Graham Lowe: Time to snuff out the dragon

Hold the phone: Reports reaching me from Australia this week confirm that the green and gold dragon slain by Brian McClennan's Kiwis in the tri-series final in Leeds last November, is not actually dead.

Certainly when we last saw it, it had been bashed and battered and looked, from this distance anyway, to be mortally wounded. The stuffing had been visibly knocked out, and its fire had been extinguished.

You'd be forgiven for thinking all that was left was a quiet burial in a cave in the Blue Mountains.

Not likely. Less than seven months after being given a 24-zip thrashing by the rampant Kiwis, the dragon has somehow been revived. We know this, because the Australian bookmakers have sniffed the liniment and declared the home side odds-on favourites tonight.

And these bookies are so averse to losing dough, they make it their business to know every time a player passes wind in the lead-up to a test.

We also know because the arrogant Australian attitude has come rushing back big-time. The natural expectation to win has returned and nothing less is being contemplated across the ditch.

In any other game, a hiding of that magnitude would send the losers off to undertake a monumental rebuilding programme.

The Kiwis' moment of glory had arrived after 50 long years, and we were entitled to believe we'd have at least a few years of our own. The Aussies had lorded it over us for far too long. Who among us didn't think after Elland Road that the boot was now on the other foot? But it's obvious our transtasman rivals are determined to limit our glory days.

They've picked a side as big, strong and fast as any in recent years.

It's clear they'll try a power game behind the skills of Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer, to try to blast the Kiwis off the park.

Ricky Stuart's fledgling international coaching career hangs very much on Aussie redemption. And Suncorp Stadium is certain to be a boiling cauldron tonight.

The scenario takes me back to the night legendary Australian forward Arthur Beetson led Queensland on to Lang Park, as it was then, for the first State of Origin game in 1980.

I was there and you could feel something special in the air. Maybe it was the emotion of 30,000 Queenslanders finally seeing their best team on the field to match NSW.

Maybe it was again an arrogant expectation (on the part of the NSW Blues) that their team shouldn't - no couldn't - be beaten.

I have that same feeling about tonight and sense an upset that will see the Kiwis take the Kangaroos to the cleaners.

When Origin footy started, the Sydney media and NSW coaches of the eighties had not anticipated the spirit and frustration that had developed in Queenslanders after being treated for years as second-class citizens by the NSWRL.

NSW undoubtedly had the better talent then but they could not understand or match the great team spirit that made Queensland near invincible during that period. I see a great many similarities now between the Kiwis and the Kangaroos.

I'm looking forward to tonight because I think Bluey McClennan and manager Peter Leitch have managed to create that same sort of spirit within the Kiwi camp - and it will bring them home winners.

In a short test match preparation such as this, victory lies in the players' hearts, minds and spirit.

The Kiwis are probably not as good, player for player across the park. But the week together, and the rebuilding of the strong bonds forged last year in England will more than make up for what they lack in experience. These Kiwis will not just try to maintain the credibility they gained during their climb to the top of the Tri-Nations. They will be out to climb an even bigger mountain and fly the New Zealand flag from its peak.

AS always, Australia have a team full of confident talent and they are entitled to the favouritism tag. But it is the X-factor that worked so well for Queensland in those early days that I believe will be the difference for the Kiwis tonight.

Many will see Knights superstar halfback Andrew Johns as the key to an Aussie win - but I see it differently. I suspect he will be paid more attention and put on his backside more in this game than he has all year in the NRL.

He is a champion, and you can never doubt a champion. But I'm expecting a game plan for the Kiwis from McClennan that will give the little number seven a night he would rather forget.

New Zealand have been shown little respect both on and off the field for many years and McClennan has shown the ability to tap into this.

With assistant coach Graeme Norton, he will have developed a theme for the week that puts it all into perspective.

He will have reminded his players how great it felt to win against Australia last year, compared with the heartache suffered by so many previous Kiwi sides.

Certainly, the main areas of concern for the Kiwis are goal and field kicking. Australia have a strong advantage here. With Danny Buderus able to kick from dummy half and Johns and Lockyer lethal from one or two off the ruck, Australia will try to build a game plan on cheap field position and power running.

So it's critical that when the Kiwis are in the attacking zone they come away with points. I'm confident the magic of Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall will create enough chances but the Kiwi attack needs to be deep and at pace.

I'd also like to see Marshall and Williams on the field for the whole 80 minutes. They are match winners, but can't do it from the bench.

The problem with a game like tonight's is that it'll be over in the blink of an eye. But I've a strong feeling New Zealand league fans will have something wonderful to remember, not just for another fleeting moment, but as the continuation of a dynasty they began just six months ago in Britain.