Photos: Transtasman test - 10 to watchKEY POINTS:
Thomas Leuluai has wasted no time in stamping his mark on the Kiwis camp.
Immediately after arriving in Sydney from London on Tuesday night, the link man went straight to a strategy meeting where he laid out his demands for the forwards. Those plans gelled well with the game-plan mapped out by the coaching staff.
Leuluai stepped off the plane after playing for Wigan in their loss to St Helens and yesterday said he was in good health. He ran well with the team at the venue for tomorrow's test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
"I'm confident about my own performance," he said when asked to compare his effort with that of the Kangaroos playmaker Johnathan Thurston.
"No, I don't feel I have to get above him. I just have to do my job," Leuluai said. "It's not about me against an individual, its about New Zealand against Australia."
The Kiwis had to play as a team, with great cohesion and understanding, if they were to be a chance.
"The make-up of the team and the mix is great. Steve [coach Kearney] is doing a great job, everyone feels very comfortable. He's kept it simple, which is smart. I have good players around me, I'm here to do my job, not to win the test by myself."
There are 14 changes from the last game the Kiwis played - against France last November.
The squad wanted to prove the Kiwis better than the 58-0 result last time against Australia and better than the results on the 2007 England tour.
"Those results are fish and chips paper now, we can't worry about it or look too much at history." The prospect of another thumping was not in his consciousness.
"It's only a game, just a game of footy. Steve has told me what he wants, I'll do my best to deliver that and if we all have that approach we'll be there or thereabouts," Leuluai said.
The Kiwis looked sharp in training and the atmosphere in the camp is one of confidence. Kearney said captain Roy Asotasi had told him the Souths players were seriously buoyed by their first win of the season over North Queensland last weekend. For a change, there are no injury concerns.
The Kiwis coaching staff will meet referee Ashley Klein from England today to discuss the variations in interpretations of match rulings. Kearney said he believed the 12-man interchange of the test would aid the Kiwis over Australia.
The coach concentrated his work on the attacking structure yesterday, mentor Wayne Bennett working on the defence.
The Kiwis have let in 88 points and scored just six in their last two outings against the Aussies, 59-0 in Wellington last year and 30-6 in the last Anzac test in Brisbane.
KIWIS MOTIVATED TO PERFORM
Kiwis captain Roy Asotasi says the team needs to put on a decent show against Australia in the Centenary Test tomorrow night to vindicate the overthrow of 2007 coach Gary Kemble.
The squad appears to be thriving under the new regime of Stephen Kearney and assistant Wayne Bennett, with players yesterday expressing their respect for and acceptance of the plans put in place by the duo.
The Kiwis were also driven to put on a good performance because of the history of the occasion, marking 100 years of the game, Asotasi said.
Kearney confirmed that Isaac Luke, 20, on debut, will take the goal kicks. Jeremy Smith, off the bench, can also kick and take over if Luke is struggling.
Asked if he felt they would be behind in the field kicking game, Kearney said he felt the team was far better equipped than some previous Kiwis teams. He has two left-foot kickers in Brent Webb and Ben Roberts and a right-footer in Thomas Leuluai. And Stacey Jones, who has been with the team and helping the kickers, added that Luke has a good boot too.
The Kiwis football manager Dean Bell, watched from the sidelines at training yesterday and said he had been impressed by the routines imposed and the way the players had applied themselves.
"I've been around a long time and he [Kearney] has taken to it like a duck to water," Bell said.
