Life after Lockyer begins on Friday night for the Kangaroos when they take on a fired up Kiwi side.
Most of the publicity around this year’s ANZAC Test has regarded the Australian selection of young Cowboys prop James Tamou, taking the focus off the fact that the Kangaroos will be without Lockyer for the first time since his debut in 1997.
The Kiwis are crying poor that the influence of Origin is stopping born and bred New Zealanders representing their country of birth. However, this has not been entirely a one-way street, with Origin not stopping Broncos Josh Hoffman and Gerard Beale from jumping ship across the Tasman.
All this controversy, if you can call it that, is adding spice to what should be a great game on Friday night. It is the third time New Zealand will host Australia at Eden Park.
The first time the two sides met at the famous ground was in cold and wet conditions for the 1988 World Cup final. In front of 47,363 fans, Australia was too strong, defeating New Zealand 25-12.
Over two decades later rugby league returned to Eden Park in front of another healthy crowd of 44,324, with a double-header in the 2010 Four Nations. Australia once again defeated New Zealand 34-20 in a highly entertaining game.
So it is the third instalment and this one is set to be a beauty. The Kiwis are promising to dish it out to Tamou. They may have to wait 20 minutes or so before he sees any game time though.
The battle of the packs will be awesome. Jeremy Smith, Frank Pritchard, Simon Mannering and Alex Glenn have all been in good form at club level, while the Kangaroos have Paul Gallen. On his recent form, that’s all the Kangaroos need.
The battle in the halves will also be interesting when we see the master (Benji Marshall) team up with the apprentice (Shaun Johnson) for the first time. Both players found their touch last weekend in the NRL and it could spell danger for the Kangaroos who also have a new halves combination.
Cooper Cronk linking with Jonathon Thurston is the key for the Kangaroos. If the pair does not gel under pressure on Friday night it could lead to the Kiwis’ first victory over the Kangaroos since November 2010.
Over the years, if Australia was in trouble, it was Darren Lockyer to inspire the Kangaroos. This time he is not there and his calming influence will be missed. Cameron Smith takes over the role as Kangaroos skipper and will do a great job.
But the Lockyer factor could be bigger than we think come Friday night.
At the beginning of the week, I was without a doubt in favour of another Kangaroos victory, but the drama surrounding debutant Tamou, no Lockyer, a strong Kiwi forward pack and the combination of Marshall and Johnson, has me leaning towards New Zealand’s first win over Australia at Eden Park.
Kiwis by six.
cricket131
Guest
great winn for the auzzies
Jaceman
Guest
It puts Nine in the Gunsights for not showing it live. The TV rights may go to Foxtel showing all games live with Nine showing Friday, Saturday and Sunday on delay (still 3 games) by an hour or 2. That way Nine wont have to shell out much money (that they havent got). All 9.30 games on FTA but that would cause a stink in an election year......
Davo
Guest
The Aussies will probably win comfortably. Lockyer was a good player but he became a liability in his later years, particularly defensively he also had no creativity with his kicking. It will be great to have a fresh face in the number 6 jersey.
League_coach101
Roar Pro
'Master and apprentice' ha ha I like that. Although if you follow the narrative - Marshall ends up being defeated by his apprentice when he turns to the dark side under the influence of the evil emperor (Mal Meninga maybe? i'm sure Johnson has an Australian cousin somewhere...) Seriously though i'll be intrigued to watch how they perform together on Friday night. Whether it's enough to be competitive with Thurston and Cronk remains to be seen.... The Tamou issue is a sideshow. The only real concern is that Ricky Stuart has been a bit... Queenslanderish... in the way he went about persuading this kid to defect. The fact he was in the train on squad for NZ last year is the insulting part of it. Where he lived has nothing to do with it. After all Nathan Fien's NZ Great Grandmother wouldn't care he plays for NZ....
yewonk
Guest
if the forward pack can play eighty like warriors in the grandfinal it will be an awesome game
Kiwi fan
Guest
West there is a huge amount of excitement here in NZ over this game. New Zealanders are pumped and rightly so. This is a very good kiwi side and we are confident we can win the Anzac test. They have already sold over 40.000 tickets and the organisers are expecting close to a sell out.
Zippa
Guest
West is right. This is going to be a brutal test match. The Kiwis have a fearsome forward pack and they are going to be playing with fire. It will not be a penalty party where the ref decides who wins like most union games. This will be a test of the toughest footy players on earth.
west
Guest
There talking it all up here in Enzed about the kiwis smashing the ozzies. But we all know they can give it back to. Dont think we'll get the Tamiti vs Dowling again ....but that was great. Always a intense and thuggish encounter. Oh look out Tamou you will be punished.
kiwidave
Guest
Aucklanders traditionally adhere to blue, so perhaps you should flip that. Maybe we should just play Vegemite versus Marmite, that could be pretty vicious and would make about the same amount of sense.
PGNEWC
Guest
With Kiwis like Tamou wanting to play Origin maybe they could draw a line somewhere through Aukland and those born North of that could play for Queensland and South of it NSW?
allblackfan
Guest
Das, I'm trying to reply to west's comment about RU but I'm laughing too hard!! HAHAHAHA!!!:-)
MG Burbank
Roar Guru
I agree with you about Lockyer- one can never underestimate the ability of champion to plug holes in the attack and steer a team in the right direction on last tackle plays. Thurston has been good but not great so far this year- the Kiwis should rush him in defense early and see how he responds. Luckily for Australia, Cooper Cronk is in blinding form. He may possess the best kicking game I've seen. You're wrong, however, about the "two way street" of player moves between nations. Most players who defect to Australia do so for economic reasons, which isn't a good enough reason for mine, especially with the Kiwis lacking Australia's depth of elite players. Shouldn't be allowed.
Go warriors
Guest
Agree West it is going to be a tough torrid test that is not for the faint hearted. As test footy should be. Can not wait.
69hemi
Guest
Extremely excited to watch the Marshall / Johnson combination, the attacking flair of both players I believe comes from their touch footy background.. Although alot of people don't admire the fact that touch players can dominate in league, i think it has added more excitement into our game! Sure sometimes it's hit and miss but when it hits its spectacular.. At the very least it's a much better skill to be implemented that wrestling tactics! I hope Benji and Shaun click and give the fans a treat. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Das Boat
Guest
insert code war response here. Followed by massive chain of messages forgetting the original point of the article: the test
west
Guest
Will be an interesting test, as they alway are, tough hard hitting makes rugby union look like a picnic. Kiwis will be fired up and put it all on the line to squash the Kangaroos. Lockyer was a great leader and create opportunity's out of nothing so will be a challenge for the ozzies. But the problem with the Kiwis they come out fired up but can loose steam once they get behind on the board however if the keep pressure on and keep points even IMO the kiwis will win.
west
Guest
Will be an interesting test, as they alway are, tough hard hitting makes rugby union look like a picnic. Kiwis will be fired up and put it all on the line to squash the Kangaroos. Lockyer was a great leader and create opportunity's out of nothing so will be a challenge for the ozzies. But the problem with the Kiwis they come out fired up but can loose steam once they get behind on the board however if the keep pressure on and keep points even IMO the kiwis will win.