Henry Fa'afili brought into Kiwis
squad

Kiwis coach Daniel Anderson is accepting Bradford's decision not to release winger Lesley Vainikolo for the tri series tests against Great Britain

Only hours before boarding a flight home to Auckland, Henry Fa'afili has been called into the New Zealand rugby league Tri-Nations team to replace surgery-bound Lesley Vainikolo.

Fa'afili, who has played eight tests since 2001, spent the second half of the British Super League season with Warrington after being released by the New Zealand Warriors.

Strenuous attempts by NZRL officials to persuade their Bradford Bulls counterparts that Vainikolo should be permitted to stay on beyond Sunday's match against Australia came to nothing.

Bradford was adamant that Vainikolo, who scored the most recent of his Super League record 39 tries in last Sunday's grand final loss to Leeds, needed an operation on his left knee.

"We had to resign ourselves that it was not going to happen and plan for life without Lesley," said NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz from Auckland yesterday.

Although negotiations were not as blunt as those between the NZRL and NRL club Penrith over Tony Puletua last week, the outcome was inevitably similar.

An NZRL offer to obtain an independent diagnosis was turned down by Bradford football manager Stuart Duffy, and Cordtz was not able to contact Bradford (and Great Britain) coach Brian Noble at the Lions' Spanish training camp.

Cordtz said Kiwis doctor Chris Hanna was of the opinion surgery would not have been recommended in New Zealand for Vainikolo's cartilage problem.

There were more conventional, non-surgical ways to manage it.

"Chris said in 10 years of sports medicine at this level he has only once referred someone for this procedure, and that was an American athlete who demanded it," said Cordtz.

Bradford's own medical report had given the post-surgical recovery time as eight weeks.

That could have been fitted in between the Tri-Nations final and the start of the 2005 Super League season, even taking into account Vainikolo's marriage in Auckland in December.

The NZRL had offered to play a role in Vainikolo's post-operative care while he was in Auckland, but Bradford had declined.

Fa'afili and Canterbury Bulldogs outside back Jamaal Lolesi are the leading candidates to replace Vainikolo on the wing for the matches against Great Britain on November 6 and 20, although centres Clinton Toopi (Warriors) and Shontayne Hape (Bradford) could be considered.

Despite being let loose by the Warriors after spending some time in the Bartercard Cup this season, Fa'afili, 24, has impressive recent form at international level.

He is the only New Zealander to have scored three tries in one test against Great Britain ? a rivalry which extends back 97 years and 99 matches ? and was also a try-scorer in the victory over Australia at North Harbour Stadium last October.