League: Morris dances past Kiwis

Leadership contenders: Kiwis captain Benji Marshall gets the measure of his Kangaroos opposite, Darren Lockyer. Photo / Getty Images

The Kiwis' winless streak in mid-season tests on Australian soil remains unbroken after they fell to a narrow but fairly routine defeat at Melbourne's shiny new Rectangular Stadium last night.

While they never threatened to win - and barely threatened to score until Jason Nightingale's effort sparked a late flurry of attacks - a raw Kiwis side defended stoutly throughout and never looked like being over-run in the greasy conditions. They simply lacked the polish and cohesion to place enough pressure on their sturdy - but equally unspectacular - opponents.

Despite the result, the Kiwis will take some solace in the margin of defeat, which was by far the closest in a losing Anzac Test run that has now stretched to nine matches.

The gap between the nations has clearly closed. The Kiwis were without a host of injured established stars. In the past that would have led to a massacre.

"I don't think we are that far off, to tell you the truth," captain Benji Marshall said. "We spoke about competing for 80 minutes and we did exactly that. At the end of the day the goal-kicking put them in front. But we did compete and I honestly don't think we are far behind them at all. If anything, we believe we are equal or even better."

The Kiwis matched their more-fancied opponents for much of the first half, but their best efforts were undone by individual errors.

Lance Hohaia had a mixed night. The diminutive fullback spilled a first tackle pass from a scrum on the Kangaroos' 10-metre line to blow a golden attacking opportunity.

But Hohaia then atoned for the error with a fine one-on-one tackle on Greg Inglis after the hulking Kangaroos centre sliced through from 30 metres out and bore down on the Kiwis' tryline.

The arm wrestle appeared to tilt in the Kiwis' favour when Kangaroos hooker Cameron Smith hyper-extended his elbow while tackling Adam Blair.

Smith departed in obvious agony but, with Kurt Gidley slotting into hooker, the Kangaroos hardly missed a beat.

The pressure eventually told when Jamie Lyon broke the deadlock with a 30th-minute penalty after Blair was penalised for lying in the play-the-ball.

The Kiwis would have been satisfied had they taken that scoreline into the break but a Steve Matai high tackle on Billy Slater gave the Kangaroos a late chance and Darren Lockyer provided an inch-perfect kick in behind for Brett Morris to race on to and score.

The prolific Dragons winger added his second seven minutes into the second half after Sam Thaiday produced a brilliant offload as the Kiwis' defence attempted to bundle him out by the corner flag.

Morris had the simplest of finishes, and Lyon added the sideline conversion.

With the weight of possession and territory building against a Kiwis side that hadn't produced a single linebreak, the 12-point lead looked likely to be enough.

But Hohaia produced a smart skip pass to send Nightingale over in the corner in the 67th minute and Junior Sa'u bundled over with two minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.

Ultimately, the gap proved too great to bridge for a patched-up Kiwis side playing on limited preparation time.

"It wasn't real pretty, but the way they hung in there and gave themselves an opportunity was certainly very good from our point of view," coach Stephen Kearney said.

"The lads worked very hard but just couldn't get over the line. I guess we walk away from it thinking we have hung in there well - but that is not good enough."

Strong performances from the likes of Bronson Harrison, Sam Rapira, Frank-Paul Nuuausala and Matai kept the Kiwis in it, but the much-touted halves combination of Marshall and Kieran Foran was little more than steady.

AAMI Stadium endured a mixed opening night. Much had been made in league circles of the honour of the sport being handed the opening fixture; however, it is doubtful those people seated beneath the torrents of water that poured through the leaky roof felt particularly privileged.

Some simply gave up and left early. That isn't an accusation that could be levelled at the Kiwis.

FULL TIME SCORE
Kangaroos 12
Kiwis 8

Kangaroos: B Morris 2 tries, J Lyon 2 goals

Kiwis: J Nightingale, J Sa'u tries