Prince steers Wests to NRL title

Half-back Prince was man-of-the-match in Sunday's NRL Grand Final as the Tigers beat North Queensland 30-16.

Prince and Cowboys second row Luke O'Donnell are the only players from the Grand Final to make the 23-man squad.

Brisbane stand-off Darren Lockyer has retained the captaincy ahead of Newcastle's Andrew Johns.

The most significant omissions are half-back or hooker Craig Wing, who has been a Test regular since 2002, winger Luke Rooney, who scored six tries in the four group matches in 2004, and North Queensland full-back Matt Bowen.

There have been calls for Lockyer, who led the Kangaroos to a 3-0 whitewash in the 2003 Ashes Series and was man of the match in his side's 44-4 rout of Britain in last November's Tri-Nations final, to rest.

Former Test skipper Gorden Tallis suggested Lockyer should miss the series after appearing "worn out" following several gruelling seasons, but Lockyer is determined to play.

"I'm actually really looking forward to it," said Lockyer.

"Obviously it's a huge honour to play for your country any chance you get, but from a personal point of view I am feeling really fresh.

"I didn't play much footy in the last six weeks of the competition because of injury and I have had a bit of a break since we got knocked out of the finals, so there's no tiredness at all."

Lockyer said he expected another tough Tri-Nations, despite Australia's demolition of Great Britain in last year's final and the absence of several key players in the Lions and Kiwi squads.

"All three squads have a few blokes out because of injury, as you'd expect after a long season of footy, but the depth in England and New Zealand has improved a lot recently," said Lockyer.

"Test football has improved every year since I've been playing and I don't think this year will be any different."

Australia squad for Tri-Nations series:

Trent Barrett, Danny Buderus, Petero Civoniceva, Matt Cooper, Craig Fitzgibbon, Mark Gasnier, Craig Gower, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Johns, Ben Kennedy, Matt King, Darren Lockyer (captain), Willie Mason, Anthony Minichiello, Luke O'Donnell, Mark O'Meley, Steve Price, Scott Prince, Andrew Ryan, Jason Ryles, Timana Tahu, Brent Tate, Trent Waterhouse.