League: Wiki's words key to victory

Benji Marshall (left), Bronson Harrison and Simon Mannering revel in their dramatic victory. Photo / Courier Mail

"Pain is temporary, glory is forever."

Those were the words ringing in the ears of game-breaking winger Jason Nightingale as he raced down the touchline and flung the ball in field to set up the Kiwis' winning try in the Four Nations final in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Drilled by Cooper Cronk shortly before halftime, Nightingale was in agony and struggling for breath when trainer and former Kiwis captain Ruben Wiki delivered a prophetic pick-me-up speech.

"I'd just been winded," Nightingale said. "Cooper Cronk got me under the ribs. I was hurting, my guts were killing me.

"Ruben told me 'pain is temporary, glory is forever'."

With just 90 seconds remaining those words were "resonating in my head" as Nightingale collected Shaun Kenny-Dowall's pass and exploited the narrowest of channels down the right touchline.

Benji Marshall seemed certain to score when Nightingale's pass eluded the desperate Darren Lockyer, but a last-ditch Cronk tackle denied the Kiwis skipper, with his overhead pass falling kindly to allow Nathan Fien to finish one of the all-time great match-winning tries.

The North-Queensland-born halfback said he had time to think about dropping it before clutching the ball safely and planting it between the posts. He also had time to think about the row over his eligibility raised again by Tommy Raudonikis the morning of the match.

"I wear the jersey very proudly, not just for myself and my family, but for all the people that have worn it before me." Fien said. "I just go out there and do my job and the boys make me very welcome. It hasn't been an issue until I read the f****** paper today."

Raudonikis's comments may have riled Fien but the halfback laughed last and loudest, punting the ball into Row Z before being mobbed by his jubilant teammates.

"It was an awesome feeling," he said. "Benji is just a bit of a freak isn't he? Going down that short side and making a nice little play."

Fien might have been the recipient of Marshall's clever fling, but he wasn't the intended target.

"I was trying to throw it to Lance [Hohaia], but that's what Nathan's like, he is a competitor, he follows up," Marshall said. "He is a like a little dog - a cute one."

The Kiwis' ecstasy was matched by the Kangaroos' distress, with veteran captain Lockyer's hopes of avenging the 2008 World Cup defeat on his home ground ending as Nightingale's in-field pass eluded him.

"Once it went over my head I was just praying that we picked it up or stopped them, but it wasn't to be," Lockyer said.

The Kiwis had a few nervous moments as the video referee reviewed the play but Nightingale was always confident.

"I was pretty sure I stayed in and I knew I gave it a backward flick," he said.

"The ball's going over their heads and we had four people there and they might have had one or two - that was just how much we wanted it. Everyone was pushing for each other, coming from the other side of the field and everyone was around to celebrate."

Those celebrations had looked unlikely as the Kiwis turned in an enthusiastic but error-strewn effort.

Hohaia's third-minute howler handed the Kangaroos a six-point lead, but the Kiwis finally got it right when Marshall sent Kenny-Dowall over in the 35th minute to lock up the scores before half time. Marshall's pass may have floated forward, but the non-call was a square-up for the fact Brett Morris stepped out of play in the build-up to Brent Tate's opener.

Tate's night ended in tears when he departed with the third serious knee injury of his career. With back rower Luke Lewis also suffering a match-ending first-half ankle injury the Kangaroos were down to 15 players for much of the game.

That told in the end but when the outstanding Greg Bird set up Billy Slater in the 58th minute it was Australia's game to lose. When Marshall's attempted conversion of Nightingale's 71st-minute try rebounded off an upright, it seemed the Kangaroos would tough out the victory.

Slater produced another classic booboo, spilling a Marshall bomb under his posts with five minutes remaining to hand the Kiwis a gilt-edged chance. Their defence held, but Marshall wasn't out of ammunition, running right on a final tackle play and finding Kenny-Dowall, who drew and passed expertly to send Nightingale clear.