Rugby League: Kiwis hoping that lightning strikes twice for World Cup Final

New Zealand captain Simon Mannering added: “Australia’s record speaks for itself and they have definitely had the upper hand over us. They’re a very consistent team and you regard them as the best around, but what has happened before doesn’t count for much.”

Both sides go into the match with major injury doubts surrounding their key players.

Australia full-back Slater missed last Saturday’s semi-final win over Fiji following a recurrence of an old knee injury. Greg Inglis will again deputise should Slater fail to recover in time, but Kangaroos coach Sheens said: “Billy trained really well today and we’ll wait and see what happens tomorrow before making a decision on Friday.

“Am I confident? I’m never confident about these things, but from what I saw today, it does at least give us some hope that he will be available.

“We have Greg Inglis to play there if Billy doesn’t make it and we practised with both today.

“A couple of years ago Billy injured himself on the Monday before an Anzac Day Test match that we played on the Friday.

“He went over badly on an ankle, but he played and there was no problem by the end of the week.

“Now we have two physios working hard with him and he’s working very hard himself, but we’ll prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

New Zealand are sweating on the fitness of winger Manu Vatuvei and second-rower Frank Pritchard.

The pair missed the win over England due to groin and hamstring injuries respectively, but they will be assessed today.

Kearney said: “Vatuvei trained fully with the group today, so we’ll just have to wait and see how he pulls up. We’ll make a call on him tomorrow.

“Pritchard had a significant hamstring strain, but he has been an integral member of the group for the last few years.

“We want to give him every opportunity to get out there, but we’ll just see how he performs tomorrow.”

New Zealand winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who has scored eight tries so far during the tournament, is expected to shake off an ankle injury and be passed fit.

Mannering, meanwhile, is looking forward to running at the Theatre of Dreams.

The Kiwis skipper added: “It’s pretty impressive. I’ve only been here once before and it was to watch Manchester United play.

“It was a full house then and it’s going to be a full house at the weekend, so it should be a special occasion.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24976534

Rugby League: Kiwis hoping that lightning strikes twice for World Cup Final