KEY POINTS:
The Kangaroos' shock demise rather than the Kiwis' stunning triumph was the focus as Australian media digested last night's rugby league World Cup final upset in Brisbane.
Australian fullback Billy Slater, whose wild pass midway through the second spell was snapped up by Benji Marshall for a try that tilted the contest New Zealand's way, was firmly in the gun, less than a week after being named International Player of the Year.
"Silly Billy: Australia throws away the World Cup", was the Brisbane Sunday Mail's main headline.
"One mad moment and it's over for Roos," it added.
"Slater's magnificent club and representative campaigns ended in heartbreak when he produced the most costly clanger of the code's centenary season," Peter Badel wrote.
Sydney's Sunday Telegraph mirrored the reaction of Australian league fans with its main sport headline of "UNBELIEVABLE - Kangaroos humbled" accompanying a full page photo of the jubilant Kiwis.
"World caves in on Kangaroos," it added, describing the 34-20 result as the "upset of the century".
"In a dramatic World Cup final featuring a penalty try and howling blunder from the world's best player, Billy Slater, New Zealand were last night on top of the world," David Riccio wrote.
Sydney's Sun-Herald made the upset front page news, labelling it "one of the great boilovers in rugby league history".
On the back page, the Kangaroos' blunders were the focus.
"What a choke - two moments of madness cost Australia World Cup glory," its main headline screamed under a photo of anguished Australian halfback Johnathan Thurston.
Wrote league writer Glenn Jackson: "It was meant to be predictable, but the finish was irresistible. A joke became a choke."
Most of the British media corps stayed on for the final despite England's absence and The Sunday Times' Ed Hughes said the most predictable rugby league tournament of all time concluded in the most unexpected of ways.
"Roared on by a small contingent of their own fans and a bigger, more vocal group of England supporters who had stayed on in Queensland after their team's ignominious exit, New Zealand tore away the mask of invincibility that Australia have worn for the past 20 years with a magnificent display packed full of panache, power and polish," he wrote.
In the Yorkshire Post, in English rugby league's heartland, John Ledger wrote that New Zealand were worthy winners after defying all expectations with a stunning victory.
"A penalty try awarded to Lance Hohaia, the outstanding fullback, helped give the Kiwis their first World Cup win in their third final appearance in front of a shell-shocked crowd of 50,559."
- NZPA
