abort the tour -- have not been realised. Because there will be only three Tests and no club games, the full complement of 24 players will not be needed. So a maximum of 20 players will make the trip. Two or three who still don't want to tour will voluntarily reduce the squad. With Craig Gower injured and out of contention it remains to be seen which of the 12 players who were originally against the tour will drop out. All players have been assured staying at home will not affect future representative selection. The ARL will now have to convince leading players including skipper Brad Fittler and Queensland captain Darren Lockyer to go. The same goes for coach Chris Anderson who like Fittler and Lockyer steadfastly supported the board's decision to stay at home. "I'm happy to do whatever the ARL want to do but I think once you make a decision and you make it for the right reasons, you stick with it," Anderson said at the time. "They made a decision that it was not an acceptable risk to go over there so I don't see how that changes. Is three weeks better than seven weeks? I'm still a bit iffy about going." News of the tour will please English league officials who were desperate to showcase the game through the world champion Australians on a Kangaroo tour for the first time since 1994. The ARL was under pressure to reschedule given the public backlash. The Wallabies had also decided to proceed with their European trip. There were also threats of legal action from the British organisers who stood to lose up to $9 million. There were originally 19 players who wanted to go and five against, but this became 12-12 when the ARL cancelled the trip. While dire English claims that the game would die there if the tour did not proceed were considered overly dramatic here, there's no doubt the Kangaroos playing against Britain will give league in the UK a shot in the arm.
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<table width=250 align=right> <tbody> <tr> <td><!-- SectionID: --><!-- SectionID: --></td></tr></tbody></table>By PETER FRILINGOS
16oct01
AUSTRALIAN Rugby League directors will today declare the Kangaroo tour is back on after a change of heart by players concerned about terrorist attacks.
Talks with the players plus expected security assurances from the British Government have convinced ARL board members to reconsider their decision last week to cancel the tour. The tour will be shortened to three weeks with three Tests to be played against Great Britain on consecutive Saturdays from November 3 at Bolton's Reebok Stadium. But scheduled warm-up matches against leading clubs St Helen's, Leeds, Bradford and Wigan will be scrapped. The decision comes after a storm of criticism was levelled at officials and players over the decision to cancel the tour. After spending most of yesterday in talks with fellow directors and players, ARL chairman Colin Love would not confirm the truncated tour would go ahead. "We won't be in a position to announce a decision until we're in possession of security details from the British Government," was his only comment. However, it's understood most of the 12 players who told the ARL they were concerned about touring because of terrorist alerts have changed their minds. The fact that there have been no breaches of security in England and particularly in the north of the country, where the Kangaroos will be based, reassured squad members. Although ARL directors are known to be far from unanimous on giving the shortened tour the green light, they have been encouraged by the attitude of the players and the lack of incidents in England. It is also nine days since the bombing of Afghanistan started and fears of reprisals -- factors in last week's decision to abort the tour -- have not been realised. Because there will be only three Tests and no club games, the full complement of 24 players will not be needed. So a maximum of 20 players will make the trip. Two or three who still don't want to tour will voluntarily reduce the squad. With Craig Gower injured and out of contention it remains to be seen which of the 12 players who were originally against the tour will drop out. All players have been assured staying at home will not affect future representative selection. The ARL will now have to convince leading players including skipper Brad Fittler and Queensland captain Darren Lockyer to go. The same goes for coach Chris Anderson who like Fittler and Lockyer steadfastly supported the board's decision to stay at home. "I'm happy to do whatever the ARL want to do but I think once you make a decision and you make it for the right reasons, you stick with it," Anderson said at the time. "They made a decision that it was not an acceptable risk to go over there so I don't see how that changes. Is three weeks better than seven weeks? I'm still a bit iffy about going." News of the tour will please English league officials who were desperate to showcase the game through the world champion Australians on a Kangaroo tour for the first time since 1994. The ARL was under pressure to reschedule given the public backlash. The Wallabies had also decided to proceed with their European trip. There were also threats of legal action from the British organisers who stood to lose up to $9 million. There were originally 19 players who wanted to go and five against, but this became 12-12 when the ARL cancelled the trip. While dire English claims that the game would die there if the tour did not proceed were considered overly dramatic here, there's no doubt the Kangaroos playing against Britain will give league in the UK a shot in the arm.
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