Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s resilience and adaptability could prove a winning combination for New Zealand in Saturday’s Four Nations rugby league final against Australia in Wellington.
Kenny-Dowall has a solid record against the Kangaroos: he was part of the New Zealand team who won the Four Nations opener 30-12 in Brisbane three weeks ago and also helped down Australia in the 2010 Four Nations final.
A broken jaw early in last year’s NRL final between his Sydney Roosters team and Manly meant the 26-year-old centre missed the Kiwis’ World Cup campaign, and he couldn’t regain form in time to make this year’s Anzac Test side.
Back in the Kiwis, playing on the left edge instead of down the right, Kenny-Dowall is growing in confidence with every game.
“It was hard to start off with, but I’m working with great guys around me in Kieran Foran and Simon Mannering,” he said.
“We work hard in training in making sure we get the combos right in attack and defence. It was challenging at the start, but I’m really enjoying it now.
“I’m stepping off my other foot and defending players from the other side of the field, so there’s been a lot of adjusting.
“But I’ve had three weeks there, so that’s been a good enough preparation and I’m feeling comfortable.”
Kenny-Dowall says the Kiwis have taken a lift in self-belief from the early win over Australia, boosted by last week’s 16-14 victory against England in Dunedin.
“We know what our strengths are in the way we performed, and we’re going to have to be up to that standard and more come Saturday. If we can hold onto that for 80 minutes, I think we’ll do well.”
Kenny-Dowall says it was pleasing to see the way New Zealand outmuscled Australia through the middle in Brisbane, but adds there’s still a lot of work to be done before the Kiwis can consistently threaten their trans-Tasman rivals.
“It’s always a high when you beat Australia, but it doesn’t happen too often,” he said.
“I think I read somewhere it’s been 53 years since we won two in a row against Australia, so we don’t need any more motivation than that to put in a big performance.”
