League: Aussie pack prove that size matters

Kangaroo David Shillington is one of numerous young Australian forwards coming through. Photo / Getty Images

Concerns are rising in New Zealand rugby league circles about how the Kiwis can match the size and mobility of the Kangaroos pack, looking ahead to the 2013 World Cup.

Players such as David Shillington, Matthew Scott, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Sam Thaiday have proven monsters to handle for the Kiwis during the Four Nations - and they are going to be around for years. Scott, Learoyd-Lahrs and Thaiday are just 25 while Shillington is 27.

In contrast the New Zealanders are younger but relatively smaller. Frank Pritchard (27) was the only Kiwi aged over 25 to play in the forwards against Australia during the Four Nations. Judging by the listed weights, none of the Kiwi forwards, except 21-year-old Penrith prop Sam McKendry, weighed in at over 110kg.

Size can have its disadvantages when a side-effect is a lack of mobility but it has had little effect on the Australians ravaging opposition packs under coach Tim Sheens' game plan.

While on paper the Kiwis are down a couple of kilograms on average per man in the packs (104kg v 106kg), this is a vague science. Past rugby and league scales have been conveniently skewed before players hop on so the opposition is not given the perceived advantage of contemplating: "That bloke is not as big as I thought ... "

Similar thinking has even applied to occupations over the years. Former Kiwi Dean Lonergan famously wrote down "pig hunter" in that column before his debut to scare the Kangaroos. He had never been pig hunting in his life.

So there can be an element of bluff in the exercise, but for those faced with tackling the incumbent Australians, they are formidable units.

Former Kiwis skipper-turned-commentator Richie Barnett says the next few years shape as tough.

"They are horrendously big. Shillington is like this generation's amped-up version of Petero Civoniceva and Learoyd-Lahrs is just as big. Those type of guys are tall and carry some serious weight so they dwarf our pack. Scott in the front row is sizable too.

Trying to contain them is going to be a problem.

"It is a scary thought, especially when you consider New Zealand has normally competed on pack size. That's why it's a good move from [coach] Stephen Kearney to bring in someone like McKendry to combat that and stop the Australians getting as much yardage or punching through the line.

"They hit the line with such pace and they have huge engines which help them push through."

Barnett says the best way to withstand such a force is to counter it from dummy-half by getting numbers to the tackle to cut them down.

"That ruck defence has to be spot on. Then you've got to capitalise on the back of that with pace at dummy-half. That means any penalties have to be used quickly by getting the likes of Sam Perrett and Shaun Kenny-Dowall to make yards by darting through. The Kiwis will have to start playing a more intense, faster game otherwise we're doomed."

That is the plan Kearney wants to press forward with ahead of the World Cup.

"When you carry a big pack into tests like Australia, there is the liability of being vulnerable against sharp dummy-half runners. As the opposition you can cause trouble around the ruck.

"It's a matter of making sure you get the balance right. Developing big boppers like Greg Eastwood, Adam Blair, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sam McKendry means we're not too far off the mark.

"We've got to use Sam Perrett, Jason Nightingale, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Issac Luke wisely out of dummy-half to match that size. If you get a decent share of possession at the right end of the field you can still create opportunities."