Andy Farrell read last week that the England rugby union captaincy could be worth up to £1 million to Lawrence Dallaglio. Farrell is finding the Great Britain rugby league captaincy less rewarding. Last autumn's 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand hurt the player terribly. And after Saturday's 38-14 humbling by the Australian Super League team at Wembley, he found the blame being laid on his performance in the unaccustomed position of stand-off.

He was undeniably second best to the opposing skipper and standoff Laurie Daley, whose first half hat-trick killed off the game disappointingly early for the 41,000 crowd. Farrell himself admitted to some early errors, notably kicking out on the full on Great Britain's first possession and allowing Ryan Girdler to get outside him in the build-up to Australia's first try.

"But finding my feet at standoff was not the problem," he insisted. "People might say it's not my position because I made a few basic errors. But it wasn't that. It was just dumb play."

What Farrell might have added, were he not the type of captain who refuses to criticise his teammates, was that he was playing behind a pack which was hopelessly outgunned by Australia.

Great Britain allowed the props Jason Stevens and Brad Thorn, the Australian players' man of the match, to dominate the ruck area. Paul Broadbent and Brian McDermott enjoyed some early success going forward, but failed to hurt their opposite numbers enough on defence.

Saturday was also a difficult day for coach Andy Goodway, criticised for selecting Farrell out of position, and even spat at by a few disgruntled Great Britain spectators as he walked back to the dressing rooms. However, it was hardly his fault that his players made such a nervous opening, handing Australia their first two tries on a plate.

That is why, for all the talk of Farrell switching back to looseforward for the remaining two Tests, Goodway will surely stick with his captain and Bobbie Goulding in the critical half-back positions at Old Trafford.