KEY POINTS:
The Kiwis do not look capable of turning around the 30-6 defeat at the hands of Australia when the teams next meet in what seems the inevitable, arranged final of the World Cup.
England, the only other side with a snowball's chance in hell of making the final in Brisbane on November 22, were pathetic against a Kumuls team patched together from a handful of second-rate professionals and the domestic Papua New Guinea competition.
New Zealand never looked likely to score any more points than Sika Manu's try and the conversion as the Kangaroos again proved their depth and skill during the drubbing at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday night.
It is the eighth straight loss for the Kiwis since the New Zealand Rugby League made the unfathomable decision to cast away the Tri Nations-winning coach Brian McClennan, and there were few signs anything will be different in game nine.
They are well short of being a complete football team and, while many faults can be found in the poor decision-making of the Super League refereeing duo of whistler Ashley Klein and video watcher Steve Ganson, the Kiwis did not put themselves in a position to win.
There were bad mistakes all through. Too often the Aussies' kick at the in-goal was allowed to bounce or go loose. Had they not over-cooked and sent the ball dead so often, the New Zealanders would have lost by more.
Nathan Fien's kicking game was poor, a ground-gainer out on the full and stabs at the line rebounding straight off defenders. Benji Marshall did not get into the match at all, bar delivering the pass for Manu's angled run to the line. To be fair, he and halfback Thomas Leuluai had no forward platform to work from.
The Kiwis' main attacking weapon, Manu Vatuvei, did not get anywhere near enough ball.
Their attack consisted of dummy-half running and one-out hit-ups and though no gain was made that way there was no order to change the approach.
"We let ourselves down, shot ourselves in the foot," said captain Nathan Cayless. "We had high expectations but didn't put it together on the park."
They intend to put the mess behind them. "We can't spend too much time thinking about it because we'll have to be ready for Papua New Guinea next weekend. They put together a lot of good football against England and showed everyone what a dangerous side they can be," Cayless said.
But the mental baggage of the five tries to one loss will hang over the anticipated final contest. The Kangaroos were a bit rusty at first and somewhat tentative but once they got into the game they scored great tries with quick and accurate passing wide, continually finding the Kiwis short of defenders.
The New Zealanders' scramble was good but they simply did too much of it, handing over ball through ordinary errors and suffering on the back of a dubious penalty count that reached six-one before levelling out in the second half when it was already too late for the visitors.
Simon Mannering was penalised for a hold-down of a type the Aussies conducted throughout the game, Anthony Laffranchi lost the ball but the Kiwis were penalised for a strip, Leuluai was penalised for an obstruction when an Aussie ran into his back, Fien lost possession when he shadowed and bumped a retreating and offside runner but the ref called a scrum for a lost ball instead of a penalty.
When Klein couldn't immediately rule on a grounding he asked for video review and when Ganson returned it, "ref's call", the try was awarded even though no angle showed the ball on or over the line. And at the end, when it didn't matter anyway, Billy Slater should have been penalised for kicking the ball out of the hands of Jerome Ropati as he dived at the line.
The NZRL should tell the World Cup organisers they will not put up with Klein whistling any more of their games but to get an improvement would require appointing an Aussie.
As far as team selection goes for the match against PNG, hooker Isaac Luke shapes as the one and only option to inject some attacking flair. Luke broke the Kangaroos open a couple of times in the May test and his inexperience and turnover rate will have to be overlooked. More speed is needed out of dummy half to get the forwards rolling. Dene Halatau offered little off the bench and looks the likely drop-out.
Centre Steve Matai will miss Saturday's match against Papua New Guinea after yesterday accepting a one-match ban for a careless high tackle. He was charged for the 13th minute shot on Kangaroos forward Paul Gallen after the World Cup match review committee reviewed video footage of the incident.
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney was disappointed but not despondent: "We're certainly not giving up."
The Kangaroos and Warriors centre Brent Tate, who left the field with concussion, is expected to be passed fit for their next game against England.
