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Fans of New Zealand rugby league shouldn’t be too down today. Yes, your team was flogged 42-6 by the Kangaroos in-front of a crowd of 32,890 in Newcastle yesterday, but at least your boys nailed the Haka. That was impressive.
You can also be thankful you’re not a fan of the Wallabies either, who had hopes and dreams of being crowned world champions predictably dashed in a match that was well … underwhelming is probably a nice way of putting it.
No, fans of New Zealand rugby league can brush yesterday’s loss off because it meant nothing.
You see, Benji Marshall and co. don’t really turn up to play unless there’s a piece of silverware on the line.
New Zealand are the World Champions and Four Nations Champions so you’d think that would be an outrageous thing to say.
But the shiny cups and big game atmosphere seem to be what drives New Zealand’s best.
Who needs to worry about the other contests?
Australia clearly takes more pride in these friendlies and non-finals. The Kangaroos have won every single match between the two countries since the Tri Nations final in 2005.
It’s why the Kiwis should be favourites when the two sides most likely meet in the final of the Four Nations in England over the coming weeks.
Those two victories have single-handedly given meaning to international rugby league again – even if only a handful of countries take the sport seriously – so the Aussies can hardly complain.
The Kiwis probably shouldn’t have Russell Packer or Issac Luke for much of the Four Nations though.
One of Packer’s first contributions as an international player was to plant a late shot on the chin of Lockyer while Luke became the latest player to produce a “prowler” tackle.
Don’t worry though, friends across the Tasman. Your team will still find a way to win the Four Nations and yesterday’s unpleasantness will be nothing more than a faded memory.
Given what the history books tell us over the last six years, you would be a brave man to bet against it.
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