Richie Barnett: Just need to tie those Kangaroos down

Kiwis need to crank up passion and get numbers into the tackle to get the better of the Aussie giants. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

The Kiwis will have to figure out a way to deal with the Kangaroos' big men if they are to turn things around in Brisbane tomorrow night.

The likes of David Shillington and Matt Scott were awesome in Auckland. They ate up the metres and dominated the ruck, giving their side much faster play-the-balls from which to work.

Given the size of the Aussie forwards, reversing that dominance is easier said than done.

There's no doubt the Kiwis are under-sized, so they need to go back to thriving off the KPIs they used to win the'05 Tri-Nations. That means getting numbers into the tackle, driving the ball carrier back and slowing them down in the tackle.

If they can't match the power of the Kangaroos pack it will be a long night and they'll have to try plan B.

That means playing an up-tempo style, getting the likes of Sam Perrett to work out of dummy half to kick start the sets, moving the ball around early in the tackle count and playing with plenty of variation.

That's the only real strategy for taking on a team that has your measure in power and size. Bronson Harrison coming in should help the Kiwis play on the fringes a bit more, but losing Frank Pritchard's size is definitely a blow.

I'll be glad to see Sam McKendry come in. I've been really impressed by McKendry and at 115kg he is a massive unit. That size allows him to make metres through the middle without too much trouble, which is exactly what the Kiwis need.

The one thing the Kiwis can't do is make the crucial errors they did in Auckland. It's critical they fix up that area of the game. Things like Frank-Paul Nuuausala's offload from the kick-off and then Benji Marshall's kick-off out on the full put the team under enormous pressure.

That pressure flowed on to other areas of the game like the defence, the go-forward and the control of the ruck and things fell apart pretty quickly.

A few individuals need to up their game as well. Benji showed what he could do in the last 20 minutes but it's no good doing that when the game is already gone. It's how you match up under pressure when the game is on the line and the teams are going head to head that counts, and Benji was very disappointing in the first half.

I hope he doesn't try to over-play his hand to prove a point this time.

With Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater coming back in the Kangaroos will be even more slick and organised.

Lockyer has been doing what he does for a very long time. Cooper Cronk showed in Auckland what a fabulous player he is and with Lockyer in there the Roos' attack will be even more refined.

The Kiwis' fringe defence is going to have to be really on song, with the centres and wingers working together.

Perrett copped a bit of stick for his defensive game but I thought that was harsh. You've got to give the attacking players a bit of credit sometimes. Perrett came in and tried to tackle Tate but Tate was just too strong and managed to get the ball away. Brett Morris is so quick he only needs a couple of inches down that touchline and he is gone.

That's what the Kangaroos do - they take full advantage of every little chance.

The Kiwis have to make sure they don't get many of those kind of chances. That comes back to what I said at the start: They need to up their enthusiasm, get numbers into the tackle and slow the Kangaroos down.

If they can do that they can put them under pressure. If they can put the Australians in a position they aren't used to then they will feel the pressure and they will crack. We've seen that before in the finals of 2008 and 2005.

WHAT: Four Nations final
WHERE: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
WHEN: 10.15pm (NZT) Saturday
TV: Sky Sport 2