League: Nervy Sheens insists Kiwis are favourites

Australia are missing eight of the 13 who started last year's World Cup final. Photo / Getty Images

Australian rugby league coach Tim Sheens has labelled the Kiwis favourites heading into the Four Nations.

That claim may be difficult to take seriously given Australia's traditional domination but Sheens feels the Kiwis have reasons to be confident ahead of the tournament.

New Zealand haven't won a transtasman test in four years - representing eight consecutive losses - but only one of those has been played on home soil.

After next week's opening game in Brisbane, the Kiwis play Samoa in Whangarei, England in Dunedin and then a possible final in Wellington.

"The Kiwis have a chance to play three games at home, so it's going to be a big challenge for Australia this year," Sheens said. "You could almost say they have the edge. People will say it's a throw-off line to say New Zealand are favourites ... but I think New Zealand at home, in particular, have a huge advantage."

Sheens appears genuinely apprehensive, not a feeling normally associated with Australian teams.

"Yes, I'm nervous, particularly because of the numbers we have out," he said. "Eight of the 13 are out from the team that started the World Cup final last year. It's a significant number with some big names there."

The Kiwis have lost players, too, but it feels like the ledger is more even this time. Usually the Kangaroos come into camp and just add polish to well-oiled combinations. This time, without Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, Jarryd Hayne, the Morris twins and all four props who took the field in Manchester, the Australians have to face the challenge the Kiwis encounter in every camp - developing combinations in a few days.

"I'm sure we can find replacements for the guys who are out but the issue is forming the combinations again," Sheens said. "It's so much easier to come together when you have played a lot before. To get a combination going in a short turnaround is not going to be easy. It will need a lot of hard work by the boys to prepare."

Kiwis fans are used to false dawns but there could be reasons to be optimistic this time. The halves combination of Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran is intact and, once Issac Luke returns, the New Zealand spine shapes up well against any team.

The pack is full of greenhorns - even more so after the withdrawal of Sam Moa - but the winning teams in 2005 and 2010 had a raw element about them as well. It won't be the most exciting Kiwi backline but there's enough attacking power to win games. And maybe it's their time. Surely even Sheens agrees a New Zealand triumph would be good for the international game.

"I understand what you are saying and 2010 [Four Nations] probably did that," he said. "However, it might not be good for my career. But, yes, I think the tournament will be very closely fought.

"Normally we are seeded one - and they still may seed us one - but I feel at the moment the teams are very well matched and there's no dominant outfit."

Former Eels talisman Jarryd Hayne, who this week announced his departure to NFL, agrees that the Kiwis are well placed.

"It feels like they are definitely getting closer," he said recently. "What Stephen Kearney did [before the Anzac test] ruffled a lot of feathers and it obviously worked. The Kiwis played really well and had the boys in shock for a bit there. Australia really had to kick into gear at the end to get out of it."