Chris Rattue: Courage in spades but bluster so bizarre

Benji Marhsall's comments could come back to haunt the Kiwis on Friday night. Photo / Getty Images

"... this is just another step in the rise of New Zealand football. We're going in the right direction. It's all on the up whether we win this game or not."

These are the words that should send fear through every Kiwis supporter as the darlings of the 2008 New Zealand sporting year get ready for the transtasman league shoot out at Brisbane on Friday night.

Had they been uttered by an exuberant supporter you could understand the sentiments, but coming as they did from the new Kiwi captain Benji Marshall, they are extraordinary to the point of bizarre.

A message to Benji: it is possible for New Zealand league to plunge in the wrong direction on Friday night, if you suffer one of the thrashings the Aussies regularly hand out to the Kiwis at this time of year.

Not only that, but a complacency-induced disaster will rob us of the gripping test clash we hope to savour.

With injury having removed Frank "The Tank" Pritchard from the lineup, pivotal forward Jeremy Smith in major doubt, and bantamweight hooker Isaac Luke needing to duke it out with the judiciary, this Kiwi team is in a mini crisis mode, not to mention that the odds, as usual and especially at this time of year, are heavily in favour of an Australian victory.

Forget the World Cup triumph - a magnificent result at the end of a dodgy tournament that was followed by almost non-existent celebrations in this country - because the Kiwis always need to go back to square one against the mighty foe.

Not only will the Australians be re-invigorated by that November defeat, but they have shed the attack-challenged coaching of Ricky Stuart for the sage control of Tim Sheens, whose long club recruitment and coaching record is studded with brilliant attack.

After a long time under the intense ways of scrappers like Bob Fulton and Stuart and the remote Wayne Bennett, the promotion of the urbane Sheens is a reminder of when the gentlemanly Don Furner successfully guided an Australian juggernaut, although it would be a mistake to infer that Sheens is a soft touch.

There is no such thing as a bad Australian league side, nor one that isn't heavily favoured to win any test it goes into - and not while the great Darren Lockyer is steering the ship.

Those nerves that are tingling for the Kiwi cause should turn into red hot pokers of fear on learning that the newly installed captain rates the Australians as a mere stepping stone on a mysterious journey.

Australia will hardly be caught unawares, having had their pride smashed in last year's World Cup final at the same venue.

This column will gladly and admiringly heap praise on Marshall, for the way he plays the game, the joy he brings to spectators, his courage in coming back from repeat shoulder injuries, and his commitment to the Kiwi cause that emerged early in his career when he tried to persuade the Auckland-born Karmichael Hunt to don the black and white.

He is, by some stretch, the most brilliant New Zealand footballer of his day.

But having been drawn into what could conveniently been called a war of words with the new Australian coach - who is also Marshall's club coach at Wests Tigers - Marshall dropped the above clanger.

To cut to the chase, the most worrying part about Marshall's statement is this: previous Kiwi teams showing any hint of distraction or over-confidence are invariably hammered into humiliating submission by Australia.

There have been plenty of promises about the dawn of wonderful new Kiwi league eras - I've heard plenty and predicted a few myself - and the sun has set on these days quicker than a banker claiming a bonus.

Maybe Marshall was caught in an unguarded moment with his thoughts in a tangle, but to regard a test against Australia as "just another step" and to declare that the outcome is somehow irrelevant to the Kiwis' status is missing the point.

League tests against Australia are just about the only step in international league, all-or-nothing battles where the odd magical moment should decide who triumphs out of the trench warfare. There is, after all, no such thing as progress in international league, just the battle at hand.

On that point, there are a couple of surprising choices in the Australian side - chiefly the inclusion of the speedy but flimsy Anthony Watmough ahead of tougher backrowers. Watmough could help cut the Kiwis to ribbons, but the Australians may be underestimating how rugged this battle will be.

Elevating Marshall to the Kiwi captaincy - a move sign-posted well in advance by former coach Graham Lowe in his Herald column - is just as much a surprise.

Prop Roy Asotasi was still the natural choice as leader. Having risked his neck in orchestrating the vital coaching changes that saved the Kiwis, Asotasi deserved another chance to lead the national side on his return from injury. The combative Smith was the next logical option.

The concern about Marshall is that if his mercurial game isn't working, the Kiwis will be extra vulnerable under a skipper who is struggling to produce the control and magic expected of him. For all of his match winning potential, Marshall is not on entirely intimate terms with fundamentals that win big matches. He may have been best left to his own devices, under a captain who could offer a wise influence.

A problem for the Kiwis is that they don't have another world class player in the halves, so the Australians will be able to zero in on Marshall and isolate him. There must also still be questions over Marshall's ability to last the distance physically, given the history of shoulder complaints. It adds up to a lot of responsibility on a man still coming to grips with a new position.

But Marshall's skill and competitiveness, his belief in the Kiwi cause, is unquestioned. The troops should rally to the call of a brave footballer who puts his career on the line every time he aims a shoulder at a charging opponent.

Like Marshall's game, promoting him to captain involves high risk and reward. There is a hint of destiny about Marshall. Captaincy could take his game to a new level. It could prove to be an inspired choice by Steve Kearney.

As to his tongue-in-cheek battle with Sheens, Marshall may have learned a lesson already. Some backroom banter, involving Marshall's claim that his Kiwis would bring a swift end to Sheens' Kangaroo coaching career, has been used by the veteran coach to fire up his own troops.

There is an attractive cheekiness to Marshall's ways, but it has - for no good reason - crept into the pre-match build-up.

Australia has enough advantages - the Kiwis can't match their class or experience in the halves, the match-controlling skill at hooker, or the overall quality of the backline.

It would be nice to share Marshall's cockiness. Confidence is a wonderful attribute. In the case of the Kiwis, a quiet confidence is the preferred option, although this is not nearly so important as enormous doses of desperation.

From the kill two birds with one stone department... Ali Williams looks battered, and injury is threatening to heavily curtail his season. If reports are correct, Williams' new NZRU contract contains one of those nifty sabbatical clauses, and he intends to put it to good use next year by zipping around America during the Super 14 (or is that 15?). Why not give Ali a holiday for the rest of this year, when he is crocked, and let him come back fresh in 2010. He's hardly contributed much to the Blues' this season, which would make his absence next year even harder to accept.

Shock, horror, scoop ... Black Cap Jacob Oram says money is his prime motivation and if necessary he'll quit test cricket to prolong his grab of Twenty20 fortunes. Hey Jacob - the public had worked that out.