VENUE & TIME: Ausgrid Stadium - Sunday, October 16, 4pm (AEST), 6pm (NZT)
COVERAGE: Channel 9/Sky Sport
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 120 - Australia 88, New Zealand 29, Drawn 3.
LAST TIME: May, 2011 - Australia 20-10.
WALKING WOUNDED: Both teams are missing key players as a hard-fought NRL season takes its toll. The home side go in without a host of frontline stars, including Jarryd Hayne, Kurt Gidley, Glenn Stewart and Petero Civoniceva. The Kiwi's MIA list features Manu Vatuvei, Frank Pritchard and Steve Matai.
FORM: Australia have lost just three of their last 17 encounters between the two countries, destroying the myth their dominance has eroded. But it's true the Kiwis have won many of the big moments, capturing the last World Cup and 2010 Four Nations with upset wins over the Kangaroos. New Zealand find it hard to get up for these one-off Tests, however, and could struggle again here. Australia won 20-10 the last time the sides met but were pushed all the way.
WHO'S HOT: Kevin Locke couldn't even crack it for a start in the Warriors side at the beginning of the season but by the end was one of the form players of the competition. The livewire fullback is a broken field specialist and will seize on any opportunity to take on a jagged defensive line. Despite his tender age, Kieran Foran has been an international for a couple of years and looked like he belonged right from day one. If the Kiwis are to spring an upset, he and halves partner Benji Marshall need huge games. Cameron Smith and Billy Slater thought they all had it planned out - a grand final win followed by Four Nations success with Australia. The Warriors put pay to the first dream with an upset win over the Storm in week three of the NRL finals. Now some of those same faces are back to haunt the Melbourne duo at international level. Slater and Smith have had a few weeks to stew on Storm's exit and are ready to exact a modicum of revenge. Refreshed and motivated, watch them go over the next few weeks, starting in Newcastle.
WE THINK: Darren Lockyer knows the question is coming and now winces every time. "So Darren, how do you feel going into your last game at (insert venue)?" This time it's Locky's last Test on home soil that is garnering all the attention. The players will want to send him out a winner just as they will want to send him out a winner in England during the Four Nations. We think they will accomplish both, starting with a comfortable win in Newcastle. The Kiwis have too many injuries and simply don't have the depth to cover all the absentees. Australia by 14
TEAMS
Australia: Billy Slater, Akuila Uate, Willie Tonga, Chris Lawrence, Darius Boyd, Darren Lockyer (capt), Johnathan Thurston, Paul Gallen, Cameron Smith, Matt Scott, Luke Lewis, Sam Thaiday, Anthony Watmough. Int: Cooper Cronk, Keith Galloway, David Shillington, Tony Williams.
New Zealand: Kevin Locke, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Lewis Brown, Gerard Beale, Jason Nightingale, Benji Marshall (capt), Kieran Foran, Russell Packer, Nathan Fien, Sam McKendry, Alex Glenn, Simon Mannering, Jeremy Smith. Interchange: Issac Luke, Fuifui Moimoi, Sika Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.