KEY POINTS:
The Kiwis' Anzac league test woes continued as Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer again inspired a 30-6 victory at Suncorp Stadium here tonight.
Two tries in six minutes after the break saw the home side grab a winning 18-0 lead before the Kiwis stormed back with a Manu Vatuvei try from a Simon Mannering grubber kick 12 minutes from fulltime.
Benji Marshall's sideline conversion gave them faint hope but there was to be no fairytale comeback.
A late long-range try from Kangaroos' fullback Karmichael Hunt and a Lockyer special on the hooter sealed the five-tries-to-one victory before 35,421 fans, with halfback Johnathan Thurston converting all five.
It continued the Kangaroos' recent dominance with five consecutive victories over the Kiwis since their 2005 Tri-Nations final victory in England. They have dominated the Anzac test in recent years, winning 50-12 a year ago.
The odds were stacked against the Kiwis who only had eight survivors from the epic Tri-Nations final in November and were without their experienced core of Ruben Wiki, Nigel Vagana, Stacey Jones and the injured David Kidwell who boasted 160 tests between them.
Despite the best efforts of returning stars Benji Marshall and Sonny Bill Williams, the Kiwis showed the effects of just two training sessions with a new halves combination and three debutantes and were cautious on attack.
Lockyer's stable presence was a key in an error-ridden early season test.
The Kangaroos only led 6-0 at halftime as the Kiwis defended with plenty of intensity and forced key errors from the hosts who had the better attacking chances.
Vatuvei set the tone with a bone-jarring hit on Hunt in the first minute while centre Mannering also got through a power of work.
Williams showed how much they missed him in last year's Tri-Nations and was a huge presence on the right side in attack, and on defence, making two key tackles to snuff out dangerous Kangaroos attacks.
Second rower Nathan Hindmarsh scored the only try of the half in the 19th minute from a Thurston short ball after a bullocking run from Willie Mason.
Four minutes later the Kiwis got a lucky break when a rampaging Mason had the ball dislodged by cool-headed debut fullback Krisnan Inu over the line.
The Kiwis missed a golden chance just after the break when Jake Webster dropped the ball with a try beckoning after a sweeping 60m move sparked by a Marshall kick.
The floodgates then opened. Williams then lost the ball near the Kangaroos' line and the Kiwis paid the price, halfback Ben Roberts dropping a Lockyer bomb at the other end and Matt King pouncing to double the hosts' lead six minute after the break.
Lockyer laid on the next try which snuffed out the Kiwis, running wide for Justin Hodges to put Brent Tate over in the right corner outside Vatuvei.
New Kiwis captain Roy Asotasi, who led from the front with a powerful game, said he was happy with his young side's effort.
"It's a new era for the Kiwis and we've got a few young faces. We'll learn a lot from this," he said.
"The whole idea was to breed these guys for the World Cup next year and give them some experience. I'm proud of them. "
Australia 30 (Nathan Hindmarsh, Matt King, Brent Tate, Karmichael Hunt, Darren Lockyer tries; Johnathan Thurston 5 goals)
New Zealand 6 (Manu Vatuvei try; Benji Marshall goal). Halftime: 6-0.
- NZPA
