Kangaroos Anzac Test report card

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Below par ... Cooper Cronk wasn't at his best for the Kangaroos. Source: Mark Evans / News Limited

After Australia ran away with it in the second half to blow a dogged New Zealand away for a comfortable win, we pass judgement on five areas of the Kangaroos' performance.

Backs: 6/10
It seems a fraction disrespectful to give the backs a score in the average range given that four of the five went over for a try. But it's hard to shake the reality that Billy Slater was well off his usually impeccable game, Brett Morris played a mistake-riddled first half and Justin Hodges was no better than OK. The shining lights for the Kangaroos out wide were the left-edge combination of Greg Inglis and Darius Boyd, although Inglis's night was soured when he had to leave the field with 10 minutes to play after hurting his knee when he tried to power through New Zealand's last line to ice the game. While Slater had moments of brilliance, he cost the Kangaroos a try when he failed to cover up a grubber kick that his opposite Josh Hoffman gratefully dived on, and was nowhere to be seen when Inglis made a break early in the second half, forcing the big centre to throw a speculative pass to Boyd, who was unable to keep the movement going. Morris, meanwhile could have cost his side two tries by dropping bombs on his own try line as well as spilling an attacking kick when he went up to contest it with Jason Nightingale.

Forwards: 7.5/10
While the game opened up late, for most of the night it was a fierce exchange between two forward packs determined to knock lumps out of each other. When the contest was at its hottest, it was the no-fuss Matt Scott who stood out. Scott bent the line just about every time he ran the ball and was a brick wall in defence throughout. Scott's front-row partner James Tamou was also very good, if not quite as outstanding as his North Queensland teammate. Skipper Cameron Smith wasn't quite as smooth as we've all become accustomed to but he wasn't that far off his best. With the majority of the game played in tight, Smith was the conductor, prompting his forwards when the ball needed to be bashed up and bringing his partner in crime Cooper Cronk into the game, when there was an opportunity to be more expansive. With Johnathan Thurston nursing a sore foot he was also lumped with the extra responsibility of the goalkicking as well as taking on much of the kicking in general play. And when the field opened up in the last 20 minutes, Smith was able to take advantage of the retreating Kiwis and get out of dummy half. Sam Thaiday and Paul Gallen were willing workers as usual, with both stepping up into the front-row, along with interchange player Nate Myles, when Tamou and Scott were on the sideline. Gallen also played a major role in a second half try after popping a superb short ball to Billy Slater after catching a kick off and carting the ball up towards the defensive line. However, the NSW captain was also ill-disciplined at times, giving two ruck penalties away in quick succession when it was 6-6 and the Kiwis were hot on attack and enjoying a period of dominance. Greg Bird was all-action but uncharacteristically sloppy. As usual, the peroxide mopped enforcer was involved in plenty of the tough stuff in defence but when he tried to inject himself in attack he was let down by loose carries and some strangely lateral running.

Halves: 5/10
Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston are the two best halves in the game but they were strangely off-colour in combination on Friday night. Thurston in particular was rarely sighted, allowing Cameron Smith and Cronk to take on all the organising as he flitted about on the edges waiting for an opportunity to strike. Whether it was a consequence of the structure set in place by Tim Sheens or the tender right foot Thurston was playing with, he was very quiet, save for the odd classy touch to open space for his outside men when the game was stretched in the closing stages. Cronk definitely wasn't quiet but he just couldn't put his stamp on the game the same way he has for the Storm in an incredible opening to the NRL season. When he ran, he was solidly met by a black brick wall. When he threw a short ball, it was more often than not read by the defence. And he was never quite able to orchestrate a move to open space for his partner in crime Billy Slater out the back. With all that said, he controlled the game and was relatively error free. As always, his kicking game was also a feature.

Bench: 7/10
With such a star-packed line-up at his disposal, all Tim Sheens would have asked for from his bench was to make the most of their fresh legs when they came on and try to expose the tired defenders they were running at when given an opportunity. Anthony Watmough and Nate Myles were the first bench players to be injected and both were given plenty of game time to show their stuff. While Myles was asked to play a holding role in the middle to give the Kangaroos' starting props a breather, Watmough's fast footwork was a constant threat to the Kiwis' defensive line, most effectively demonstrated when he burst through with his first touch in the back end of the first half. Unfortunately he was let down by a loose carry and lost the ball, but his endeavour was exactly what was required. Luke Lewis was given less game time, coming on for the first time with less than half an hour to play but he was undoubtedly the outstanding impact player, twice breaking the line - firstly for a try under the posts, and secondly making a 60 metre run that was finished off on the right wing in the next play. Kurt Gidley was on for less than 10 minutes, replacing the injured Greg Inglis, and filled a spot without having much influence.

Gameplan: 6.5/10
It's always hard to rate tactics one way or the other in a one-off Test but despite the final scoreline in the favour of the Aussies, Tim Sheens has got plenty to think about before the World Cup. Firstly the way he used his halves. Johnathan Thurston is probably the best player in the world and he frankly wasn't employed enough. It's one thing to instruct him to lurk on the edges and leave Cronk and Smith to do the organising, but it's quite another to limit his involvement further by implementing such a forward dominated strategy. Yes, it worked in the end, with the Kangaroos cashing in out wide late in the game after wearing their opponents down by playing so physical through the middle. But New Zealand only needed to get the rub of the green when they had the momentum late in the first half and it could have been a different story. The disclaimer to all that is Thurston's foot. It may be that he was unable to inject himself as much as planned because he was physically too limited to. But if that was the case, you've got to wonder why he was out there to begin with. The final question worth posing is Kurt Gidley. Is picking him a waste when it's unlikely that he's going to be used unless there's an injury? When Thurston, Cronk and Smith are fit, they stay on the field. So why not pick four forwards and let Luke Lewis be the cover for injured halves and outside backs?

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