The thought of seven quality matches each year might leave action-starved international rugby league fans salivating, but the prospect of a seven-week tour of Britain at the end of each season doesn't appeal to Bulls skipper and Kiwi international Robbie Paul - and he lives here.

"I know how we felt last year after a seven-week tour," says Paul.

"I was fine but I was the exception because I live in Great Britain. It's a big ask asking these guys to come away from their families for that amount of time.

"International rugby doesn't pay you so fantastically well that you can afford to fly your family over for a portion of time and get them into a hotel so they can be with you.

"Our New Zealand boys were fed up by the fourth week. They had made the Grand Final last year, played Aussie in a Test after the Grand Final, flown over here and played a few games before the Tests. After the First Test the boys wanted to go home. But they still had two Tests to play against Great Britain and another against France.

"It wasn't a problem for me. I could just drive home and get away from the camp. But those other guys were camp bound for seven weeks. You are not only living away from your family, you are also having to live with another adult male, which most people aren't used to.

"If anything players are used to living with a female, and they are generally a lot more tidy than us blokes are and a lot more pleasant smelling, and not as aggressive. It's just a normal scenario."

Despite the luxury of being able to head home after training, Paul still fell victim to the season's taxing schedule.

A badly lacerated knee meant he missed the Third Test but the attrition rate in the Kiwi camp meant that instead of being able to put his feet up, he had to travel to France to play in a one-off Test. He started the match but the cut quickly reopened and he didn't make it through to half-time.

But the prospect of matching up against club-mates in international matches is one that motivates all of the Bulls, says Paul.

"We give each other stick all year about what we are going to do to each other. But then you have to worry about whether or not you are going to make the team.

"I just love playing for New Zealand. I'll play for New Zealand against anyone. But first and foremost my responsibility is to Bradford. They pay my wages and put food in my children's mouths. I'm smart enough to understand that.

"But New Zealand is the reason why I became a professional rugby player in the first place. I wanted to be like Olsen Philipina, I wanted to be like Mark Graham and Clayton Friend. Those were my heroes. In a lot of respects I wanted to play the likes of Wally Lewis because he was another of my heroes - even though he played for the hated Australians."

Paul has sacrificed plenty to play for his country. For mid-season Tests he and brother Henry - before his defection to union - typically made the 24-hour flight to New Zealand on a Wednesday and fronted up against the Kangaroos on the Friday night.

"It isn't the best way of doing it but in saying that, it is professional sport. You are not playing amateur sport any more so you haven't got any excuses," he says. "Two days' preparation for a match against the number one team in the world isn't ideal, but you do it. You don't moan about it. You just do it. You do whatever it takes to get it done. But ideally you'd really want ten days, three days to get over the worst of the jet-lag and a proper week to prepare."

This year Paul missed the internationals against Australia for the first time. A broken arm ruled him out of the mid-season match in Sydney and the return match was played on the same day as the Bulls' Grand Final showdown against Wigan.

Paul is philosophical - "I know I missed out on the Test but I got to play in the Grand Final. It's not that huge a loss" - but he does believe the international game has suffered at the hands of the clubs, particularly those in the NRL.

Players are being instructed by their clubs to have patch-up operations instead of making themselves available for tours, says Paul.

"In a sense international rugby has been taking a back seat to club rugby.

"Back home the clubs are putting so much pressure on the individuals that in a way they are being forced to have those operations there and then."

At a photo-shoot he attended to promote February's World Club Challenge Paul chatted with Kangaroo tourist Craig Gower and found that the Aussies were feeling the same way the Kiwis had a year earlier.

"They started playing in January and the tour finished on December 2. They'd had enough after the first Test and they wanted to go home.

"We run the risk that if the players are not wanting to be there, will they give it their all? What sort of spectacle are you going to get? Five games at that level seems a lot to me."