New Zealand will be out to secure their fourth straight victory over the Kangaroos when the two teams collide in the annual Anzac Day Test match. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7.30pm AEST.
The Kiwis are enjoying a good period of dominance over the Kangaroos and still possess a squad capable of inflicting further pain on their once dominant trans-Tasman rivals.
On paper, it appears that Australia once again contain a favourable edge in the playmaking positions with Cooper Cronk, Johnathon Thurston, Darius Boyd and Cameron Smith all in good form.
New Zealand will be without Kieran Foran (personal issues), Issac Luke (poor form) and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (injury). Shaun Johnson will once again be tasked with providing the creative spark required to break open a strong Kangaroos outfit.
With the Kiwis devoid of options in the playmaking spine, Stephen Kearney’s men need to turn tonight’s contest into an arm wrestle, and they certainly possess the forward pack to win a tough contest upfront.
Jesse Bromwich, Adam Blair, Greg Eastwood, Jason Taumalolo and Martin Taupau each rank as formidable forwards at club level and will be primed for a big showing against a strong Kangaroos pack led by Origin stars Matt Scott, Paul Gallen and Corey Parker.
In terms of debutants, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak finally gets a chance to make his mark against the Kangaroos after several false starts. The Penrith flyer is an immensely talented player and possesses the x-factor required to cause Australia’s defence huge problems if given space to roam.
Eels winger Semi Radradra will also have plenty of attention focused on him as he makes his debut for the Kangaroos on the wing. He will be keen to pitch in with a strong showing tonight to end what has been a tumultuous week for himself off the field (eels salary cap scandal) on a high.
Michael Morgan is another debutant that could blow this game wide open for the Kangaroos in the second half. He has been in sensational form for the Cowboys this season and he undoubtedly serves as the trump card up Australia’s sleeve should the hosts run into trouble.
With the Kangaroos containing a key edge in attacking creativity, Mal Meninga’s men deservedly start favourites once again. The Kiwis however are value if they can play the percentages well and turn this contest into an arm wrestle given the strong pack at their disposal.
Given that the Kiwis are enjoying a good run of form against Australia, one expects them to give a strong account of themselves before succumbing in a tight contest.
Kangaroos by 4
Sylvester
Guest
Yes, I agree. That Inglis, Cronk, Thurston, Smith, Boyd combo is so raw...
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I suppose but the Anzac concept is not limited to Anzac Day, is it? But it probably would be better played then but it is academic now since the match will be moving to after the premiership season.
jimmmy
Guest
I agree Sleiman. Not a lot in it . The Aussies looked better in attack. The KIWIS suffered from only one playmaker . It peeved me a lot , Gus telling Johnson to DO SOMETHING! Fair dinkum , his forwards were not rolling forward and the Aussies knew it was all up to him. I felt sorry for the guy. They need an Isaac Luke in form and someone else with ball /kicking skills to give Johnson some room. Both teams can improve a lot. I think the KIWIS maybe have a little more considering the guys that did not play.
jimmmy
Guest
Hey Leigh
Zero Gain
Guest
And Gallen with Boyd, ha, ha, take that...
Emcie
Roar Guru
Dunno if you'd call 16 nill grinding out a win. NZ were all defence and no attack, and it's not exactly a hard game if you know the opposition can't score. New coache's first game, new combinations and some niggling injuries. I wouldn't be worried about the world cup just yet
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Could even argue for B Morris and Ferguson (Ferguson at centre obviously), it's really only Dugan who seems hopelessly out of his depth with his non-passing game and tendency to get in the way because he isn't used to attacking without sweeping in from behind the line. Zozza; the oldest player for the Roos was Gallen, I think what Mal has shown is he'll pick the old guys if they keep showing they're up to it and cut older guys who aren't performing (obvious turnover from last years ANZAC test: Bird, Lewis, and Myles all given the boot with the addition of moving Thaiday to the bench) -- I like it, it runs almost opposite to certain other selection groups I could mention in that it's sense not slogans.
Muzz
Guest
Milford would make a huge difference to that Australian team. His GF performance and form this season indicates that he's more than ready. Our loyalty to legends like Smith and Cronk will inevitably be our undoing.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Hahaha the paragraph on Dugan = gold! The Bacardi Breezer Duo on the right were bad and wouldn't be in our strongest side... I'd have Jennings and B.Morris or both Morris brothers on the right.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I'd replace Inglis with Cronk.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
This.
Zozza
Guest
Your kidding mate. Easy? Looked like a painful chore to me. The best they could do was grind out an unimpressive win against a Kiwi team decimated by withdrawal. . For once I agree with Gus. If they think this team will win the WC they are kidding.
Kiwijerm
Guest
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RULES? if you are tackled upright and the ref calls held yo cannot play the ball!! happened three time times by the aussies and wasn't pulled up?? refer below rule 2b. Tackle player 1. A player in possession may be tackled by an in possession opposing player or players. It is illegal to tackle or obstruct a player who is not in possession. When tackled: 2. A player in possession is tackled: Grounded (a) when he is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding the ball comes into contact with the ground. Upright (b) when he is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Except if he played terrible and ball hogged, I'd be critical and say it like I have in the past during Sharks games. I've never seen him play bad for Australia hence the amount of awards he has and the fact he hasn't lost in green and gold in his last 15 outings meanwhile the 4 games he missed - we lost. What errors? The entire forward pack made metres.... So why was the closest Aussie Matt Scott and why did he make 95m less than Gal. Why did the rest of the starting pack not even clear 100m? Not being funny - But you did watch the whole game though, right? He was a clear standout but my 3-2-1 would've been: 3- Gallen 2- Inglis 1- Kahu
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
If they even make the side...
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Well, I'm certainly with you on the forearm to Ryan James' face a few weeks beforehand. Really don't rate that stuff.
Zozza
Guest
Yep good summation, Will Mal ever drop a bunch of his ageing Qld stars? He should, but I can't ever see it happening, and the Kiwi team won't always have 300 players withdrawing from some of the big Test Matches in the next 24 months.
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Yeah, it was weird. There were two mentions of changing "programs" and "structures" that Sheens had introduced. I originally didn't think there was all that much disaffection towards the Sheens regime.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
That was a dreary slog and then some, some thoughts. Kangaroos seemed intent on attacking down the right, the only problem was that Dugan was adding what he always adds at centre in rep teams, which is similar to what quicksand adds to a racecourse. Also, Gallen once again played better at prop than he ever does at lock, distinction is marginal but telling Gallen to just tuck the ball under the wing and stay out of the back line produces results. The Kiwis own right edge was a bit of a debacle regardless of what Sterlo was saying; Harris at centre was obviously somewhere around plans D or E and happened because of a bunch of injuries (including 2 late in the preparation). I have a suspicion that moving Harris to the centres also stuffed up the plans at hooker with Nikorima playing 5/8th instead of coming off the bench at dummy half to replace Lewis Brown (given he was wearing 14 not so improbable), Kenny Bromwich tried hard and wasn't all awful but a few of his sloppier plays let the air out of the balloon the Kiwi bench forwards had about half filled.
Muzz
Guest
How about just playing what's in front of you from time to time? Everything doesn't have to be structured!