KEY POINTS:
Barnstorming prop Roy Asotasi has given the first hints of how the Kiwis dealt with the grannygate scandal which threatened to derail their Tri-Nations defence.
Asotasi told the Herald the team had largely been shielded from the controversy after it was discovered hooker Nathan Fien did not qualify for the Kiwis.
Asotasi said Fien's place had never been queried by his teammates.
"It always felt like a Kiwi team - it never felt like there was an Australian in the camp," Asotasi said.
The Kiwis returned stronger following grannygate, pummelling Great Britain in Wellington in the best performance of the series.
Asotasi was at the forefront, as the Kiwi forwards overpowered a British side who had just beaten Australia.
He revealed that the Kiwis relied heavily on coach Brian "Bluey" McClennan to inform them of grannygate developments.
"It all was pretty sad and the really disappointing thing was to lose two points after a hard-earned win," Asotasi said.
"Unfortunately, people above us didn't do their homework and the NZRL has to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"But we weren't really angry at anyone. It was out of our control. We let others do what they had to do and we sat back, trained, played football. It was a bit of a wake-up for the defence of our title.
"We had plenty of team meetings about wanting to stick together, and making sure we didn't let this get in the way of what we were here to do.
"We didn't sit around debating eligibility. Bluey made sure we knew way ahead, before things were read in the paper.
"In a way, we were fortunate we were in Queenstown when it happened and we didn't really hear much. It only hit home when we got to Wellington.
"We were on tour to play football and that was all we could control at the moment.
"A whole lot of controversy does bring teams closer although Kiwi teams are close anyway.
"It made us that much closer though and we just wanted to play for each other.
"We even surprised ourselves at times how well we played in Wellington."
Asotasi predicted an all-out assault from New Zealand and Australia in tomorrow night's final.
"You don't want to sit around all summer thinking about what could and should have happened," said Asotasi, the NRL prop of the year who has joined South Sydney.
