League: Brotherhood did it for Kiwis

Stacey Jones

A bond of brotherhood inspired the Kiwis with the belief that they could beat the Kangaroos.

All week in camp, there had been a quiet acknowledgment that they had to beat 46 years of history as well as a Kangaroos side that looked better on paper yet an acceptance they were capable of overturning all expectations if they stuck together.

The scrum base pairing of Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer rated world-best and world-beating did not fire, Johns contained and Lockyer targeted by the big Kiwis runners. A measure of their failure to control and organise the game came as they ran into each other during one bust up field.

Instead the Kiwis were led to victory by Stacey Jones connecting with his supports.

His kicking game was also a triumph - 15 field kicks, all good and landing all seven of his shots at goal. There was a suggestion afterwards that he might go on to play in England, though his wife Rachelle is expecting their third child.

The trick for the Kiwis now is avoiding the sort of hype that saw the 1991 team slump from a 24-8 victory in Melbourne to a 0-44 thrashing in Sydney a week later.

It's something coach Brian McClennan is aware of.

He shied away from agreeing they'd deliberately run at Lockyer or identifying areas where the Kiwis had prospered in attack.

"We were fairly dominant in a lot of areas. Yeah, things unfolded in the game, we did have plans to target specific areas and what we came up with was pretty close to the plan - but we also know we can get better," he said.

Captain Ruben Wiki delivered a game-high 181 metres ground-gain and much of it came at critical times when the Kiwis were flagging and against two or three Kangaroos forwards. Props Paul Rauhihi and Roy Asotasi and second-rower David Kidwell also made damaging carries at crucial moments to complement their all-round game. The Kangaroos had only one player in that category, lock Ben Kennedy. The rest were outplayed and overshadowed.

Wiki told after the game of how they lifted when required: "We just looked at each other and we believed in each other. We looked in each other's eyes. Pretty special people, the Kiwis. We're like a family and it showed. When we get together ... we have a few kava bowls and just get to know each other."

Coach McClennan said the NRL grand final result had inspired them. "It showed a champion team can beat a team of champions, and that's what we did tonight.

"Everyone got what they deserved. We had a good sense of brotherhood. We were confident of winning."

Three-try hero Clinton Toopi said Jones' return to the team after an absence since July 2003 had lifted them. "He's a big inspiration for us." And he had "a new man on my side, man, and that's God", Toopi said. "He's given me that self-belief."

Johns, meanwhile, was telling Channel Nine: "I don't know how you describe that performance. Maybe we didn't show them enough respect. I'm embarrassed by that performance, the team's and my own."

Nigel Vagana and Frank Pritchard were cleared by the test judiciary panel after being put on report for a lifting tackle on Trent Waterhouse.

The panel of former Kangaroo Ron Coote, former Kiwi Darrell Williams and NSW Judge Greg Woods took only five minutes to decide Vagana had no case to answer.

Lance Hohaia had an immediate x-ray which cleared him of any bone break but will undergo an MRI scan today to check whether he has ligament damage, his further participation in the series uncertain.

The Kiwis have plenty of choice in replacements after New Zealand A demolished a Junior Kangaroos team bolstered by five of their Tri-Nations touring party 40-16. Tony Puletua made a successful return after injury and was his blockbusting self, Penrith second row partner Joe Galuvao played strongly as did prop Iafeta Paleaaesina and Motu Tony, who would be the logical replacement for Hohaia should he be ruled out. All four of those should make the tour to England, that squad to be named after game two.

There will be no complacency by the Kangaroos ahead of Friday night's game.

The last time the teams met at Ericsson was the Tri-Nations of 1999, when New Zealand won 24-22 in the first game and Australia won the final 22-20. Two points difference might be a good bet for Friday night, the Kiwis sure to be riding high and ready to play again.

In Australia, talk will be of the future and what the Kiwis might be capable of if they ever field their top side, one including Sonny Bill Williams, Benji Marshall, Jason Cayless, Puletua and the best from England, including Ali Lauitiiti and Lesley Vainikolo.