Fri 11th Nov: RLWC SF: Australia v New Zealand KO 19:45

[John Drake]

Discuss Australia v New Zealand here.

[GeordieSaint]

Kiwis by 7pts… 

[MatthewWoody]

Why do we have to wait till Friday?

[moorside roughyed]

NZ for this one.

[GeordieSaint]

The only position on the park the Aussies have a genuine edge of their NZ counterparts is left centre. The rest of the positions are toss a coin over who’s a better player…

… really hope the Kiwis turn up. I expect they will and it’ll be an absolute hummdinger of a game.

[WN83]

I think the Aussies will take it reasonably comfortably. I just don’t think you can turn good form on like a tap and for all the hype, I’ve yet to be impressed with the Kiwis. There’s no doubt they’ve got great players and on a piece of paper, you could make a case for them challenging the Aussies in a number of positions and maybe they’re better in a few but I just can’t see it on the field.

Australia by 18

[DavidM]

Australia by 12

[Wigan Riversider]

Hopefully NZ can do us a favour and beat Oz.

[FearTheVee]

Australia by 12+

[Father Ted]

Australia look in form, New Zealand don't. On that basis, Australia by 15 and more.

[dunno much]

Kiwis by 8, man of match Jerome Hughes

[Dunbar]

Couple of key variables here.

One, New Zealand haven't played as well as the sum of their parts yet.  I think we all know/think they can play better.  Is this the game?

Two, Australia have looked very slick but they have had it their own way in the middle of the park so their halves/backs have been able to play on the front foot.  The Kiwi middles be a whole different ball game for them.

I am expecting a very tight game.

[Balmainboy]

4 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

The only position on the park the Aussies have a genuine edge of their NZ counterparts is left centre. The rest of the positions are toss a coin over who’s a better player…

… really hope the Kiwis turn up. I expect they will and it’ll be an absolute hummdinger of a game.

Hmmm, NZ have a better forward pack but tbh id take the entire Aus spine over NZs. 

[RayCee]

The Kangaroos have four top games every five, the Kiwis one or two. The former are more consistent but if the Kiwis produce what they are capable of, who knows? 

[RippinandTearin]

3 hours ago, Balmainboy said:

Hmmm, NZ have a better forward pack but tbh id take the entire Aus spine over NZs. 

It could be argued that NZ have a more powerful forward pack but I think Australia has a more creative one, with Murray, Yeo & Crichton & the big boys should be able to hold the kiwis power forwards, they’ve arguably got bigger motors 

[StandOffHalf]

Oz 28-10

NZ look less than the sum of their parts due to questionable coaching and seem overly reliant on big plays from individuals in Hughes and Manu.

[jacksy]

Aussies of course. And unfortunately.

Edited November 8, 2022 by jacksy

[AJK66]

If NZ can get it together, there is no doubt they are capable of winning this one.

The sober head says Oz by 10 however.

[Iceberg Slim]

The ARLC strike again. An Aussie ref will adjudicate over the Kiwis v Kangaroos when there are very reputable and capable English referees to ref it. How can we not get some neutrality in these situations 

[Tosh]

The kiwis are predictably unpredictable in which they can just pull a win out of nowhere and this World Cup sem-final against Australia is Taylor made for them.

[ghost crayfish]

4 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

Oz 28-10

NZ look less than the sum of their parts due to questionable coaching and seem overly reliant on big plays from individuals in Hughes and Manu.

Spot on, unfortunately. Unless the Kiwis have been in cruise mode waiting for this game, they've been pretty underwhelming. They still have it in them to rise for a one-off game against the Kangaroos, but they seem to have no structure or flow to their attack at all. 

[UTK]

Madge needs to be sent to the glue factory if he picks Jesse Bromwich, I'm holding out hope that he might finally miss out as he didn't return after his first stint on the weekend. 

Strange that Seb Kris never got a chance in the centres during the pool games, CNK has been struggling out at centre, even DWZ might be a better option at this point.

For all the hype around Manu this tournament at fullback (and it is deserved) he really does kill too many links to the outside backs and definitely overplays his hand a touch, skills that he would develop with extended time in the position. Hopefully Leota and Niukore are back in the frame for them as well. 

Australia is an interesting one, we haven't really faced a decent side yet as the Fijians were very depleted and underdone in the first pool match. More importantly we haven't had to compete against quality forwards that would take it to our pack as the weakest point in the side, interesting to see how the challenge NZ will present there impacts the backline.

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, Iceberg Slim said:

The ARLC strike again. An Aussie ref will adjudicate over the Kiwis v Kangaroos when there are very reputable and capable English referees to ref it. How can we not get some neutrality in these situations 

Remind me please who refereed Eng v PNG?

[Iceberg Slim]

3 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Remind me please who refereed Eng v PNG?

Don’t know but why can’t they pick neutral refs when they are available based on the matchup. NZ v Aus = English ref. What’s difficult about that?

[Dunbar]

16 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Remind me please who refereed Eng v PNG?

English fans are just as critical of the decision to use an English ref for England games as we are for using Australian referees for Australia.