New Zealand are keen to show they have learnt the lessons of their World Cup final thrashing at the hands of Australia in Saturday’s Four Nations decider.

The Kiwis were given a big chance of retaining their international crown last November at Old Trafford after securing a dramatic last-gasp win over England in the semi-final.

But the Kiwis were blown off the park 34-2 by the Kangaroos who regained the trophy they had given up to New Zealand in 2008.

New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney responded to that humiliating defeat by ushering in an era of change earlier this year for the Anzac Test.

Australia won that game, but only after an almighty scare and the Kiwis have built on that improvement throughout an undefeated Four Nations campaign that has included a 30-12 win over the Kangaroos three weeks ago.

“I think all of us that went away on that World Cup took a lot of lessons out of it,” Kearney said on Friday ahead of the Four Nations final at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

“The (changes for the) Anzac Test, a bit of that was forced upon us with injuries.

“But things are different now.

“We have got some new guys in there this time around.

“That’s what this campaign has given us an opportunity to do (to recover from that World Cup defeat) and that has been a positive for us.”

There is concern in New Zealand that the undefeated Kiwis’ efforts in the tournament have plateaued since the victory over Australia, while the Kangaroos have only continued to improve in wins over England and Samoa.

The Kiwis were lucky to get a victory over Samoa two weeks ago and only goalkicking was the difference in the win over England last week.

But Kearney is looking for the positives.

“Our performance against Samoa was not so good, we were a little off attitude-wise coming off a pretty good performance the week before (against Australia),” Kearney said.

“But I feel Samoa threw their best performance against us and last week’s effort against England was a really positive one, they threw everything at us.

“What that does for us is it builds confidence within the group. But we have to put our best performance in tomorrow night to emerge victorious.”

A crowd of around 30,000 is expected at the ‘Cake Tin’ for the final.

Captain Simon Mannering says there has been no talk of New Zealand falling at the final Four Nations hurdle against the Aussies.

“As a group we have learnt a lot over the course of the tournament,” he said.

“When it started we said there were steps in place each game to where we are now and there is one more step in place.

“There is no talk about winning it or losing, it is just taking the next step, that is the approach we are taking.”