New Zealand 34
Australia 20
KEY POINTS:
Doubt was the difference between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis.
It was fitting that New Zealand's first-ever League World Cup title came in the game's centenary year because it was in 1908 that a squad of Kiwis tagged the All Golds introduced the game to Australia.
The win
over defending champions Australia in Brisbane at the weekend lays to rest the disgrace of the record 58-0 hiding in Wellington just 12 months ago.
Conclusive victory in a match where the Kiwis were given no chance will spur that element of doubt among the Australians in all future contests between the teams.
"We came here with a specific plan and they carried it out," said coach Stephen Kearney. "We put them in a place they're not used to."
The plan was to shut down Kangaroo halves Darren Lockyer and Jonathan Thurston and so put pressure on their ball-playing ability. Their styles were dissected and disassembled for the Kiwis by Wayne Bennett, their old State of Origin coach and Lockyer's club mentor.
The plan was also to start well in both halves - and they did.
The plan was to tackle their opponents out of the contest, and throughout the 80 minutes the Kiwis produced defence that frustrated the much-vaunted attack of what was labelled by some as the best Australian side ever.
That pressure brought errors and penalties from the Kangaroos, and as the end closed in they panicked and robbed themselves of their last chances while the Kiwis coolly gathered more points.
Kangaroos captain Lockyer, aged 31 and playing his last World Cup, looked like he was chewing on tinfoil as he accepted the Man of the Match award.
"We wanted it more," said Kiwis' Jeremy Smith, 28, and in just his fourth NRL year.
The Cup squad of 24 and the coaching staff and management were joined by "a cast of thousands" as they celebrated the historic win at their hotel in central Wickham St.
"Everyone was a Kiwi: the hotel staff and all the New Zealanders who've been living here for 20 years," said team manager Gordon Gibbons, who reported the party was still going strong when he went to bed at 5am.
"We believed we'd win, all the way through after we lost 30-6 [to Australia in game one of pool play]. We knew we could do a lot better," Gibbons said.
"Even 10-0 down [after 15 minutes] we knew we were playing well and would get back in it."
The theme of the camp in the title-game build-up was No Regrets; the players determined to leave nothing in the tank by the end.
They had 17 heroes by game's end, all giving their all. They completed 15 of 20 sets of six in the first half to Australia's 14/16. In the second spell they finished 20 of 22 sets, while the Kangaroos managed just 11/17.
The New Zealanders went into the Cup final brainwashed into believing they could break the Australians' run of eight straight titles - provided they could push the home team out of the comfort zone they had operated in throughout the tournament.
By the 10th minute of the second half they had achieved one goal by taking an 18-16 lead when fullback Lance Hohaia scored.
Hohaia then epitomised the team effort on defence right through the game by holding big Israel Folau off the chalk. Suddenly the Aussies were worried and clock-watching.
So when Kangaroos fullback Billy Slater was pressured to touch near his goal-line, he threw a wild, hopeful pass infield to keep the ball alive for the Australian attack - but it went straight to Benji Marshall, who scored.
At 22-16 up the Kiwis were never going to lose. They could thank Slater, who had just been named Player of the Tournament, for his doubt-driven mistake and the hopeless pass.
But there were other obvious signs of the Australian reaction to being pushed to where they hadn't gone in a long time: Veteran Craig Fitzgibbon dropped the ball just after half-time and just 20m off his own goal-line; the Kangaroos conceded penalties for hands in the play-the-ball and for strips, as they desperately sought possession.
After they did score, halfback Jonathan Thurston showed unusual nerves when lining up the conversion.
Desperation drove wing Joel Monaghan to commit the fatal mistake of hauling Hohaia down as he chased a chip to the Aussie line.
When the referee awarded a penalty try, with the kick from in front, the Kiwis were 26-20 up and even more solid in belief the game was theirs despite the seven minutes to go and Australia's habit of snatching victory.
The Kiwis defence stiffened again. Smith ran down Thurston from behind to pull off an ankle tap that probably saved a try and definitely killed the last Aussie chance.
Slater was last to handle the ball, mis-firing a pass over the sideline. The Aussies in the crowd of 50,599 left while the Kiwis walked the field soaking up adulation and wobbly hakas from supporters. "We deserve respect [now]," skipper Nathan Cayless said. "No one can take it away from us."