Australia win final warm-up

Australia set their stall out for next week’s Four Nations final with a comfortable 34-20 win over New Zealand.

Despite fielding an under strength side, the Aussies still cantered to victory, with early tries from Cooper Cronk, Brett Morris and Brent Tate setting them on their way.

Frank Pritchard helped reduce the deficit to 18-10 at half time, but Darius Boyd, Morris and Chris Lawrence put Australia in total control, with newly crowned international player of the year and one time Huddersfield target Todd Carney scoring two goals.

Late tries by Jason Nightingale and Shaun Kenny-Dowall restored some pride for the Kiwis, but they face a tough task to turn things around in next week’s final, particularly considering Australia‘s ability to rest star men Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater and still cruise to victory.