If ever a man needed a few days off ahead of a big game, it was Jamie Peacock.

Last year's Man of Steel was the only Bull to start all 32 matches this season and, added to the emotional roller-coaster of a play-off victory at Headingley followed by a Grand Final defeat, Peacock also became a father for the first time when partner Faye gave birth to son Lewis James just four days before the Old Trafford showpiece.

"Fatherhood is great, but it sure does leave a man feeling tired, admitted Peacock, pictured above.

"Up until last Thursday I was completely done in. But we've been to Spain and had a week off and I've come around a lot since then. I'm not feeling too bad at the moment after a bit of rest."

Just how much the Grand Final took out of the Bulls was evident when the Kiwis kicked off the British leg of the Tri-Nations against Australia in London on Saturday, with Robbie Paul, Lesley Vainikolo and Logan Swann all fading in the second half of a 32-12 defeat.

Great Britain head into Saturday's Test against the Kangaroos following a two-week lay-off - with many of the squad having played just once in a month - while Australia will be playing their third consecutive Test, but will be without captain and playmaker Darren Lockyer and goal-kicking loose forward Craig Fitzgibbon.

On balance, things should be about even, feels Peacock. "Ideally you would want to have played one game. But hopefully we can gel together on the field. Most of us have played together anyway. A few of us will be tired but the core of the team has played together for a few years, so we should slip into things quite nicely." Peacock added: "Hopefully the Aussies will be creaking a bit. It is their third game on the bounce now, 12,000 miles away from where they played their first game. But we know it is going to be even tougher this year. The format is completely different to an Ashes series. Australia and New Zealand are both good teams. The draw between them in Auckland was a particularly good game. I think the weather spoiled the other game, but they have both showed what they are capable of. The defence has been quite brutal and offensively there has been a lot of skill shown."