KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - The Kiwis will be the greatest New Zealand league team of all time if they beat Australia on Saturday, according to coach Brian McClennan.
Fresh from being named international coach of the year, McClennan was adamant where back-to-back Tri-Nations titles would rate.
"We would be deemed
the greatest Kiwis team in history, which is 100 years next year."
McClennan named the same 17 who smashed Great Britain 34-4 on November 11.
He said an unchanged side provided the three Cs: continuity, consistency and cohesion.
It means another start in the second row for impressive Warriors utility Simon Mannering, alongside enforcer David Kidwell, while South Sydney's David Fa'alogo gets a second run-on test at lock.
An abrasive, mobile forward pack should again compete strongly with the powerful Kangaroos, with captain Ruben Wiki and Roy Asotasi leading the way and veteran prop Nathan Cayless, rookie Adam Blair and Penrith hardman Frank Pritchard coming off the bench.
McClennan's statements perhaps reflect an element of frustration at a lack of recognition for last year's 24-0 win over the Kangaroos in the final in Leeds.
While McClennan made the Halberg Award's coach of the year finalists, the Kiwis were a surprise omission from the team of the year finalists.
McClennan said successive Tri-Nations titles should be considered among this country's greatest sporting achievements.
But he was far from abandoning the team's coveted underdog role.
"We're not putting the cart before the horse," McClennan said.
"I consider this one of the best Australian teams I've ever seen, with their strike power. It would be huge if we could pull this one off."
Kangaroo captain Darren Lockyer was also doing his best to shake off the hot favourites tag as the Australian league public expect them to right last year's upset result.
"We got out of jail last time [a 20-15 win in their last match against New Zealand in Melbourne] and if anything the Kiwis have been more impressive than us in the past few weeks," Lockyer said.
English-based Australian referee Ashley Klein will control the final.
- NZPA
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Hillary comparison taken wrong way, says McClennan
The Kiwis' attempts to scale another league peak has hit a rocky note, with coach Brian McClennan upset that a TV interview misinterpreted his remarks about Sir Edmund Hillary.
McClennan was interviewed by an Australian channel after being named the international coach of the year at the Golden Boot awards in Sydney on Monday night.
In it, he made reference to Hillary. The conqueror of Mt Everest features high on a motivational DVD the Kiwis are using before Saturday night's Tri-Nations final in Sydney.
An upset McClennan believes the interview suggests the Kiwis would compare themselves to Hillary should they win a second consecutive Tri-Nations final.
"I have been told that this is how it comes across and it really has upset me. It sounds as if we've got big heads," McClennan said.
"I can't remember the exact context I referred to him in, but I would never compare us to what he did.
"What Sir Edmund Hillary achieved is the greatest physical sporting feat in our history. We are just trying to climb our own little Everest. As people know, Australia has absolutely dominated rugby league for the past 30 years.
"What we've done on the DVD is show successful New Zealanders so we can be inspired by what they have done, not compare ourselves to them.
"We are trying hard to do something special in our sport that will make our country proud of us."
- Chris Rattue
