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SYDNEY - A jubilant Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless rated it the greatest moment of his rugby league career as he hoisted the World Cup aloft last night.
Cayless and his team embraced and cavorted around Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium after upsetting hot favourites Australia 34-20 to claim their first World Cup final victory.
"It is the greatest moment, by far. I've had a few chances in big games and this is the biggest for me," Cayless told Channel Nine.
"I just thank the boys, they've been outstanding. We had a few players that couldn't be here, but the boys that were here took their opportunities, it's just unbelievable. No one can take this away from us.
"We knew we could play a lot better than we did in the first game. (Coaches Wayne Bennett and Stephen Kearney) worked really hard and the boys worked overtime. We really deserved this, we worked hard for it and we're really going to enjoy it."
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Five-eighth Benji Marshall, who fought back from multiple shoulder surgeries in recent seasons, said the feeling was on a par with his NRL grand final win with Wests Tigers in 2005.
"It's up there mate, probably equal. From where I've come from, all the injuries and setbacks I've had had, to get here and pull that off, it's just great."
Head coach Kearney said his team always believed they could upset the Kangaroos after a heavy defeat in their opening match.
"It was just a matter of making sure we kept them in the arm wrestle and played to our tempo. We knew we would get opportunities.
"The first 15 minutes of that second half was really important... and I'm just overwhelmed," Kearney said.
- NZPA
