League: Deja vu as Kiwis meet 'Roos

Skipper Benji Marshall has 21 of the 36 Kiwi caps. Photo / Dean Purcell

We've been here before. Just 12 months ago Australia and New Zealand squared off at Eden Park in a phoney war a week before the Four Nations final in Brisbane.

There was plenty of pre-match blather about the importance of the occasion that time too, but no sooner had the plastic beer bottles settled on the Kangaroos' victory than both coaches were dismissing the game's relevance. It was all about next week, Tim Sheens and Stephen Kearney said.

This time around there has been some homage paid to the importance of tomorrow's battle in Newcastle between the smarting Aussies and the increasingly bullish Kiwis for the Bill Kelly Memorial Trophy, but at times the veil has slipped.

Kearney even dropped in the phrase "warm-up", while Sheens freely discussed how important the match was in terms of tuning up ahead of the opening Four Nations clash between these sides in Warrington in 10 days.

That is the match that matters. The top Kiwis line-up will not take the paddock tomorrow. If it were, Ben Matulino, the standout Kiwis forward from the Anzac test and an emerging colossus at the Warriors, would be in the side.

Instead Kearney has opted to pump some game time into Fuifui Moimoi and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - forwards whose match hardness may have atrophied a touch after not being involved in the NRL playoffs. Tomorrow's game might not be full-on, but it will be full blooded. The grievances over last year's final in Brisbane will see to that.

Kangaroos prop David Shillington waged a running battle with a host of Kiwis that night. After a horror 2011 season that saw him endure a record eight-match losing run with the Raiders and miss Origin with a torn pectoral muscle, the giant 'Roos enforcer is thrilled at the prospect of reigniting hostilities with the Kiwis.

"After last year's Four Nations the rivalry with New Zealand has gone to a whole new level for me," he said. "It was really fiery and aggressive.

"We had a couple of stinks and there were some big shots being put on. I had a little run-in with Issac Luke. And Adam Blair. And Greg Eastwood - probably half the forward pack. In State of Origin it happens all the time and in test footy too because you are playing not just for your own pride but for your country. That's why everyone enjoys watching it."

The Kangaroos have been put on notice by Sheens. He has stressed he has no shortage of class players at his disposal. Kearney is equally happy with his squad, although a backline that boasts only 36 caps - and 21 of those to skipper Benji Marshall - looks vulnerable. "We are confident [the rookies] will do a job for us," Kearney said. "They have got some fairly handy halves inside them that are going to help them out, that is for sure, so I am really comfortable with those guys."

Sheens insisted he was more worried about the defensive structure of his side than targeting fullback Kevin Locke and wing Kalifa Faifai Loa, although the debutant pair can expect plenty of attention anyway.

"If we get good field position Darren [Lockyer] is going to put one up and Billy [Slater] is going to chase it," Sheens said. "And I'm sure they'll do everything to make sure Billy doesn't get there. No matter how experienced you are, Billy has got plenty. And he is as good in the air as anyone, so we are certainly going to put some ball up."

He also noted that the days when the Kangaroos could coast against such a raw Kiwis side were long gone. "... with Marshall and company in that side - as he proved in that final last year - if they are within six in the last three minutes I am still going to be pretty damn nervous."