Australia coach Tim Sheens hit out at the performance of English referee Phil Bentham after his side's hard-fought Four Nations opener against the Kiwis.
The Kangaroos survived a second-half fightback at the Halliwell Jones Stadium to open their Four Nations campaign with a 26-12 success.
Yet Sheens was far from pleased with the speed of the game and some of Bentham's decisions, as well as a 'knee from a cannonball tackle' from Issac Luke on David Shillington.
Bentham, who refereed the Super League grand final earlier this month, was also the official in charge when Australia beat New Zealand in Newcastle a fortnight ago.
"The conditions and the way it was officiated, as far as on the ground was concerned, made it a slugfest," Sheens said.
"It is the same trouble we had in Newcastle.
"It is a Test match, we understand that, and we won it but if that is the standard of the speed of the game - it is probably the slowest game I have seen for a long time."
But he added: "I am not going to make a huge issue of it and if I have something to say I'll do it to the right channel."
Sheens, however, did express satisfaction at the result, secured with tries from Matt Scott, Tony Williams, Jonathan Thurston, Darius Boyd and Akuila Uate.
"Obviously a win is very important and I wouldn't have wanted to be playing England at Wembley on the back of a loss, having to win it to stay alive.
"We had to win it and we did. There are elements we are not happy about but it was a very tough effort from the boys."
Shillington will have a scan on his injured knee while Willie Tonga suffered suspected broken ribs and Cooper Cronk broke his nose.
On the Shillington tackle, Sheens said: "He (Luke) collapsed him from behind, hit him round the knee.
"It is a tackle that is controversial in Australia and certainly one we are not happy with."
New Zealand trailed 16-0 at half-time but recovered early in the second half with tries from Jason Nightingale and Kalifa Faifai Loa.
Australia captain Darren Lockyer said: "We didn't panic but I guess we got a little bit nervous.
"They got themselves back into the game with a couple of tries, a bounce of the ball went their way.
"To our credit we made them fight in the end and we did well at the back end of the second half."
New Zealand had little time for Sheens' complaints.
"He is never happy," quipped captain Benji Marshall, who plays under Sheens at the Wests Tigers.
Coach Stephen Kearney gave a more measured response.
"It was a little slow but these are the rules and the interpretation you play under."
On Luke's controversial tackle, he said: "If Issac goes in at the legs and two other guys are trying to pull him another way what is he supposed to do? Does he let him go?
"I couldn't see what was wrong with that. Do I tell him not to go for the legs? It didn't help that two big guys were trying to pull him another way."
Kearney felt his team gave a good account of themselves in the second half.
"The lads are disappointed because I thought we gave ourselves an opportunity there.
"We got ourselves back into the contest and just lacked a bit of polish with a couple of opportunities near the try line.
"That was the disappointment but the positive is it was better than the last performance."