Kiwis hope to avoid Warriors' handling woes

A stinging rebuke from coach Ivan Cleary in their ears, five beaten New Zealand Warriors joined their Kiwis league teammates in Brisbane hoping it was just a bad dress rehearsal.

The Kiwis have their first training session in Brisbane today ahead of Friday's test after the Warriors fell short by a solitary point in the week's first trans-Tasman match -- 11-12 to the Dragons in Wollongong.

Cleary was scathing of his players, Jerome Ropati in particular, saying they were distracted by the upcoming test where they look to make it back-to-back wins over the Kangaroos.

"Some of these guys were clearly off their game a bit today," the coach said.

"There shouldn't be dropped balls with the line wide open or dropped balls in the play-the-ball, on a perfect sunny afternoon. "

It left the Warriors still outside the top-eight, with their fourth loss from eight matches in 2009 ahead of the bye this weekend.

Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Lance Hohaia, Simon Mannering and Nathan Fien were all later confirmed in the Kiwis' 18-strong squad, as was their captain Steve Price in the Kangaroos, while fullback Wade McKinnon was named in the City squad for the State of Origin trial.

There was also concern from their opponents' camp when Dragons forward Jeremy Smith -- the Kiwis' player of the year in their memorable World Cup triumph -- limped off with a high ankle sprain after a tangle with Fien.

He and fellow Kiwis forward Frank Pritchard will be reassessed by team medical staff this week after providing coach Stephen Kearney some unwanted injury headaches.