Wallabies believe now more than ever they can beat All Blacks

Dejected Wallabies players after their defeat 29-9 to the All Blacks last year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Lock Adam Coleman insists the Wallabies believe more than ever they can beat the All Blacks.

The Wallabies last held the transtasman symbol of supremacy 15 years ago, well before any of the current squad entered test rugby.

Australia's perennial Bledisloe failures since then have caused plenty of angst among local rugby fans.

After the on-field struggles and the off-field turmoil in Super Rugby, Australian rugby followers have rarely been in greater need of a morale-boosting series win over New Zealand.

It will require a big turnaround from last year when the All Blacks prevailed 42-8 in Sydney, 29-9 in Wellington and 42-10 in Auckland.

Asked if the Wallabies deep down believed they could beat the All Blacks, starting on Saturday night in Sydney, or if the mental side was a problem, Coleman was adamant their mindset is absolutely positive.

"I think the boys believe now more than ever that coming this weekend, we can beat the All Blacks," he said on Monday.

"The growth the team has experienced over the last four weeks, not only physically but mentally.

"That mental resilience, that hard training that we've been doing, especially the younger guys experiencing that for their first time, I think it's paid dividends."

Coleman has yet to taste a Bledisloe win, having finished on the losing side in his only two matches last year.

"This time last year it was the first time a lot of us had played the All Blacks and they are the best team in the world and they are the benchmark," Coleman said.

"We definitely felt like last year with each performance we improved and we're looking to improve again on those performances and the lessons learnt."

Captain Michael Hooper is keen to discover just where his team stands after an intense preparation.

"You need to put an opposition in front of you to see how we're really tracking, so Saturday couldn't come quick enough," openside flanker Hooper said.

"I'm excited. You just want to test where the team is at and test to see where the attitude is."

Hooper extracted a positive from Australia's failure to get a team through to the Super Rugby semi-finals.

"One of the positives of not being in the finals I guess was being able to get together so early and bond away from footy and do the hard work so far out from the games," Hooper said.

Winger Dane Haylett-Petty said his torn bicep was getting better every day and he hoped to be fit for Saturday.