League: Talented Kiwis build for the future

Kiwi Benji Marshall (right) showed in his debut that he is a bright hope on the way up. Picture / Fotopress

The Kiwis showed they have some of the most exciting young talent in the game in Friday night's test against Australia.

And when you throw in Sonny Bill Williams, Ali Lauitiiti and Tony Puletua, with Brent Webb at fullback and Jerome Ropati back to his natural position at five-eighth so Benji Marshall is able to come off the bench, you have a serious contender.

In Marshall, Williams, Ropati, Roy Asotasi and Frank Pritchard, the Kiwis can stamp their talents on the Tri-Nations series in Melbourne in October.

Ruben Wiki should captain them through that series and get the three games he needs to move past Gary Freeman's test record of 46, and Nigel Vagana and David Kidwell will again provide leadership.

But of Friday's Kiwi players, only that trio will be at the end of their careers by 2008. The Aussies are likely to have retired captain Darren Lockyer and Brett Kimmorley, Steve Price, Craig Fitzgibbon, Ben Kennedy, Craig Gower, Andrew Johns, Petero Civoniceva, Tonie Carroll, Trent Barrett and a host of others. They will soon be in the rebuilding phase New Zealand are in now.

Friday's test was the sixth consecutive Anzac contest in Australia - the NZRL gets a bigger financial return. But a more even contest in future should ensure better results all round.

Former Kiwi Sam Stewart was heartened by the game. "The effort was there, they are not going to be overawed in future. Players like Benji are going to think, 'Those Aussies aren't as big and tough as I thought they were'. They'll learn a lot from this."

Stewart thought referee Russell Smith interrupted their momentum at critical times with harsh calls, such as when Vagana was pinged for an elbow facial; and later as the Kiwis were coming home strongly and wing Luke Rooney was flattened by a hit from Wiki and Smith stopped the game to inquire if he was all right. "Is it a test or a game of marbles?" Stewart said.

Marshall was hard on himself, saying he'd taken himself out of the game at times because he was exhausted. He'd build on the experience.

"Nothing can beat doing the haka out there," he said of his debut. "We're ready to win. We need to learn a bit, take our opportunities."

Pritchard said there was lots of talk at halftime when they were down 22-10 because of handling errors and penalties, and they were confident they could win.

"We had been sloppy, and we gave away some silly penalties, but there was plenty of team belief."

They gave it everything after the break and the second half finished 10-6 to the Aussies. Pritchard and Vagana got over the line but didn't get points. Pritchard said in his case he reached out because he knew he'd be called for a double movement if he didn't, but he lost control of the ball.

"There's a good vibe in camp," Pritchard said. "Things will start to come together for us. At the end of the year we'll be a lot stronger side."

Lockyer said he felt the Kangaroos were in control after the first quarter when they were 10-0 up, and coach Wayne Bennett was relaxed: "Had they got in front they would have grown an extra arm and a leg."

Kiwi coach Daniel Anderson was resigned about the method of the defeat, which came because they did not maintain pressure at the Australian end of the field, errors and penalties robbing them of chances. He was pleased with the debutants, and that the team didn't lose discipline at the end and the defensive line held.

Former Kangaroos' star Brad Fittler said the Kiwis were good enough to win but had let Australia off the hook.

"But there's no doubt they have closed the gap and their future looks brighter than for a long time. If Benji came on fresh when everyone was tired, he'd be a real handful."

There were some stand-out stats. Warriors' captain Steve Price was second-best ground-gainer with 149m, beaten only by Ropati's 214m, and 95 of that came in a runaway try.

Price also made 19 tackles, topped by Kiwi-Kangaroo Tonie Carroll with 37. Nathan Hindmarsh was good value for the Kangaroos with 130m and 25 tackles.

Vagana made a big 31 tackles for the Kiwis and wing Jamaal Lolesi 11, indicating the attack the Aussies poured down the right side of the field. Marshall was a target, 17 tackles, but held solid with no misses. Louis Anderson topped their tackle count with 34, David Kidwell made 21 as well as 122m, Jason Cayless made 130m, Asotasi 101m.

* The NZRL will protest at the Panthers' use of Joe Galuvao on Saturday night against the Tigers after the Penrith club had said he was ruled out of test contention because of a groin strain.