League: Kiwis can take heart from newbies

Sika Manu had a near-faultless performance. Photo / Getty Images

In the midst of all that inexperience and lack of playing time, perhaps it was Sika Manu who led the way for the Kiwi "new boys".

Manu is not really a rookie - he has six tests under his belt now - but he had played just 60 minutes of reserve football coming into Friday night's Anzac test against Australia.

He produced a surprise turn for a player with that kind of preparation since returning from a broken leg in July.

One of the cynical wits in the press box referred to his lack of conditioning by saying "he looks like he's swallowed a sheep" but it didn't stop Manu producing a near-faultless 35 minutes off the interchange where he broke four tackles and made 12.

He was also instrumental in getting Junior Sau across in the 78th minute with an inside pass. In his fifth test the Newcastle centre once again proved a handful with the ball in hand, posting 115 metres from his 15 runs and breaking three tackles.

Elsewhere, the Kiwis struggled for international experience but showed plenty of heart against their Kangaroo counterparts in the test loss.

Nine of New Zealand's 17-man squad had played five or fewer tests going into the match.

That prompted suggestions - with the presumption of a dry ground - that New Zealand could be beaten by 40-50 points.

However, the Australian squad presented a similar lack of international experience, with eight players falling into the same category.

What the figures didn't account for was a multitude of State of Origin caps, depth and the ability to tap the resources of playing legends Darren Lockyer (50 tests) and Petero Civoniceva (40). New Zealand's most capped player was Lance Hohaia with 21.

Pre-match there were also concerns about the crippling effects of the Kangaroos pack.

Seven of their forwards average over 100 metres per game in the NRL this year whereas only Sam Rapira boasted that same statistic for the Kiwis.

However, St George's Jason Nightingale enhanced his credentials with similar figures to Manu from his spot on the wing, resulting in a 68th minute try to begin the late New Zealand recovery. He also produced some useful darts from dummy-half.

The two tries helped dispatch commentator Phil Gould's theory that the Kiwis should look for a 1-0 lead via field goal midway through the first half, such was his lack of faith in their attacking prowess.

The Knights' Zeb Taia had a strong debut in the second row. He spent just 47 minutes on the field but a busy work rate clocked up 21 runs, the most by anyone in the test.

Captain Benji Marshall rated his input highly: "He had a cracker of a game. He stood up and showed why he's there. He hurt his shoulder too but strapped it up and came back to continue his good work."

Aaron Heremaia only got on for 16 minutes as the back-up hooker as he continued his exponential rise through the ranks of the Warriors this season.

Heremaia was busy around the ruck making nine tackles as well as a 12-metre surge from dummy-half but didn't stamp total authority on the game when Issac Luke was spelled.

"Aaron didn't get as much time as he probably would have liked," Marshall said. "But he did show glimpses of what he can do running the ball."