League: Old foes talk up a close encounter

Kangaroo Darren Lockyer (left), Kiwis captain Benji Marshall (right) and Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney (centre) are painting tonight's test as the latest in a long line of evenly-matched meetings. Photo / Getty Images

If you believe the pre-match spin, tonight's test will be a fierce encounter between two evenly-matched foes who have battled and battered each other on level playing fields down through the ages.

As efforts to paint the contest that way went into overdrive at yesterday's final press conference, Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens even invoked the spirit of Dally Messenger.

Tonight's match is a day shy of 102 years since the transtasman rivals first clashed. In that match, recounted Sheens, Messenger had a kick at goal to win it right at the death.

He missed but was awarded another shot after one of the Kiwis shouted in Maori and put him off. Second time around he missed again, handing the Kiwis an 11-10 victory.

It's a nice yarn, but the reality is such tight contests have been rare in the century since. These tests, in particular, have typically been blowouts.

Since the mid-season concept was revived in 2004 following a three-year hiatus, the Kiwis haven't got within 15 points of the Kangaroos. Their best efforts were the 28-12 defeat in 2008 and the 32-16 loss in Brisbane in 2005.

The six successive heavy defeats have all taken place on Australian soil. The Kiwis' lone success was a 22-16 victory at North Harbour Stadium in 1998. Two years later they were thrashed 52-0 in Sydney and the concept was mothballed.

Tonight the Kiwis head into the Roos' shiny new rectangular den with an exciting halves combination and a livewire hooker, but shorn of almost their entire first-choice forward pack. The Kangaroos have no such issues, but that hasn't stopped both sides talking it up as battle between equals.

"It is great for the international game that the Australian side isn't out in front any more," said Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith, the player who scored a last gasp try to rescue a 20-20 draw when the sides last met on neutral ground in London.

"There is not too much between the teams. That is down to the coaching the Kiwi boys are getting now. You see a lot of those guys play in the NRL and they are getting better and better."

There is certainly belief in the Kiwis camp that the improbable might not be impossible.

That said, vice-captain Adam Blair - the only forward that has survived the ravages of injury to play all 12 games in the Stephen Kearney era - knows nothing less than a perfect effort will get his underpowered side home.

"If we take a backward step they are a good enough team to put us away," he said. "We have to start good and we need every single player playing their best for the full 80 minutes."

Despite being outsized, the Kiwis would bring their usual bash - a tactic that has born fruit in the past - but they would also need to play smart and keep their heads, Blair said.

"The boys need to concentrate on their roles and what they bring to the team. If they do that then we are every chance of having a good game. We always come out strong in the first 20 minutes but we need to do that for 80 minutes."

With Simon Mannering already out and backrowers Frank Pritchard and Jeremy Smith succumbing to injury the day before he named his side, Kearney has been forced to press Sika Manu into action despite the rugged Storm forward having played just 60 minutes of NSW Cup football since breaking his leg last July.

Manu's presence in the 17 - Broncos utility Alex Glenn has been named 18th-man - is the clearest sign of just how badly stretched are Kearney's Kiwis. But if his young forward pack can lay a foundation, Kearney is confident the likes of Kieran Foran, Benji Marshall and Luke can do some damage.

"Some of the guys that we have got in there are very skilful," he said. "They have got good feet and are very handy in terms of passing the ball. In all test matches it is tough to begin with but it is just a matter of making sure we are efficient with how we do things. I'm sure if we do that we will be very competitive."

Sheens may hold just about all the cards but he wasn't making any bold predictions as to how the match will play out.

"It could open up, it could rain, it could be a slugfest," he said.

"We could cancel each other out and it could be a high-ball game. All sorts of things could happen so you just don't predict those things. You just want the boys to play confidently and smart, that is all."