League: Sheens has a fix-it plan for a machine that's far from broken

Tim Sheens. Photo / Getty Images

Australia will ignore "never change a winning team" and "if it ain't broke don't fix it" for Saturday's Four Nations final.

Regular captain Darren Lockyer and fullback Billy Slater will return to the Kangaroos' line-up to face the Kiwis in Brisbane.

They will replace Todd Carney and Darius Boyd from the side that trounced the Kiwis at Eden Park on Saturday night.

Coach Tim Sheens confirmed Saturday's victory was little more than a trial for the Kangaroos, saying he would pick his finals line-up based on form throughout the tournament.

"It was always about next week," Sheens said.

"Whether we lost or they lost, both camps were going to be planning for next week.

"We fired a shot across their bow, that's for sure. But that means nothing.

"Next week will be a new game. There will be some changes to both sides and it will be a final. When it gets down to a final it is a different intensity again."

The Kiwis' best hope of engineering a turnaround would appear to lie in Sheens' dabbling fomenting disharmony in a Kangaroos side that was well and truly together in Auckland.

But veteran centre Brent Tate says that won't happen.

"We have all been together for a few weeks and we know the game plan. I guess the potential [for upset] is always there but I am really confident in the squad we have got.

"Tim said to us the whole way along it is about pressure and you have got to play well to keep your spot."

Changing a well-functioning team isn't something Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney has to worry about. His main concerns are the fitness of stand-out forward Frank Pritchard - who hobbled off with a knee injury - and the poor form of prop Frank-Paul Nuuausala and wing Sam Perrett.

Tate was not fazed by the crowd disturbances at Eden Park, saying he and his teammates thrived on the highly charged Eden Park atmosphere.

"I guess it was a little bit disappointing but the atmosphere out there was unbelievable," he said.

"That was as good an atmosphere as I have played in ever. While the result probably didn't go their way, I think [Saturday] was a great night for rugby league here in New Zealand."