 Captain Jamie Peacock shows the pain of defeat in Brisbane |
Brian Noble lamented Great Britain's testing Tri-Nations schedule after their 2006 campaign was ended by a 33-10 defeat to Australia in Brisbane. The Lions played four games in a row down under and would have had to play a fifth if they had made the final.
"Five Grand Finals on the bounce is too hard," said Noble. "But the players can walk out with their pride fully intact.
"I believe this team is not far away, but our administrators need to give us a bit of help in how we prepare."
The Lions were well beaten by Australia in the end, but Noble felt his side had missed a couple of chances at 22-10 down in the second half.
"If we had got one of those, it might have been a different story," he said.
But without the departed Sean Long, Britain lacked a decent kicking game while defensive errors from his replacement at stand-off, Richard Horne, helped the Australians get on top early on.
"It is certainly not an issue of talent or of belief, we just want a fair crack from the administrators," added Noble after his side's fourth Test in as many weeks.
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"It's now my job and the job of the administrators at the RFL to try to get us parity in relation to the tournament; even if we have to rest a few people then we would have had a better chance.
"If we had had an element of parity we would have a better chance. We just want a level playing field so our players can have the best crack of the whip."
Lions captain Jamie Peacock, who once again led from the front in adversity, said his side had been more than ready for the game against the Kangaroos despite last week's thrashing by New Zealand.
"It's never tough to get up for a game when you've been beaten the week before," said the Leeds Rhinos forward.
"That's the good thing about touring - playing football - but I'm just disappointed with the result.
"After we beat them last time Australia came out and showed us how to play rugby early on.
"You can't give any team that kind of start, especially Australia, but I don't think the scoreline reflects the game.
"I'd swap all the personal accolades to be in that final. I wanted to be there next week but I'm not."
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Interview: Great Britain coach Brian Noble