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Kangaroos prop Steve Price, one of four survivors from the Australian team that lost the 2005 Tri-Nations tournament, says defeat in Saturday night's World Cup final would give the Kiwis bragging rights for the next five years.
Despite the Kangaroos having been beaten just once since their 24-0 thrashing by New Zealand in the 2005 Tri-Nations final at Elland Road, Price believes that to be considered the undisputed world No.1, the Kangaroos have to win the one that matters - the World Cup final.
Aside from the final of the 2005 Tri-Nations, the Kiwis also beat Australia 38-28 in the opening game and were twice just edged out in the dying minutes of the 2006 tournament, including the decider when Darren Lockyer - sidelined by injury the previous year - scored in golden point extra-time.
After a record loss to Australia in last October's one-off Test in Wellington and a disastrous end-of-season tour to Britain and France that saw a player revolt against new coach Gary Kemble, the belief in the Kangaroos camp is that the Kiwis are again on the rise and have improved with every game under Stephen Kearney and Wayne Bennett.
"It's just like the All Blacks," said Price, the Warriors captain. "They won everything for three years in a row but they didn't win the World Cup, so they're not the world champions. To me, the World Cup is to find out who the world champs are and that's what Saturday night is all about."
Along with brother-in-law and Warriors teammate Brent Tate, fellow prop Petero Civoniceva and veteran interchange forward Craig Fitzgibbon, Price remembers only too well the dejection the Australians felt after the 2005 loss to the Kiwis and is determined to avoid a repeat.
"I try to forget about that game because I didn't play for Australia again for a while after that," Price said.
After a two-year exile, Price was recalled to the Kangaroos at the end of last season, but Fitzgibbon only regained his place two weeks ago in the 46-6 defeat of Papua New Guinea.
"I got dropped after that," he said. "There was no one to blame except myself, but it hurt because I didn't get a chance to make up for that ... but I've got the opportunity back now. My ears are still ringing from what happened in 2005, that's for sure. They won in 2005 and they nearly got us again in 2006, and every game Australia plays, you're either 80 minutes away from losing a stranglehold on dominance or regaining it."
Civoniceva said the Kangaroos were wary of another ambush.
"We don't want that to happen again because it was such a devastating feeling," he said.
"We were expected to win that final and it felt like we let so many people down. I was lucky enough to get another shot at it again after that but a few boys didn't get that chance and it's something that sits in the back of our minds."
Tate is in doubt for the final after suffering a tear to his right hip flexor in Sunday night's 52-0 semi-final win over Fiji but hopes to play against a side containing six of his Warriors teammates.
"The Kiwis have improved since we played them in the first week and one thing I have learned with the Kiwis over the years is that the longer the tournaments go the better they get," Tate said.
"This is no exception and from where they started to where they are now, they are a different side, so we definitely don't want to be in the position we were in 2005, that's for sure. What happened in 2005 was really a low point in my career."
Should Tate be ruled out, rookie Manly winger David Williams is expected to be his replacement - which would cap a remarkable debut season in which he won a premiership and made his Test debut. "Short of playing State of Origin, I think I could hang up my boots," Williams said.
"It's been amazing and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given and how everything has panned out."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4764682a1823.html
Despite the Kangaroos having been beaten just once since their 24-0 thrashing by New Zealand in the 2005 Tri-Nations final at Elland Road, Price believes that to be considered the undisputed world No.1, the Kangaroos have to win the one that matters - the World Cup final.
Aside from the final of the 2005 Tri-Nations, the Kiwis also beat Australia 38-28 in the opening game and were twice just edged out in the dying minutes of the 2006 tournament, including the decider when Darren Lockyer - sidelined by injury the previous year - scored in golden point extra-time.
After a record loss to Australia in last October's one-off Test in Wellington and a disastrous end-of-season tour to Britain and France that saw a player revolt against new coach Gary Kemble, the belief in the Kangaroos camp is that the Kiwis are again on the rise and have improved with every game under Stephen Kearney and Wayne Bennett.
"It's just like the All Blacks," said Price, the Warriors captain. "They won everything for three years in a row but they didn't win the World Cup, so they're not the world champions. To me, the World Cup is to find out who the world champs are and that's what Saturday night is all about."
Along with brother-in-law and Warriors teammate Brent Tate, fellow prop Petero Civoniceva and veteran interchange forward Craig Fitzgibbon, Price remembers only too well the dejection the Australians felt after the 2005 loss to the Kiwis and is determined to avoid a repeat.
"I try to forget about that game because I didn't play for Australia again for a while after that," Price said.
After a two-year exile, Price was recalled to the Kangaroos at the end of last season, but Fitzgibbon only regained his place two weeks ago in the 46-6 defeat of Papua New Guinea.
"I got dropped after that," he said. "There was no one to blame except myself, but it hurt because I didn't get a chance to make up for that ... but I've got the opportunity back now. My ears are still ringing from what happened in 2005, that's for sure. They won in 2005 and they nearly got us again in 2006, and every game Australia plays, you're either 80 minutes away from losing a stranglehold on dominance or regaining it."
Civoniceva said the Kangaroos were wary of another ambush.
"We don't want that to happen again because it was such a devastating feeling," he said.
"We were expected to win that final and it felt like we let so many people down. I was lucky enough to get another shot at it again after that but a few boys didn't get that chance and it's something that sits in the back of our minds."
Tate is in doubt for the final after suffering a tear to his right hip flexor in Sunday night's 52-0 semi-final win over Fiji but hopes to play against a side containing six of his Warriors teammates.
"The Kiwis have improved since we played them in the first week and one thing I have learned with the Kiwis over the years is that the longer the tournaments go the better they get," Tate said.
"This is no exception and from where they started to where they are now, they are a different side, so we definitely don't want to be in the position we were in 2005, that's for sure. What happened in 2005 was really a low point in my career."
Should Tate be ruled out, rookie Manly winger David Williams is expected to be his replacement - which would cap a remarkable debut season in which he won a premiership and made his Test debut. "Short of playing State of Origin, I think I could hang up my boots," Williams said.
"It's been amazing and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given and how everything has panned out."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4764682a1823.html
