Australia have produced a brutal and dynamic display of rugby league to defeat Great Britain 44-4 in front of a sold-out Elland Road Stadium in Leeds this morning.

The Tri-Nations trophy was secured by the visitors after a first-half blitz of six tries put the game beyond doubt and forced the home side to turn the second half into a "seek and salvage" mission.

The 40,000 strong crowd may have built an amazing atmosphere in the early stages of the match, but it's fair to say there weren't nearly as many in the stands after the full-time siren had sounded.

The Kangaroos controlled the first half of the match with superior field position and ball possession, which allowed the halves combination of Darren Lockyer and Brett Kimmorley to wreak havoc for the British defence.

Centre Brent Tate and back-rower Ben Kennedy have been omitted from the final line-up for Sunday's Tri-Nations grand final against Great Britain in Leeds.

Both men had been included in an extended 19-man squad named by coach Wayne Bennett earlier this week, but were dropped from the final line-up overnight when the squad was finalised.

Workhorse backrower Craig Fitzgibbon has been dropped to the bench to make way for Bulldogs forward Andrew Ryan, after Fitzgibbon failed to impress in the 24-12 loss to the Lions two weeks ago.

Bennett told AAP that Ryan had earned a starting berth in the final after showing great form on the tour.

The out-of-form Kangaroos are still heavily tipped to win this weekend's Tri-Nations grand final in Leeds despite below-average performances against Great Britain and France in the past two weeks.

The Kangaroos series record of one loss, one draw and two victories was not enough to pip Great Britain of the top position on the Tri-Nations table, but it seems the wider rugby league community still views an Australian victory this weekend as predictable.

Major betting agencies from both Australia and the United Kingdom have the Kangaroos at short odds for an outright win, despite the impressive form shown by the Lions in their wins against Australia and New Zealand respectively.

The corageous efforts of the French Rugby League team overshadowed Darren Lockyer's successful return from injury this morning as the European underdogs gave the southern heavyweights a big scare ahead of next weekend's Tri-Nations decider.

Lockyer proved to be the difference between the two sides as he eventually guided the Australian's to a 52-30 victory.

Make no mistake, that scoreline flatters the visitors who were kept on the back-foot for the majority of the match at Stade Ernest Wallon.

The French stunned the world champions in the opening stages of the match with three tries to Adel Fellous, Jamal Fakir and Maxime Greseque scoring tries.

The Great Britain Lions put their Tri-Nations credentials on display again this morning with a tough and gritty 26-24 victory over New Zealand at Hull's Kingston Communications Stadium.

The Lions overcame a 12-4 defecit at the half time break to score hour tries in just 17 minutes in the second half, two of which were scored by man-of-the-match Brian Carney.

A near-capacity crowd of 23,377 fans braved the freezing conditions to witness the match, after news earlier this week that all 39,000 tickets for the Tri-Nations final had been sold.

The victory has given Great Britain their third consecutive test victory and landed them on top of the table after six round-robin games in the competition, but they are still unlikely to start as outright favourites for next weekend's decider.

The British Lions have knocked New Zealand out of Tri-Nations contention after they notched a comprehensive 24-12 victory over Australia in Wigan this morning.

Buoyed by a superior completion rate and a favourable penalty count, the Lions used hard-hitting defense and desperate attack to gain control of the game after trailing 6-0 after just thirteen minutes.

Terry Newton, Stuart Reardon and Stuart Fielden scored three crucial tries for the home team before the break, to give them an intimidating 18-6 lead in front of a packed and parochial home crowd.

The Brisbane Broncos' 2005 campaign will kick off with a clash with their 2004 nemeses, the North Queensland Cowboys. The Telstra Premiership draw, released today by the NRL, has pitted the Queensland sides head to head in their first clash at the revamped Suncorp Stadium on the weekend of March 11.

North Queensland defeated the Broncos 10-0 in their Elimination Semi-Final in September, which ended the Broncos' premiership aspirations.

That match was a complete sell out at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville, and that interest should transfer to a bumper crowd in round 1 next year.

Australia need to win just one of their matches against Great Britain to assure themselves of a place in the Tri-Nations final on November 27 after a comprehensive 32-12 win over New Zealand at Loftus Road in London.

The Kangaroos scored five tries to three after trailing 12-8 at half time, scoring four unanswered converted tries in the second half to dominate the Kiwis. Skipper Darren Lockyer was outstanding, scoring the match breaking try early in the second half to put Australia back in front and then handled twice as Willie Tonga scored to give Australia an 8-point buffer.

However, Lockyer left the field after Shaun Berrigan's try put Australia 14-points clear after suffering a recurrance of the rib injury that plagued him throughout 2004. The Broncos' five-eighth is in doubt for next weekend's clash with Great Britain in Manchester.

American and Australian television viewers will be treated to live coverage of the historic match between the Philips Kangaroos and the USA Tomahawks in Philadelphia.

The match will be staged at 7.30pm Eastern on November 30 in the US, which is 11.30am Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time on December 1.

The US based FOX SPORTS WORLD will televise the match throughout its vast American Cable Network, while Australia’s FOX SPORTS will provide commentary, assist in the production and televise the match live in Australia. FOX SPORTS Australia will also replay the game at 10pm AEDST.

Broncos lock forward Tonie Carroll is set to make his Test debut when Australia takes on New Zealand in the Tri-Nations series opener in Auckland on Saturday.

Carroll, who represented New Zealand at the 2000 World Cup, is one of four debutants named in the side by coach Wayne Bennett, which also includes five Broncos.

Bulldogs Grand Final heroes Willie Tonga and Andrew Ryan, and Penrith winger Luke Rooney are the others to wear the green and gold in a Test match for the first time. Rooney and Carroll were impressive in an Australian Invitational XIII which defeated Papua New Guinea 70-22 in Townsville on Saturday.