Bulls centre Shontayne Hape is hoping the club's fans will get behind him and his Kiwis side as they attempt to pull off a massive upset against the Kangaroos in the Gillette Tri-Nations final at Elland Road tonight.

Great Britain's elimination at the hands of the Aussies last week left Hape as the only remaining Bull in the tournament.

"Hopefully the Bulls fans can give me a hand," said Hape.

With Ali Lauitiiti and David Solomona also flying the Super League flag, Hape is hoping all British fans will switch their allegiance to the underdog Kiwis.

"Hopefully the fans from our clubs can come together and cheer us on," he said.

"It was unfortunate for the Great Britain boys that they missed out. I talked to Stuart Fielden before the game last week and wished him luck, hoping it would be us two in the final, but it wasn't to be.

"But, at the end of the day, these are the two best teams in the world."

After starting the tournament with an historic victory over the Kangaroos in Sydney and following it up with a two-point loss in Auckland and a victory over Britain in London, the Kiwis went off the boil. They were thrashed by Britain in the return fixture in Huddersfield before struggling to beat the French in Toulouse last week.

Australia, by contrast, have just got better and better.

But Hape insists the Kiwis are not facing Mission Impossible.

"We'll go into the game as underdogs but we'll have nothing to lose and everything to gain," he said.

"That will help. The last two games, we haven't performed as we've wanted to. But we've given ourselves a good opportunity.

"We are playing against the best players in the world, so it is going to feel like a Grand Final. I am just hoping that I'm up to it. I can't wait."

New Zealand have dropped loose forward Awen Guttenbeil for tonight's final.

The 29-year-old New Zealand Warrior is the biggest casualty from the Kiwis' 38-12 defeat by Great Britain in their last pool match.

Coach Brian McClennan also left out second-rower Tony Puletua, as well as the injured Frank Pritchard, when he announced his 19-man squad.

Loose forward Bronson Harrison, 20, who made his Test debut in last week's 38-22 win over France, has been included, along with Wigan's new signing Iafeta Palea'aesina.

The Kiwis say they have coped admirably this week, despite a cold snap hitting Leeds.

"Our training sessions have gone well," McClennan said. "I'm very pleased with what we've achieved this week.

"The team has really stepped up. They know this is potentially one of the biggest games of their careers and they've really impressed me with their attitude in the build-up."

l More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for tonight's final and organisers say tickets will be available at Elland Road on the day.