Ruben Wiki. Photo / Herald on Sunday
There is a wealth of international experience among those helping the Kiwis in their build-up to the 100-year test tonight and it's clear the players are feeling a quiet confidence that they will play well as a result.
It's obvious there is huge respect for Wayne Bennett and
what he's achieved in the game and for coach Stephen Kearney because of his test background and coaching stint under Storm supremo Craig Bellamy.
Bennett and Kearney have stiffened the Kiwis' resolve. The players will not want to let those two down.
Running against the starting side in training have been squad members David Kidwell and Lance Hohaia as well as Ruben Wiki and Stacey Jones, the latter also working with the field-kickers.
It's comfortable in their camp at the Swiss Grand Hotel opposite Bondi Beach. Post-training warm-downs have been in the surf.
Wiki wandered into the lobby with a towel wrapped around him declaring: "I'm just showing the boys what a good body is supposed to look like."
There's joking banter that suggests they like each other.
There has been little reference to the 58-0 result in Wellington when the teams last met last October. They are keen to make up for that, keener to prove they will be a force at the end-of-year World Cup.
"All the talk has been about what we have to do [tonight]," said football manager Dean Bell. "It's about a Kiwi brotherhood, your mateship is formed out there in the heat of battle, you have to have the ultimate commitment to get the result you're after."
