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SYDNEY - Kiwis coach Brian McClennan strolled into the baggage claim area at Sydney Airport's domestic terminal yesterday and quickly put on his game face.
"We'll be barring up - we'll be rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck in for sure, but we won't be favourites," he said after his side were confirmed as Australia's opponents in Saturday's Tri-Nations final at Aussie Stadium.
"Anything can happen on a night but we're going to have to be very, very good and they'd have to be possibly off their game a little bit."
Underdog status officially claimed, as if there was any doubt.
McClennan and his coaching assistant, Tony Iro, were among the impressive crowd of 44,358 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium as the Kangaroos ended Great Britain's tournament with a none-too-convincing 33-10 win.
After cruising to a 12-0 lead after seven minutes, the Kangaroos didn't apply the choker hold and struggled through the middle of the match.
Their winning score blew out, thanks to two late tries, the latter a magnificent length-of-the-field score to Brent Tate on the fulltime hooter.
All this took place while the Kiwis' 23-man squad watched the telecast at their west Sydney hotel, the chance to retain their Tri-Nations title still beckoning with a minimum of fingernail-chewing.
The Nathan Fien saga, which cost the Kiwis two competition points, is now, thankfully, confined to a murky chapter in league's history books.
"We're honoured to make the final. We feel like we've earned our way in from what we've done on the field," McClennan said. "Even the general public would believe that these are the best two teams to play the final."
McClennan's only dig was to insist Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart had more resting on his shoulders, given their three consecutive victories over the Kiwis since the men in black sealed a memorable 24-0 win in last year's final at Leeds.
"They've got such a proud heritage and they very rarely lose," McClennan said. "The pressure's always going to be on whoever's in charge of Australia and the players themselves."
While it doesn't take much for the Kiwis to claim underdog status, McClennan was having nothing of British coach Brian Noble's assertions that the Kangaroos needed to lift a few notches to beat the in-form Kiwis.
"I came away thinking, 'Geez, they're so dangerous."'
McClennan names his team tomorrow.
- NZPA
