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SYDNEY - If he was feeling the pressure, Kangaroos rugby league coach Ricky Stuart was doing his best not to show it yesterday.
The former test halfback is tasked with winning back what is perceived as Australia's rightful position as the best league side in the world after their dominance hit the speed wobbles a year ago.
The 0-24 loss to the Kiwis in last year's Tri-Nations final at Leeds saw Stuart replace Wayne Bennett in charge of the national team.
He's since guided the Kangaroos to three wins from three against the Kiwis this year, the latter a last-gasp 20-15 win in Melbourne.
But he has not yet extracted the best from his star-studded lineup, with his captain Darren Lockyer this week admitting the Kiwis had better form on the board going into the final here at Aussie Stadium on Saturday.
Kiwis coach Brian McClennan also chimed in, saying Stuart would be under more pressure this week, with the Australian sporting public expecting the Kangaroos to win easily.
For Stuart, Saturday provides the ultimate test of his coaching mettle after an unhappy departure from the struggling Sydney Roosters this year, having guided them to a National Rugby League (NRL) premiership in 2002. He will coach Cronulla next year.
"We don't expect it to be easy and just run out there and win. There's a lot of hard work to do, and to have a result go our way we have to play a lot of quality football," he said.
So is he expecting anything out of the ordinary from his highly-rated coaching opposite?
"Without any disrespect to Brian, no I don't try to second guess him at all."
And how would another shock loss in a final be perceived by Australia's unforgiving punters?
"I haven't thought about that."
A straight bat worthy of the buildup to the Ashes cricket series.
Stuart's only concession was acknowledging the pressure on his players, notably captain Lockyer, from a lengthy season.
Round one of the NRL started on March 10, with those who played in the grand final like Lockyer and Kiwis second rower David Kidwell still ticking along.
"Because they're fit and healthy now it doesn't necessarily mean they can handle another one or two seasons with such a workload.
"It's important that we look at the structuring of our rep season and our NRL premiership because we just can't expect them to endure the workload they're under."
Next year will see a respite with no Tri-Nations scheduled as teams prepare for the World Cup the following year.
Stuart said his team were healthy and fresh, but he had lightened their physical workload this week to have them primed.
Lockyer, meanwhile, admitted he was unhappy with the Kangaroos' recent form, despite a 33-10 win over Great Britain last weekend.
He was wary of the Kiwis, who have had an ideal buildup, being based at Parramatta since Wednesday last week.
"Our consistency's probably been a bit lacking and I just hope we can build on last week's performance," Lockyer said.
"The Kiwis have improved every time they've played and we need to be better than what we were last week.
"We got out of jail in Melbourne and that was a small wakeup call but not a big enough one. The following week we lost to Great Britain and it was a poor performance by us.
"Last week was better but not a complete performance."
- NZPA
