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Australia and New Zealand will once again face-off as they vie for the Four Nations title at 1:30am (AEDT) Monday morning.
The final will be held at Anfield, the home of Premier League side Liverpool, as the Kangaroos look to capitalise on an unbeaten road to the final.
The Australians easily dispatched of Scotland, 54-12 in the first round, before grinding out a strong win against their fellow finalists New Zealand in a low-scoring affair.
Mal Meninga’s men then turned it on in the second half of their clash against England to run out 36-18 winners, scoring 26 points in the second half.
New Zealand meanwhile had a mix Four Nations campaign, with a Shaun Johnson field goal the difference in their first game of the tournament against England.
After falling to the Kangaroos in the second round, the Kiwis would draw with Scotland, the single point enough for them to make the final.
A loss to Scotland would have meant that England would qualify for the final in place of the Kiwis, level on points but with a superior for-and-against.
Both teams are facing selection issues as Sam Thaiday has been ruled out of the clash with a broken eye socket while David Kidwell will need to find a replacement for injured five-eighth Thomas Leuluai.
Kidwell is keeping his cards close to his chest when discussing whether he had finalised his team selection for the clash.
“Short answer, no,
“We’ve got a couple of options and a couple of training sessions to decide, but whoever comes in there, we’ll have full confidence that they’ll do the job.”
The Australians have been in clinical in the tournament and are firm favourites heading into the final at Liverpool.
But as always, the Kiwis can’t be written off too quickly, boasting a team full of NRL stars who have time and again proven worthy opponents to the Kangaroos.
New Zealand were their own worst enemy in their first meeting with the Australians, giving away two cheap penalty goals which ultimately cost them as Shaun Johnson’s late effort came inches away from stealing the game in the final seconds.
Viewers can expect another big game out of joint Dally M Player of the Year winner Jason Taumalolo after he finished with 179 metres and 26 tackles against the Kangaroos in the pool game.
Many pundits have been predicting a repeat performance from the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, in which a strong Australian side was upset by a supposedly inferior Kiwi team lead by Benji Marshall and Isaac Luke.
But with one hand on the trophy already, it’s hard to imagine the Kangaroos rolling over easily.
With Greg Inglis back to his best as a centre and no visible weaknesses across the park, the Kangaroos would have to beat themselves to lose this game.
Australia by 10+ is our prediction for the match, with Johnathon Thurston once again playing an instrumental role in the victory.
As always, keep it locked on The Roar for our live blog on the match and all the latest news from the Four Nations.
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