Queensland league received a major fillip yesterday when Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane was announced as the venue for the World Cup final next year.
Deals are also under way to play further internationals including Anzac tests there.
State premier Peter Beattie said his government had done deals to
attract games, the return being jobs and income.
Ten teams will compete, with Australia, New Zealand, England and Papua New Guinea in a "super pool" expected to provide the finalists. Also qualified through the Pacific Cup are Fiji and Tonga, and France through European competition. Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Samoa, the US, Russia and Lebanon are competing for the remaining three places.
Australia have won nine of the 12 World Cups since 1954 and Great Britain three.
Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer, 30, hinted he would look at retirement post-Cup, especially if Australia won. "I guess if you wrote a script for me, that would be a very enjoyable end."
Their coach Ricky Stuart and Lockyer rated test football above State of Origin.
They wanted to reassert their authority at Suncorp tonight, said Stuart, but he played down talk of a bash-a-thon. "The team that plays the best football will win, not the team that puts on the biggest hits."
He said this Kiwis team is better than the one beaten in overtime in last year's Tri-Nations and the inclusion of Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall would mean they played with more attacking flair.
The Kiwis trained at Suncorp yesterday, with coach Brian McClennan expressing some concern about the shifty surface.
They did not attend the World Cup announcement but McClennan dismissed suggestions they were being disrespectful to the Aussies. It was a matter of timing and they had set their schedule a fortnight ago.
The Australians keep changing timings, the latest being the shunting of kick-off back to 9.50pm (NZ time) to suit broadcaster Channel Nine.
The Kangaroos called Storm lock Ryan Hoffman into their squad. They say they have no injury concerns but suspicion remains that Shaun Berrigan may withdraw with a back injury. The Kiwis are 100 per cent fit.
