Deacon's kicking can turn Kiwi strength into weakness

First Test: Tactical play from British pair could be key to Ewood Park encounter as one native makes comeback determined to square account

If, as the ever-quotable Robbie Paul says, New Zealand really are the Brazil of rugby league, then Great Britain tonight need to be the Argentina, or maybe one of those grindingly pragmatic West German teams of the Seventies.

If the first Test at Ewood Park turns into an exhibition of free-thinking and finger-tip passing, then the Kiwis will win by a distance. But if, on the other hand, it is a territorial battle fought out in conditions reminiscent of trench warfare, the more skilful side could well be beaten.

What Gary Freeman would really like is a big tarpaulin to stretch over the stadium and give his players the dry conditions they enjoyed so much under the roof at Cardiff on Sunday. Failing that, it becomes a question of whether the ambitious passes will stick, because they appear to know no other way to play.

The Kiwis are not intrinsically fair-weather footballers ­ some of them cut their teeth at Carlaw Park, the most notoriously muddy venue in world rugby league ­ but the trend in their game, led by the way the Warriors play under Daniel Anderson, has been entirely in the direction of keeping the ball alive at all times and in all conditions.

When it works, such as in the first half against Australia a month ago or the whole of the game against Wales, it is magnificent to watch and fiendishly difficult to play against. Players of their size, persistently flipping the ball out of the tackle to men in support, will wear down any opposition.

But their strength is also their potential weakness, because Great Britain believe that if they can pin the Kiwis back in their own territory they will still force the pass and the opposition to cough up possession.

Under that theory, the tactical kicking of Andy Farrell and, particularly, Paul Deacon is paramount, as is the quality of the tackling near the New Zealand line. It is a big day for both those players. Farrell will equal Ellery Hanley record for Tests as Great Britain captain, but he would not put himself in the same bracket as his predecessor until he has a series win to his credit.

It says much about Deacon's emergence as a player of genuine international calibre this season that he might have been David Waite's first-choice scrum-half, even if Sean Long had been fit. His long-range kicking for position is the best in the country and he has also shown a refreshing new willingness to run at the defence.

Waite needs Keiron Cunningham's hand injury to withstand the inevitable knocks and for Gary Connolly to roll back the years and show that he still has the mobility, as well as the experience and positional sense, to play full-back at this level.

The Great Britain coach uncharacteristically named his side early in the week and it was Freeman who has delayed that task, before deciding not to risk the recent absentees, David Vaealiki and Ruben Wiki.

The would-be Brazilian, Paul, has been preferred to Vaealiki, after flu, at full-back, while Wiki's thumb injury sees Awen Guttenbeil selected at loose forward. In any combination, the Kiwis have a clear edge in extravagant back-line talent, marshalled by the brilliant Stacey Jones, plus those forwards with the ability to smuggle the ball out of the back door.

"I just want to get stuck into them," says the combative Great Britain prop, Barrie McDermott. "The bigger and better they are, the more I'll enjoy it. They're so open and fearless with possession that their best weapon can also be their downfall."

Like most of his team-mates, McDermott has something to prove after Great Britain's débâcle in Sydney in July. "What happened there was a shame for British rugby league, but what we want to do is put the ghost of that to rest," he says. "We need the British fans to come to Ewood in numbers and become our 14th man."

If the home side gets that lift and keep them under pressure, the question the Kiwis have to answer is whether it is possible to be Brazilian on a wet Saturday night in Blackburn.