Kangaroos back-rower Sam Thaiday says he won the battle with Kiwis forward Ben Matulino early in the second half despite Matulino landing a "pretty sweet" hit on him.
With the hosts leading 6-0 soon after the resumption at a sodden AAMI Park in Melbourne during Friday night's Anzac Test, Matulino smashed Broncos hard man Thaiday with a shot that rocked his head back.
But Thaiday quickly responded to the bump by trying to get back to his feet to play the ball and in his eagerness to slow his opponent's progress Matulino conceded a penalty. Kangaroos skipper Darren Lockyer then booted his team from inside its own half to the Kiwis' 20m line.
A couple of plays later and a long, looping pass found a charging Thaiday who shrugged off Sam Perrett and then raced for the corner where he managed a brilliant basketball-style offload backwards for winger Brett Morris to dive on the ball.
The four-pointer, which was converted by Jamie Lyon from the sideline, gave Australia a 12-0 lead that proved crucial as New Zealand scored twice in the final dozen minutes but came up just short with Issac Luke missing both conversions.
"Yeah he got me pretty sweet," Thaiday said of the contact from Matulino.
"(But) you've got to try and ride that pain even though you are hurting."
"I had to get up and I had to keep going."
"I fought to get up to get to the play the ball and ended up getting a penalty so I think I won that battle in the end."
"He's always going to be there, he's scored plenty of tries this year and he knows where to be," Thaiday added of Morris being on the spot to score his second try of the night.
"I knew if I chucked it in there somewhere someone was going to jump on it."
As well as scoring after Matulino conceded his penalty the Kangaroos had earlier scored in the final minutes of the first half through Morris just a couple of tackles after Steve Matai gave away a penalty for a very late hit from behind on Billy Slater.
"Yeah that's where you've got to really take those opportunities and really run with them," Thaiday said of his team capitalising on the Kiwis' mistakes.
"I think that we did that tonight."
Keen to back up for the Broncos on Sunday at the same venue when they take on the Storm, Thaiday was also quick to defend the relevance of the mid-season Anzac Test, with the near-full house at AAMI Park supporting his view.
"I think it should always be played," he said.
"It's always good to have that Test in the middle of the year and it's great for the fans."