You can, on a mean-spirited day, poke a number of accusations at Australian league.
But mucking about isn't one of them.
Wayne Bennett's announcement last Friday that he was quitting as the Kangaroos' coach was greeted with shock in some circles, but it had nothing on the Australian Rugby League's surprising follow up statement that it would take its time to find a replacement. Most un-Australian Rugby League-ish.
Taking time is a New Zealand Rugby League specialty. If the Kiwi coach had quit last week, it would still be discussing when to hold the board meeting to discuss the candidates. The candidates to make up the sub-committee, that is, which in turn would recommend to the board which coaching candidates were worthy of further discussion.
That's the type of palaver New Zealand went through this year in finding a replacement for Daniel Anderson, when the NZRL almost talked its way into a botched decision.
Only rearguard action by the backers of Brian McClennan saved the NZRL from itself, as the board prepared to make the inexplicable move to appoint James Leuluai.
Taking your time in Australian league consists of ripping into action over a weekend. And even without the months of deliberation the NZRL loves to afford itself, the Australians are very good at hitting the mark.
By Monday, a new Australian league coach was installed. Ricky Stuart is a man to fear when he's on the other side - hostilities will be well and truly resumed.
There was always far more at stake than a trophy when McClennan and his recharged Kiwis set out to claim the Tri-Nations for the first time and end more than 50 years of transtasman series gloom.
The brilliant Australians' domination - and the inept responses from New Zealand, Great Britain and France - has seen international league whither on the vine as Australia craved the State of Origin and ignored the state of tests.
It's not to say that Australian league has not had classy and humble ambassadors - Laurie Daley springs to mind. But its indifference to test league and obsession with putting the State of Origin and premiership first were as sad as they were inevitable.
I'll never forget the Australian captain Wally Lewis bungy jumping off the Mt Smart Stadium roof after a test in the late 1980s, rather than attending to his post-match duties.
That, after Lewis had in effect told test league to take a running jump by bemoaning throughout the tour that he had been dragged away from his precious Brisbane Broncos. It summed up at least a decent chunk of Australian thinking.
A tantalising restoration of the game lies ahead if the few nations involved give tests the respect they deserve, although the Origin series will not easily be displaced as the Australians' focal point.
Australia's determination to re-claim the No 1 position will play the key part in test football's revival. The more blows that can be delivered to their pride the better.
If the players and spectators find that test league can provide a cauldron that is every much the equal of the State of O, it will be game on again.
But the task of continuing to cut away at Australia's dominance has probably got tougher with Stuart taking charge of the Kangaroos.
The most obvious element missing from the Australians' game in the final at Leeds was fire and brimstone.
In this, the perennial world champions mirrored the laconic public demeanour of their coach Bennett, a man who has pinpointed self-installed media bans as leading to the most enjoyable times of his career.
Despite Bennett's almost God-like status at the Broncos - where he has just had his contract extended well beyond the use-by date of the forwards he put misplaced faith in - there is a tired look to Bennett and his teams. The Kiwis may have had his number.
But under a new and younger coach with a history of tremendous success and a legendary will to win, the Kangaroos will be a far tougher proposition.
Stuart will likely promote a gang tackling style that will hammer any hesitancy in the Kiwis' attack, the way piles of Kiwis crashed into Aussie ball carriers at Elland Rd.
Stuart is as competitive as they get. Retired refereeing legend Bill Harrigan - a man not short on self-esteem - singled out the former halfback for his unrivalled ability to get under referees' skins. Stuart, said Harrigan, used every possible weapon bar bashing whistlers over the head with a baseball bat.
Stuart, as the Roosters coach, even brought Harrigan on board at the club in an effort to give his side an edge. He'll leave no stone unturned in plotting Australia's response to their Tri-Nations debacle.
Stuart will light the sort of fires that McClennan has ignited within the Kiwi camp and were so clearly missing among the Australians at Leeds, which has led to claims the players were affected by drinking binges under the stewardship of teetotaller Bennett.
A brilliant Kiwi outfit can expect the full force of the Australian response in 2006. And who would want it any other way?
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