KEY POINTS:
From the "be afraid, be very afraid" department ... One hates to tempt fate, because these are the words that every Kiwis fan fears most. So here they are.
The Kiwis deserve to be rated as slight Tri-Nations favourites for Saturday's final in Sydney.
Not that a second
consecutive Tri-Nations triumph would be marked with the sort of glory that it should be.
Grannygate has tarnished this tournament, and would take a layer of varnish off a Kiwis win. No doubt about it.
The players are not responsible of course. They, like the fans, deserved much better than to be embroiled in a cheating controversy.
Yet, as rescue missions go, the Kiwis and their patched-up administration have hardly put a foot wrong since Nathan Fien was chucked out of the tournament and they were docked two points. New Zealand rather than Australia looks in better shape going into the grand final.
The Kiwis have kept their collective heads down and - unlike departed chairman Sel Bennett - kept lips buttoned on the Fien subject.
They have displayed a common sense that was in dreadfully short supply at an infamous meeting in Melbourne a few weeks ago. After the administration attempted to rewrite the book on lineage, the team has invoked its traditional battle cry of family values. In other words, they've closed ranks.
Judging by what happened against Great Britain in Wellington, where some of us expected the Kiwis to show signs of strain, they may even be a tougher side to crack than the one that tried to sneak a foreigner on board.
"The Kiwis are favourites" are famous last words, which is why it might be best to whisper them early in the week.
History shows that Australian league teams with their backs to the wall always triumph, whereas Kiwis teams are just as famous for disintegrating whenever they are expected to do well against the transtasman rivals.
Despite two victories over the Kiwis, the Australians have never hit top form in this series and were often unimpressive against Great Britain in Brisbane, after grabbing a massive early advantage that led to a big margin of victory over an ailing foe.
The Australians finished with a brilliant length-of-the-field try, a test classic, which again served warning of their ability to take their talents to the final seconds of any game.
But a late great score did not mask the fact that, for all the verbal fire and brimstone that lurks on the lips of their coach Ricky Stuart and shock-prop Willie Mason, the Kangaroo game is lacking the purpose associated with the greatest Australian sides.
In contrast, the Kiwis were far more impressive and aggressive in dealing to the Brits in Wellington.
There is no doubt the Australians hold the advantage out wide, with brilliant talent there waiting to be released by Darren Lockyer's passes.
The Kiwis have adopted a strategy of playing like a team of rugged forwards, relying heavily on the marvellously in-form fullback Brent Webb to jink around for openings they can thrive off.
Even when the Kiwis played Jerome Ropati at standoff against Great Britain in Christchurch, apart from linking to create one try, he was largely removed from any central role.
Coach Brian McClennan quickly reverted to his default setting, returning Nigel Vagana to standoff for the second match against the Brits in Wellington.
Saturday night was the moment for Australia to really nail their colours to the mast, but they failed to do so for much of the time and their performance only reinforced the notion that the Kiwis are capable of hammering them in the middle of the field, which is the only part of the field the Kiwis appear very interested in.
Who knows what the return of Mason from suspension will do for Australia. On one hand, it will lift the headline and aggression potential. On the other, it could distract an Australian team that appears to be struggling for an 80-minute focus.
McClennan has long suggested the Kiwis could build to a better peak than Australia, who are stacked with NRL playoff participants who have had little respite. The Australians looked weary at times in Brisbane and the Kiwis should be further galvanised by what they saw.
The Kiwis could have further motivation, as if they need it.
It will very likely be the last time the brilliant Stacey Jones, who is among the handful of greatest Kiwis, pulls on the test jersey. And while Ruben Wiki has said nothing to suggest anything similar in his case, you could guess the world test record holder - who turns 34 in January - might choose this moment to bow out of internationals if he felt that club and country commitments were beginning to take their toll.
Jones' final test seasons have been studded with brief retirements but he has pulled through in the end. Wiki, a phlegmatic figure unless you are silly enough to carry a football in his direction, has been central to all that is good about the modern day Kiwis. He has been a rock, an inspiration, a legend in every sense.
Neither are likely to talk a farewell storm. Jones is a retiring type and wary of crying-wolf again when it comes to retirement. Nothing ever appears to bother Wiki, including satiating the media appetite. Jones is the little general, while Wiki holds a major in generalisations.
How appropriate it would be if these two great Kiwis were to depart with a second consecutive series triumph over Australia. They will undoubtedly point to the joy of being part of a football brotherhood, leaving the rest of us to deal with the embarrassing subject of why the Kiwis administration - in an act of madness - tried to over-extend their family.
