KEY POINTS:
It may have been one of those occasions when the bowlers sit on one side of the dressing room, the batsmen on the other.
One group are silently brooding over dark thoughts, the other lot are staring hard at the ceiling.
Chances to beat Australia in a test
don't come round that often, particularly in their back yard.
The first test at the Gabba presented New Zealand with a royal opportunity for what would have been only the third victory over Australia in their back yard.
The bowlers did their bit, worked unceasingly, all playing their part at various stages, if fading on the important third morning when Simon Katich and the lower order carried Australia clear. But it is the batting where New Zealand have been undone. Again. To reach the eventual target, 327, at least a couple of batsmen needed to come good.
Consider that in their last eight completed test innings since the series in England, New Zealand have mustered totals of 277, 381 (where Ross Taylor's dazzling 154 at Manchester carried them onwards and upwards), 114, 123, 232, 171, 156 and 177. It makes sorry reading.
Captain Dan Vettori said yesterday that major surgery was not in mind for the second test in Adelaide this week. His options are limited anyway, and he talked encouragingly of Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Daniel Flynn and what the future might hold.
He's right in that respect, but there are issues at the top of the order. Also, the question of Brendon McCullum's best position is assuming greater significance match by match.
McCullum was one of two batsmen who failed to offer a shot late on the third day.
He went leg before wicket - possibly unluckily, but if you don't use your bat you give the umpire an invitation - and Grant Elliott was bowled last ball of the day.
Elliott looked like what he is, a handy, bits-and-pieces one-day performer but out of his depth the higher the class.
Vettori and coach John Bracewell have a few options for Adelaide, starting on Friday. They can find a place for Peter Fulton, out of favour since the tour of England, but with runs behind him for New Zealand A and Canterbury.
Elliott is the obvious casualty. There's no guarantee Fulton will make big runs, but he's more likely to than Elliott.
Opener Aaron Redmond could be dispensed with, and if not, must be on borrowed time unless he can find a way to succeed.
He looked well short of requirements in Brisbane, although he wasn't alone is battling against the sideways movement. If Redmond is removed, a makeshift opener will be needed. Who?
Offspinner Jeetan Patel is likely to come in, but again for whom? Which of Tim Southee or Iain O'Brien is less deserving of holding his place?
And if you keep them both, plus introduce Patel, it means Vettori batting at No 7, which is not ideal at the moment.
So conundrums abound for the decision-makers. But amid the disappointment of Brisbane, credit is due to Australia's bowlers. New Zealand's ordinary stroke selection did them no favours, but even without the heroes of recent seasons, they remain a hardworking, committed group.
Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark offer variety - pace, left-arm angle, nagging accuracy - but New Zealand should have done better. And that leads to the conclusion that perhaps the expectations of them are too high.
Had you not followed the twists of fortune at Brisbane, a quick glance at a 149-run winning margin was about what you might have expected from the No 1-ranked team playing No 7.
What may be fine against Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Bangladesh won't cut it against Australia or, perhaps, India in March And yet, New Zealand could have won it. That's what will hurt most. The chance was there, and it was dropped.