League: Kiwis enjoy happy hunting ground

Shaun Johnson says tomorrow night's clash with the Kangaroos will be about belief. Photo / Getty

As the Kiwis look to upset the odds tomorrow night, Brisbane is not a bad place to be.

Relatively speaking, the Queensland capital has been a happy hunting ground for the New Zealand team, with some notable victories over the years.

The Kiwis have won two of the last three transtasman encounters at Suncorp Stadium, including the 2008 World Cup final.

Going back further, Graham Lowe's team in 1983 enjoyed a famous victory at Lang Park, which sparked a renaissance in New Zealand rugby league that decade. Four years later coach Tony Gordon and captain Dean Bell engineered a massive upset, as the Kiwis beat a Kangaroos team that had rampaged unbeaten through Great Britain and France in 1986.

In total, one third of the Kiwis' victories over Australia in the last 30 years have occurred in Brisbane.

"We've got some good history there," says coach Stephen Kearney. "It's a great ground to play at and you need to make the most of the occasion."

"It was a great feeling," says Shaun Kenny-Dowall of the Four Nations final victory in 2010. " I always remember being out on the ground and celebrating with the boys."

Can history repeat tomorrow? As always, it's an extremely tough ask for the Kiwis.

Despite the loss of Johnathan Thurston and Billy Slater - among other big names - Australia look as formidable as ever. Greg Inglis and Daly Cherry-Evans are top replacements for the aforementioned duo, and there is plenty of steel in the pack and silk out wide.

The absence of Isaac Luke still haunts the Kiwis, though Thomas Leuluai adds plenty of defensive capacity in the middle of the field.

The packs match up well, with Jason Taumalolo expected to provide some x factor for the Kiwis. As always, the game will be decided in a few key moments, and Australia's skilled playmakers are usually better at exploiting those opportunities.

The Kangaroos also have a marked edge out wide, with Inglis, Dylan Walker, Michael Jennings and the aerial threat of Daniel Tupou.

But the Kiwis showed enough in the Anzac test to offer real hope tonight. They had everything but composure and a bit of belief that night, and the presence of Kieran Foran, Leuluai and Simon Mannering tomorrow will help their cause in that area.

"It all comes down to belief," says Shaun Johnson. "Probably last time a few of the guys didn't actually believe we could beat Australia, and that counts in the end. I think that's changed now."