League: We can't clock off says Fien

Nathan Fien. Photo / Getty Images

It's hard to quibble with a 64-point victory, but the Kiwis know they can't afford to clock off even briefly when they take on Australia in Auckland on Saturday night in a dummy run of the Four Nations rugby league final.

The trans-Tasman rivals face off at Eden Park in the closing match of the tournament's round-robin phase, before heading to Brisbane for the title decider seven days later.

Both teams are undefeated, with New Zealand coming off a one-sided contest against Papua New Guinea in Rotorua last weekend.

While the Kiwis were happy with a lot of what they were able to produce on the way to scoring 14 tries, halfback Nathan Fien said parts of their performance in the second spell, including allowing the Kumuls to put two quick touchdowns on them, showed up areas for improvement.

"There's obviously a lot positives when you're winning 76-12, but the disappointing thing for us was how we went away from our game plan a little bit in the second half and got caught up in making a few errors," he said.

"We leaked a few points, which is something we won't have the luxury of doing this week. We have to be able to get into the arm wrestle with the Australians and stick at it for the full 80 otherwise it mightn't be just one or two tries, it might be four or five."

The Kiwis also conceded two second-half tries in quick succession in beating England 24-10 in the tournament opener, but Fien said the circumstances then were slightly different.

In Wellington, the mistakes could be sourced back to the defence the home side had to do.

"We didn't wrestle particularly well and get numbers in tackle and that was probably credit to them, but we did scramble well," Fien said.

"However, when you're scrambling in defence, you're chewing up a lot of fuel and that affected our ball control and our attack."

Fien is part of an unchanged backline for the test against the Kangaroos, which is the second part of a double-header, with England and PNG providing the curtain-raiser..

Coach Stephen Kearney has opted to make only one alternation to his starting 13, recalling prop Adam Blair for Sam McKendry, who was given his debut cap against the Kumuls.

The test will be Fien's 17th and continues a notable comeback from serious injury, after he broke his leg in St George Illawarra's opening National Rugby League match of the year.

He got back on the field in time for the tail end of the regular season and the Dragons' triumphant run through the playoffs, playing a key role at hooker in their grand final victory.

"It's been a bit of a ride and it's funny how things work out," he said.

"Obviously the season didn't start too well, but I worked really hard on the rehab with the staff at the Dragons and they were able to get me back on the field for the business end of the year.

"To be able to win a premiership and to top it off by being selected for the Kiwis for the Four Nations - I'm very happy and very pleased."

The former New Zealand Warrior is one of three Dragons in the Kiwi squad, along with winger Jason Nightingale and lock Jeremy Smith, and all three have been included in the starting 13 to face Australia.

- NZPA