KEY POINTS:
If you're tuning into the Anzac test in Brisbane tonight, keep a special eye out for one of the most exciting groups of players in the game - the bolters.
No, they're not the blokes with the six-inch spanners doing last-minute maintenance work at Suncorp Stadium.
A bolter's
a very Anzac description for a relatively unknown player who's been selected from out of the blue.
I had a few over the years of my coaching career and not one of them let me down.
Back in 1991, when I coached the Queensland Origin team, we named three absolute bolters and copped a hiding in the media for it. The Aussie media gave us both barrels for having the gall to pick players who weren't on their radar.
Our shock selections were St George centre Mark Coyne and back-rowers Gary Larson and Billy Moore from the North Sydney Bears.
Three very good young players who just needed to be given a go.
My head was on the line but I managed to talk the selectors into picking the three debutants.
The NSW press immediately wrote us off. But these guys were genuine bolters who bring an innocence and enthusiasm to a team that can never be under-estimated.
Coyne, Larson and Moore were all key players in that hard-fought series, and all went on to enjoy long Queensland Origin careers and became regulars in the Kangaroos.
Selectors are forced to take a punt at times and back the system of progression in the ranks. The Kiwi selectors have done this with Krisnan Inu. He has been the New Zealand A fullback for the past two years and has performed with distinction at that level. Now he has been given his chance on the biggest stage of all.
Some may argue that the more senior and experienced players in the squad could have been converted into fullbacks for such an important game.
I don't go along with that theory. If you are looking for a fullback you pick one, not a converted winger or centre.
Inu won't let the Kiwis down.
Olsen Filipaina was a bolter when he was named in the 1985 Kiwis to play Australia in three tests. The Aussie press loved it when New Zealand picked a player from reserve grade to mark Wally (the King) Lewis at stand-off.
The Aussies considered Filipaina a lazy player and only good enough to play in their reserve grade competition.
Well, not only did this bolter play well for the Kiwis marking King Wally, he managed to win the man of the series award by outplaying the King three times in a row.
When you consider the sameness most of the current internationals bring to the game, throwing a newcomer into the mix immediately creates the unexpected.
The Aussie selectors have taken the other tack for tonight's game and this hands the Kiwis an advantage because there are no surprises.
Don't get me wrong, this is another good Australian side.
But their selectors are relying on the pride of pulling on the green and gold to spark many of their players who are out of form for their clubs (just have a look at the Broncos players).
I understand the mentality but I know the Kiwis will have the same feeling of pride in pulling on the black and white jumper.
A test match is just that, a test. This isn't a game to help the Kiwis to get ready for the World Cup. This is Aussie's best against ours.
I've had the privilege to sit in a dressing room with a group of battered and bruised Kiwis who have just given their guts for the country. To suggest to those players that they'd just participated in what was only part of a build-up for the following year would have been an insult.
Test matches bring out qualities in players that are deep inside their dreams. The players know they are up against another country's best and a competitive switch turns on. Deeds thought impossible are performed and pain is somehow turned off.
In those moments in test dressing rooms at halftime and after games, what you see sitting in front of you can make your heart almost burst with pride.
I will forever see in my mind Kiwi captain Mark Graham sitting in the dressing room at Headingley at halftime in the first test against the Poms in 1985.
He had a depressed fracture of the cheek, and a broken bone in his ankle. From deep inside his soul he managed to stand up and lead the team back out in the second half.
That is what test football is all about. I've spoken with All Black legend Colin Meads about some of their heroics, and it is just the same.
Footy players wearing their country's colours in a test are expected to do the remarkable and they invariably deliver. Call it what you like, but there is no better description than what it is already called - a test match.
I'VE been going to Lang Park (now Suncorp) for 40 years and the ghosts and special moments of every game I have been at during that time are still there to greet you.
This atmosphere can freeze players, and for that matter coaches, if they are not prepared for it.
Bolters are swallowed if they are not up to the task but for those who are ready, it is a stage that makes them deliver what they are born to do.
New captain Roy Asotasi will keep an eye on his new fullback, but will also bring his own leadership style.
Asotasi has respect and that is the main requirement. His own players respect him and, equally importantly, the Aussies do as well. And why shouldn't they? He is the best front rower in the NRL.
He is a natural leader and will fill Ruben Wiki's shoes without a problem.
As usual, the Aussies are formidable. But they are not unbeatable. The Kiwis' ace up the sleeve is Sonny Bill Williams.
When I look at the two line-ups and mark player for player, there is not a lot of difference. The Aussies may have a slight experience advantage.
But they have no one to compare with the young Bulldogs sensation.
Benji Marshall is another Kiwi itching to get out there.
I'm on record as saying that Sonny Bill Williams may be the best player I have ever seen. Tonight, when he and Benji and co are attacking the Kangaroos right, left and centre, I'm picking that others will agree.
The Auckland Lions showed a ton of character again on Sunday, coming back from a 12-0 deficit to down St George 26-20. All the more credit to the Lions when you take into account the fact that the Dragons fielded seven players who have played first-grade football this year.
