World Cup Final: Australia vs New Zealand

[DIEHARD]

AUSTRALIA vs NEW ZEALAND

World Cup Final

Saturday 22 November 2008 - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Tickets: http://www.ticketek.com.au (Some tickets remaining! Get them Titans fans!)

TV: LIVE on Channel 9

6:30pm Queensland

7:30pm NSW



1. Billy Slater
2. Joel Monaghan
3. Greg Inglis
4. Israel Folau
5. Brent Tate
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Johnathan Thurston
8. Petero Civoniceva
9. Cameron Smith
10. Steve Price
11. Glenn Stewart
12. Anthony Laffranchi
13. Paul Gallen

Interchange:
14. Karmichael Hunt
15. Craig Fitzgibbon
16. Anthony Tupou
17. Brent Kite



1 Lance Hohaia (Vodafone Warriors)
2 Sam Perrett (Sydney Roosters)
3 Simon Mannering (Vodafone Warriors)
4 Jerome Ropati (Vodafone Warriors)
5 Manu Vatuvei (Vodafone Warriors)
6 Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers)
7 Nathan Fien (Vodafone Warriors)
8 Nathan Cayless (c) (Parramatta)
9 Thomas Leuluai (Wigan)
10 Adam Blair (Melbourne)
11 David Fa'alogo (South Sydney)
12 Bronson Harrison (South Sydney)
13 Jeremy Smith (Melbourne)

Interchange:
14 Issac Luke (South Sydney)
15 Greg Eastwood (Brisbane)
16 Sam Rapira (Vodafone Warriors)
17 Sika Manu (Melbourne)

Coach: Stephen Kearney

[DIEHARD]

There are some tickets still left on http://www.Ticketek.com.au

For any rugby league fans out there wanting to attend this historic match, jump on the site now and pick up some of a very few tickets left!

Can we do a roll call of who is going? It'd be cool to arrange a meet up before hand.

I'm going with my brother, a Storm fan. But I'll definitely try and get him to some Titans games.

[DIEHARD]

Steve Matai has been ruled out for the Kiwis with a neck injury. He is set for surgery after the Final.

[GCT_89]

yea im definatley there......int the eastern stands somewhere up high......lol


CANT WAIT!!!!

[C-Whiz]

I'm going with my brother, a Storm fan.

And you still refer to him as your brother?

I'll be there with my kids.

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

I'll be there, hopefully nz will put up a fight cause i payed good money for my seat.

[TITAN PETE]

I'll be there with my son as we were for the past 3 WC games played at Suncorp & Skilled & i can't wait to watch possibly the Best ever Kangaroo team belt the "Sheep out of the Kiwi's"

[hicksey]

damn i wish i could of got tickets for the finals

[DIEHARD]

damn i wish i could of got tickets for the finals

There are still some on ticketek! Go go go!

[DIEHARD]

Wayne means World to us: Benji

NEW ZEALAND talisman Benji Marshall says Wayne Bennett has helped spark his charmed run to the World Cup final.

Dismissing calls from Matthew Ridge for Bennett to be replaced as New Zealand's assistant coach after the Cup decider, Marshall yesterday told the Herald how his initial fears about working with Bennett had been erased and he now fully understood why the famed mentor had forged such a successful career at NRL, Origin and Test level.

"When I came into camp, I was a little bit scared about what to expect from him," Marshall said after the Kiwis' 32-22 win over England in the semi-final at Lang Park on Saturday night.

"I'd heard all these rumours that he was a bit harsh and doesn't speak much. But being in camp with him, he's had such a big influence on the team and me. He's great. I can see why he's done what he has.

"People get him wrong. He's just a normal person. He cracks jokes. I don't think a lot of people know what he's really like. Me and him get on like a house on fire. We joke around, but when the time comes to get serious, that's when he turns into the serious bloke. I'd never really met him before, but the way he gets perceived in the media made me think he was going to be this hard and angry man. He's nothing like that."

Ridge, the former NZ captain, wants Bennett to be removed as the Kiwis' assistant to let head coach Stephen Kearney "stand on his own two feet" and hire New Zealander Tony Iro as his right-hand man. But Marshall, who said the prospect of a World Cup final had him buzzing as much as the 2005 NRL grand final he won with Wests Tigers, was adamant Bennett should be retained next season.

"Steve and Wayne are a great combination for us," Marshall said. "Wayne has been around for a long time, Steve is up and coming, so it's the perfect mix - the old with the new. They both have their input. I've learned a lot off Wayne. Just to get a different coach's perspective - I've only had 'Sheensy' [Tigers coach Tim Sheens] all my life, so it's been good to mix it up. Wayne has brought a lot to the Kiwi jersey: professionalism, respect, everyone really respects him around the joint. He's just like one of the boys now so hopefully he sticks around for a few more years."

Marshall and the Kiwis were muted after scraping past England. It was an entertaining but scrappy game, and Marshall admitted a repeat effort would result in a pummelling from Australia should the defending champions progress to the decider at Lang Park on Saturday night. "It would mean everything to win a World Cup," Marshall said. "I've had a few ups and downs in my career ? It would be enormous for my confidence if we get up.

"We can't afford to drop as much ball as we did against England. It was disappointing the way we played but, at the same time, we're in the final of the World Cup, so whatever happened in the past doesn't matter any more. We've just got to look to the future."

Nathan Cayless's message to his players this week is "No Regrets." The New Zealand captain plans to drum into his squad that making the final isn't enough. "It's one thing that we're in the final, but we're going to have to play a hell of a lot better," he said.

Marshall agrees, saying the Kiwis have reached the decider while travelling at "half-rat power" - but the mercurial five-eighth is optimistic about the chances of his side pulling a rabbit out of the hat.

"We still haven't put a full game together, or even just a full half," Marshall said. "If we can play like we did the first 30 minutes against England, we can go a long way towards winning. We have to minimise errors and stop putting pressure on ourselves. We have to put pressure on the other team. I just have to get myself up for next week.

"We've got it in us. The first 30 minutes, we showed how we can play when we stick to our game plan. We went away from that and it cost us. But if we can just put one full game together, we could be dangerous. It's always been a dream of mine to be in a position like this. I'm representing my country, and my family, in a World Cup final. I want to do them proud. It's a very big deal for me."

http://www.leaguehq.com.au/

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Numbers add up for Monaghan's selection

If numbers are anything to go by, Canberra Raiders star Joel Monaghan is a certainty to live out a dream this week.

Monaghan has played in all four of the Kangaroos' World Cup matches, and statistics released yesterday show he should be one of the first picked for Saturday's final.

Monaghan has made the second most linebreaks behind Fiji's Akuila Uate (10) with six, his four tries have him fifth on the try scoring list and he only trails teammate Paul Gallen (9) in offloads with eight.

The Kangaroos defeated Fiji 52-0 on Sunday night, and while Monaghan is the first to admit it was his quietest game of the tournament, he is still confident of playing in the final against New Zealand on Saturday at Lang Park.

''When you go into the competition thinking you're not going to play a game, now [playing in the final] is definitely something I want to do,'' Monaghan told The Canberra Times. ''I think after the first three games I gave myself the opportunity to play in the rest.

''I'm a chance to hold my spot but I think we might be short a winger anyway. Brent Tate looks gone which is unlucky, but it hopefully means I get the start.''

Tate is in doubt for the final after he injured his hip against Fiji.


Monaghan spoke to Australian coach Ricky Stuart prior to the Fiji match, and was pleased with the feedback he received.

''We talked about the first few games of the World Cup, and he thought I had gone well, so fingers crossed I should be sweet.''

Fellow Raider Terry Campese flew to Brisbane with the Australian squad yesterday after staying indoors last week with an eye injury. Campese sustained a bruised retina and blood clot in his right eye against Papua New Guinea.

He will resume light training this week, but is no chance of playing on Saturday.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/

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Klein to control World Cup final

Australian-born Englishman Ashley Klein has been appointed to referee the rugby league World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane on Saturday.

Klein controlled this year's Super League grand final and has also refereed Challenge Cup and Tri-Nations deciders.

Australian Steve Chiddy and England's James Child will act as touch judges with England's Steve Ganson the video referee for the match at Suncorp Stadium.

"The policy throughout the tournament has been to appoint on the basis of merit in the first instance but to opt for neutral referees where there were two candidates of similar standing," said Michael Stone, the chairman of the World Cup Referees' Appointments Board.

"Ashley has been one of the form referees of a tournament that has brought together officials from a number of countries."

http://www.stuff.co.nz

[hicksey]

in the nose bleed sections lol

[Paul]

Hardly seems fair to the kiwis have an aussie born ref and an aussie touchie in a world cup final.They already have 17 aussies they can't handle up against them

[DIEHARD]

in the nose bleed sections lol

Yea but all seats at Lang Park are good and it's the Final. Oh well never mind.