Millom’s Lee Postlethwaite is ready to hit the ground running for the BARLA Lions in Fiji, as the amateur side representing Great Britain get to the serious business of their two-week tour.

The Lions played the first of their four matches against Fiji West in the early hours of this morning, after only flying out to the Pacific island from Manchester on Saturday.

Their epic flight saw them stop off in Abu Dhabi before spending the night in Brisbane, Australia, where they explored the city’s Suncorp Stadium, one of the most historic venues in rugby league.

After observing the two-minute silence on Armistice Day, the final leg of their journey began on Monday when they flew out to Nadi, in Fiji, eventually arriving that afternoon.

Since then, the squad, which includes four players who compete in the Barrow and Furness area, have had a couple of training sessions to try and quickly get themselves up to speed.

Postlethwaite said: “Fiji is a completely different world to back home, but not too bad.”

“It was good to get a blast and work the tired legs off that we got on the plane.

“We are feeling fresher every day, but that first session was hot, very humid and we got a sweat on.

“I think everyone enjoyed it, though, and we’ve prepared well for our first game.”

The other locally-based players named in the 24-man BARLA Lions squad are Askam duo Tom Hopkins and Mark Tyson and Barrow Island’s Sam Jones.

Postlethwaite’s club mate Ethan Kelly would have also travelled but was forced to withdraw after getting injured in the Lions’ warm-up match against Cumbria last month.

They are joined, however, by a former Millom player in Marcus O’Brien, who now plays for Egremont Rovers, with each of them joining a long list of players from the region to represent their country at amateur level.

Postlethwaite earned his place in the squad after scoring ten tries and 93 goals in 21 games for Millom last season, which he admits had begun slowly for the club.

“We got through to the play-off final but unfortunately lost on a golden point,” he said, in reference to the Woolybacks’ agonising defeat against Clock Face Miners in the finale to the National Conference League Division Three campaign.

After facing Fiji West, the Lions’ next match is against Australian Affiliated States, with Gary Hewer’s side then facing Fiji Bati reserves twice before flying back to England on November 25.