League: Little general vows to lift his game

Stacey Jones

MELBOURNE - Feeling much sharper with a test match under his belt, the Kiwis' Little General insists last week's Tri-Nations league loss hasn't dented their confidence of another trans-Tasman upset on Australian soil.

But Stacey Jones adds it will take an extraordinary effort to repeat their feat of a year ago and beat the Kangaroos on their home patch in his 43rd test appearance.

"We always go in confident we can beat them, there's never any doubt and if you have that, that's when they're going to put a lot of points on you," Jones told NZPA yesterday.

"You've got to try things and don't want to die wondering. If you chance your arm a little bit and get some luck, things can happen."

The latter was what transpired at Sydney's Telstra Stadium a year ago in the Tri-Nations opener when the Kiwis ambushed the sleepy hosts to win 38-28 on the way to beating the same opponents in the final at Leeds, 24-0.

Since then it's been all Australia as the men in green, smarting from being relegated to unfamiliar status of No 2 in the world, stormed back with a 50-12 victory in the Anzac test in Brisbane in May, then last weekend's 30-18 win in Auckland which was more convincing than the score suggested.

It could be claimed that last Saturday on their home ground was a more likely chance for victory over the old rivals, with the team of National Rugby League (NRL) matchwinners having another week to gel, and now returning to familiar home turf.

Jones, 30, agrees, but says his team have more scope for improvement than their much-vaunted opponents.

"It was a slightly better chance for us at home and we're in Australia now so it'll be a bit tougher.

"We're still hoping we can get a decent crowd behind us.... we should have a heap of Kiwis there on Saturday.

"I'm sure they (Australia) have a bit of improvement but we'll probably be able to improve more than them with our lack of game time."

The former golden boy of the New Zealand Warriors said he struggled with the pace of the game last weekend after a season with the battling Catalans Dragons in Britains Super League.

The Kiwis' biggest area for improvement is better ball control, and they will need Jones to turn up with his A-game, taking the ball to the line, darting through gaps and pinpoint kicking for goal and field position.

"It was always going to be a bit difficult after not playing for a few weeks and there's a bit of a step up from the competition I was playing in. I'll definitely be better this week.'

Jones said Melbourne had given the team a good feeling this week, with several hundred Kiwis fans turning up in City Square for autographs and good luck urgings on Monday.

And the resumption of trans-Tasman hostilities, sparked by Kangaroos' giant Willie Mason's swearing at the Kiwis performing the haka in Auckland, was also welcomed by Jones.

He said another monster hit, a la David Kidwell on Mason in Auckland, would be just the tonic for the Kiwis in the opening 10 minutes on Saturday.

"He (Mason) seems to always have a bit to say and adds a lot of spice to it all. You've just got to get on with it and not let things like that get to you.

"He (Mason) seems to like to set himself up a bit. I'm sure our forwards will want to try and get stuck into him."

- NZPA