League: Marshall magic inspires Kiwis victory

Kiwis captain Benji Marshall runs the ball up against tthe Kangaroos. Photo / Getty Images

A week after apologising to his team-mates, skipper Benji Marshall can rest content after inspiring New Zealand to a dramatic last-gasp victory and the Four Nations rugby league title.

The Kiwis scored three tries in toppling defending champions Australia in Brisbane last night and Marshall played a pivotal role in each one.

The five-eighth had apologised in the dressing rooms after New Zealand's disappointing performance against the Kangaroos in Auckland the previous weekend for early errors that contributed to the opposition's fast start.

But as the Kiwis added the Four Nations silverware to the World Cup they won at the same venue against the same opponents two years ago, Marshall was satisfied to have been able to make amends.

"As captain, if I'm putting my hand up and saying what I did wrong, then hopefully a lot of them will recognised what they did wrong too and I think we did that," he said.

"Australia probably outclassed us in a lot of facets of the game, but we showed heart, character and the will to play for each other, and that got us home."

The spotlight at Suncorp Stadium was supposed to have been on Kangaroo skipper Darren Lockyer, whose 54th test was almost certainly his last on Australian soil.

But the 33-year-old Lockyer found himself upstaged by Marshall, whose first major intervention came just before halftime.

A slick short ball sent centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall through a gap to score a try that help the Kiwis to go into the break tied at 6-6.

Then, with his side down 12-6 after a Billy Slater touchdown, Marshall conjured up two further decisive openings in the closing nine minutes.

A kick behind the defensive line found open space and winger Jason Nightingale pounced on the ball to score.

Marshall's conversion attempt hit the woodwork and bounced away to leave the Kiwis still trailing.

But with the clock counting down towards the final minute, the captain pulled one more rabbit out of the hat.

His decision to run on the last tackle set in motion the thrilling move that resulted in halfback Nathan Fien's championship-winning touchdown.

Marshall revealed that he had got a blast during the second half from coach Stephen Kearney, who wanted him to get more involved.

"I was getting messages from the coaching box that weren't very nice," he quipped.

"It was more to get your hands on the ball, with a few other words in there."

While much of talk afterwards was about his clutch effort at the end, Marshall said victory was the result of a 17-man performance.

He cited the big improvement in the Kiwis' defence, which forced the Australians into an uncharacteristically high error rate.

For the Kangaroos, defeat was accompanied by depressing injury news surrounding centre Brent Tate.

The night had began well for Tate, who opened the scoring with a try in just the third minute.

However, the North Queensland-bound former New Zealand Warrior, who has had two knee reconstructions in his career, later suffered what is feared to be another serious knee injury.

Tate broke down in tears in the dressing room after going off at the interval.

His departure from the match left the Australians with just a two-man bench, after second rower Luke Lewis had left midway through the first half with an ankle problem.

Australian coach Tim Sheens said losing two players did make things tough for the Kangaroos, but he didn't want to use that as excuse.

"It was a roller coaster of a game and it was disappointing to lose it in the end," he said.

"We did enough to win it and we did enough to lose it."

Sheen lamented his side's poor completion rate, which was their lowest of the tournament.

"We still had enough in us to stay in front, but you have to play every play," he said.

"Football reminds you about that."

- NZPA