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SYDNEY - If there's one line Kiwis halfback Thomas Leuluai is sick of hearing, it's that he's got the chance to prove himself at this rugby league World Cup.
The man who was virtually anointed by coach Stephen Kearney as his World Cup halfback as early as May, rejoined the side this month hoping for as little fanfare as possible.
Happily ensconsed in northern England, that's the way he'd like it to continue as the Kiwis start their campaign against the Kangaroos at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday.
"Some people have been saying 'do you want to prove this, prove that..', but I don't want that talk going around," he told NZPA.
"I'm grateful to Steve for giving me a shot. I'm just going to do my job for the team, I'm not looking to prove anyone wrong or any of that s..t.
"I just want to enjoy my time here. There's a lot of good players here and we could do something special. I'm confident in what I can do but I just want to slip under the radar a bit."
Star five-eighth Benji Marshall's presence has helped Leuluai's cause in that regard, but after Stacey Jones' glittering career there's always a keen eye on the Kiwis' No 7.
Kearney put his faith in the former New Zealand Warrior, turned Wigan Warrior, when he summoned him across the globe for the Centenary test in May. With just 48 hours to recover from the long flight, there was another hurdle when Ben Roberts was ruled out and Lance Hohaia called in late as five-eighth.
It was a tough night for Leuluai in the Kangaroos' 28-12 win but Kearney remained true to his word to give Leuluai an extended run, and the 23-year-old will combine with Marshall for just the second time in a test on Sunday.
After the pair helped carve up Tonga 56-8, Leuluai felt they worked well and was comfortable with his role as they take a step up to face a quality pairing - Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer.
"Benji's pretty talented and I'm just trying to take as much pressure off him as I can and let him do his stuff.
"If I can organise and push the guys around the park, and let Benji do what he wants to do.
"When he wants the ball, give him the ball. Guys like him, you've got to cut down a lot of their workload and let them wait until they want to strike."
Leuluai will play his 14th test in a five-year international career on Sunday, making him the equal second-most experienced Kiwi alongside second-rower Simon Mannering and bench hooker Dene Halatau. Captain Nathan Cayless leads the way clearly with 34 test caps.
Start talking about the Kiwis' prospects and Leuluai warms to his task, recalling how well the team gelled last weekend, before playing it down as the size of the task on Sunday looms into view.
"This week's going to be the big test, everyone knows that. I'm quite pleased with the way we went against Tonga. We did things we talked about wanting to do well. I don't want to say too much, we'll see how we go. We're confident and we're ready.
"It's a World Cup, not a one-off test so it's a good step for us. We've got better as we've gone on. Every game we've improved."
- NZPA
