KEY POINTS:
AUCKLAND: After successfully bluffing the All Blacks in Sydney, Robbie Deans was not about to drop his poker face on the eve of a seminal moment in his coaching career.
A deadpan Deans delivered a 15-minute masterclass in understatement during Australia's final press conference at Eden Park yesterday, deftly sidestepping any attempt to have him score points at counterpart Graham Henry's expense.
Any mind games ahead of tomorrow's Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup test were confined to the media as Deans consciously refused to discuss tonight's task in any depth.
Having watched his Wallabies team beat the All Blacks 34-19 last weekend, he may well be smiling inside at the All Blacks' current predicament.
But Deans refused to share his thoughts about the mindset of Henry, who continues to receive widespread criticism from a public still agitated about New Zealand's quarter-final exit at last year's World Cup.
"You'll have to put that question to him. I've got no idea. He loves the job he's in, it's part of the territory. You don't enter this industry without anticipating this stuff. You go in with your eyes wide open."
Might Henry's confidence be knocked as a result of successive losses to South Africa and Australia?
"If you've got any questions about the Wallabies, I'll be keen."
What about the admission from the All Blacks coaching staff that they were strategically out-thought in Sydney and were struggling with life under the ELVs after that loss.
"Once again, I don't really give it too much thought, to be honest. The players have been playing with them from the start _ if they hadn't been exposed to them that would probably be more of an issue.
Deans did believe a team could engineer a tactical rethink in seven days, but obviously would not elaborate how.
One thing Deans was firm on was the careful preparation of his team.
He expressed no concern that this was Australia's third test in successive weeks. "These guys are probably in better shape now for this challenge than they were in week one [South Africa in Perth] or week two."
And how about the impact both captains will make on their return from injury _ Richie McCaw and Stirling Mortlock? He had coached both, which side would benefit more?
Mortlock, sat alongside, laughed that his coach did not need to answer that, not that Deans needed advice.
"You'll be the judge of that. Gee, I'm just working with my group _ that's not my task mate."
- NZPA
