KEY POINTS:
We should all be very grateful to Australian sport.
Year after year, much of the best sport in our lives emanates out of that vast land. Rather than living in Australia's shadow, the Ockers cast a bright light and bring a touch of the big time into this
region. And our sports are like moths to this flame.
Imagine a Pacific sports scene without the magnificent Aussies. It would be barren indeed.
My major contact with Australian sport over the years has been in league, and it provided a glimpse into the differences in our psyches.
What always stuck out was the Australians' uncomplicated _ if sometimes roguish _ approach to everything from administration to selection and coaching.
Put it this way. They probably wouldn't bother with an essay on the relationship between Australian and New Zealand sport.
Whereas our own dear rugby union commissions report after report on its various disasters, the Aussies take a rip, shit and bust approach to identifying and fixing problems.
Examples of this? After a young Kiwi team had shocked Australia in the opening test of a series in Melbourne in 1991, a host of big names were axed from the Aussie side and replaced by the new young guns who blasted the Kiwis to smithereens.
There was no great wailing and gnashing of teeth over the demise of Wally Lewis and co. It was a simple business, and had to be done.
And when Brian McClennan's Kiwis ended decades of Aussie league dominance with a massive Tri-Nations win in 2005, the Aussies had no problem in handing over their world crown, but made it clear that they would be moving heaven and earth to get it back. Which of course they did.
The Tri-Nations defeat was also the end for legendary coach Wayne Bennett _ without a long-winded report in sight.
And then there was the rugby World Cup hosting fiasco. Australia's integrity could certainly be questioned over this, but the old enemy took no prisoners while we procrastinated over ridiculous problems.
Why the difference? New Zealand and Australia were settled by very different types. Straight talking, passionate Europeans and lovable rogues were at the heart of migration into Australia. Need a feed, so nick a loaf of bread. End up shipped off to Aussie, so start a new life.
New Zealand was largely settled by angst-ridden Victorian types.
But there is always another factor at play in Australia. You have to be tough to survive in sport over there, where rival codes battle for hearts and dollars.
This has intensified in recent years, with various codes expanding out of their traditional bases. Australian sports don't have the time or inclination for great inquiries and talk fests.
This competitive edge is further sharpened by the inter-state rivalries.
New Zealand sport has been dominated by rugby, which has been run by various forms of dictatorships that have never faced any real threat from outside. Rugby dominates provincial sporting rivalry, yet this has been softened over time because it is now in the hands of Super 14 amalgamations run by a central office while the national competition has been all but obliterated in the professional era.
Australian sport loves to deal in the moment and get on to the next one. Their sports are big enough to often ward off outside forces, and the major football code _ AFL _ is unique to Australia so is unchallenged by overseas money.
In contrast, we are experts in paralysis by analysis with a dominant sport that is prized by rich European clubs. Not a good mix.
So the Aussies have advantages which help keep them strong, while New Zealand sport is creaking at the seams.
Yet they have been generous in sharing the good times around.
Australia may have snubbed our cricket for a long time but we have been on a good wicket with them of late with a number of Aussie competitions inviting New Zealand franchises in.
There are mutual benefits of course, so it is not charity. But our teams have not exactly covered themselves in glory, and their administrators have persevered despite pressures to have them thrown out.
This has not extended to cricket however, the sport where New Zealand could gain so much by being part of the state competition. Yet the power of Aussie cricket can't be missed on this side of the Tasman.
Had it not been for the sheer excellence of the Aussie cricketers, the game would just about have died in this part of the world. Season after season, the best action you will ever see emerges from one-day and test clashes across the Tasman, assisted by a fabulous lineup of commentators, while the rain falls on our domestic game and we play low-level series here and abroad.
As for rugby, Australia's achievements in a niche sport from the posh side of town is truly remarkable. Australia are even ahead of us on our national sport, two World Cups to one.
When they got a sniff that Robbie Deans might be available, Australia were in like Flynn. When John O'Neill, their most successful rugby administrator, got out of soccer, rugby got him back again. No problem.
We could learn a lot from the Aussies.
Of late, our sport in this country has even been graced by outstanding Aussie recruits at the Warriors, led by Steve Price, Micheal Luck and Brent Tate.
Their "roll up the sleeves, take the good with the bad and get on with the job" attitude has been fabulous, and inspiring.
There is one major exception I can think of to this straight forward appeal of Aussie sport. That McIntyre NRL finals system is a nightmare to follow. It must have taken Ken McIntyre an age to come up with it _ the man would have been a star over here.
And Australian league has been unusually slow out of the blocks in stemming the flow of players to Europe and rugby.
A quibble here, too, about the coverage of the often magnificent State of Origin which has lost that enchanting Australian realism. The gushing commentators are over-selling it to the point that you want to reach for a bucket. Yes, the Australians have advantages in wealth, population and climate. But they use those advantages well.
Do we live in Australia's shadow?
We always will, to a point, because they will always excel way beyond what New Zealand can achieve.
Yet mass television coverage and the breaking down of borders through the advent of the Warriors, Phoenix and Breakers has created a whole new sporting stage. Most New Zealanders would know far more about the Manly Sea Eagles, the Brumbies or perhaps even the Aussie Rules grand final than they do about their own provincial cricket team.
Nationality lines have also become blurred and broken especially in league, while New Zealand-born footballers have already made it into the Wallaby rugby team. The door has just been opened for New Zealanders to be chosen in Australian Super 14 sides and players like Brad Thorn and Steve Devine have muddied the waters in the other direction via All Black selection.
Certain rivalries will always remain, we should hope.
But the sporting life just isn't so clear cut as in the past.
And due to the power of television, Australia dominates the sports landscape far more than as our traditional rivals. Rather than living in the shadows, it feels at times as if we are turning into quasi Aussies when it comes to sport.
