Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says trying to turn around Australia’s fortunes against the All Blacks in Wellington after their mauling last weekend is probably the greatest challenge of his coaching career.

Cheika says his players need to be more physical and it’s up to them to disprove all the critics who expect a similar result to the 42-8 thrashing they suffered in Sydney last Saturday.

“The criticism from the performance is very warranted, no doubt about that and when there’s a lot of that talk in your head, you start to get weighed down about it,” Cheika said on Tuesday.