League: Kangaroos cry foul over rough treatment

Jeremy Smith of the Kiwis celebrates with his daughter Marly. Photo / Getty Images

The shiner over Jeremy Smith's left eye suggests the Kangaroos gave as good as they got in Saturday night's fiery Four Nations final but that did not stop their complaints about the Kiwis' roughhouse tactics.

The Kangaroos were incensed by the Kiwis' approach in their 16-12 upset win, with some players accusing the victors of resorting to dirty tricks such as bending arms and legs in tackles and provoking off-the-ball incidents.

Kangaroos prop David Shillington, who exchanged punches with Kiwis counterpart Adam Blair in a mass brawl on the stroke of halftime, accused the Kiwis of employing some "dirty tactics".

"They had a few dirty tactics; twisting knees and elbows," said Shillington. "One of them kneed Billy Slater in the head at the end of the first half and they pushed Nate Myles."

Smith, who had twice hit Greg Bird with high tackles, got up swinging when the Autralian pushed him over.

"When we play Aussie it is always a physical match and [Saturday] was no different," Smith said. "But I've got nothing against Birdy. He is a good bloke and I'm sure I'll catch up with him sometime soon."

The personal battle between the two hard-nut back rowers was one of the highlights of Saturday's encounter. Had Australia won, Bird would have been in line for man-of-the-match honours. Instead that reward should have fallen to Smith, who was in doubt right up to kickoff with a calf injury but turned in a colossal effort both on attack and defence.

"I was still touch and go [on Saturday morning]," Smith said. "I woke up a bit sore so I didn't really know until after warm-up [if I'd play]."

Smith's hard-nosed approach and that of his fellow forwards was crucial to the Kiwis turning around last week's poor effort in Auckland.

"I was always confident we could do it," he said. "Last week they came out early and shocked us and we missed the start. [On Saturday] we started well and that laid the platform for us.

"We have got a good bunch of young blokes coming through. We play for each other and we have spent a lot of time over the last five weeks together. That's what makes good teams, people wanting to play for each other, and it showed [on Saturday night]."

One of three Kiwis to have tasted double success this season - the others were Dragons teammates Jason Nightingale and Nathan Fien - Smith was exhausted after Saturday's win.

"It's certainly topped it all off. I'm ready for a holiday now."