Waterpolo: Australia crush NZ in third match

BRISBANE - Newly-crowned Australian men's water polo skipper Trent Franklin scored seven goals to lead his team to a comprehensive 18-4 victory over New Zealand at the Valley Pool in Brisbane last night.

The win wrapped up a 3-0 clean-sweep for the Aussie Sharks in the three-Test Oceania World Championship qualification series.

World No.9 Australia won the opening two Tests 18-3 and 17-4, and have now qualified for July's World Championships in Montreal, Canada.

With the rubber dead, Franklin took over the reins as captain from Gavin Woods, who sat out the match.

Franklin relished the leadership role, scoring his first four goals in the second quarter before grabbing another in the third and his final two in the fourth, before having a rest.

"You don't get that many opportunities normally but it was good to get the margin we needed," Franklin said of his seven goals, his best haul in 119 internationals.

Australia leave on Saturday for a training camp in China before tackling the World League and then the World Championships.

The Sharks also blooded three newcomers for the clash - Queenslanders Daniel Streets, Anthony Martin and Tom Woudwyk.

"It was good to have the new guys involved and to see that the scoreline was similar to when we had a full team," Franklin said.

"The inclusion of the new guy shows the depth we have."

The Kiwis scored the first goal of the match through Ashley Blythen, but by halftime trailed 8-3.

It became 13-4 to the Sharks heading into the final quarter.

Result: Australia 18 (T Franklin 7, J Beadsworth, P Tresise 3, A Richardson, G Richardson, T Woudwyk) bt New Zealand 4 (L Tijsen 2, A Blythen, C Broome).

- AAP