MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: Kangaroos World Cup win reveals Australia’s mental hold over Kiwis

New Zealand will never get a better chance to beat Australia than the one they blew in the World Cup opener.

All the stats that matter favoured the Kiwis yet they couldn’t get the job done when it counted.

That’s because the Kangaroos have a mental hold on them and New Zealand – deep, deep down - don’t truly believe as a squad they can overcome us.

Yes, the men in black have pulled off the odd victory over the years.

But after playing each other 145 times, Australia leads the head-to-head count 108-34 (with three draws).

That’s the definition of dominance right there.

It reminds me a little of the All Blacks’ grip on the pathetic Wallabies.

When you’ve been beaten so many times by the one opponent, doubts naturally creep in and players fluff their lines when the heat is on.

Having said all that, the Kangaroos were fortunate to get away with this one.

The Kiwis were by far the stronger team and had the home side on the ropes several times without being able to deliver the knockout blow.

Australia looked rusty after fielding several players who hadn’t played for weeks before losing influential halfback Mitchell Moses to injury.

But they gutsed it out.

The Roos’ goal-line defence was superb, frustrating the New Zealanders and forcing them into trick shots in an attempt to go around us.

That led to two length-of-the-field intercepts for our two wingers.

Lucky?

Yeah, maybe just a touch.

But as coach Kev Walters pointed out, his team earned that right through their fight in defence.

I still feel we could do with a forward like Mitch Barnett, who can play big minutes without missing a beat.

I’d also like to see Cameron Murray play the whole 80 minutes, with Isaah Yeo and Pat Carrigan starting up front and big Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ripping and tearing off the bench.

And, sorry, but I don’t like Turbo on the wing.

I know he scored that try but he looked uncomfortable at other times.

Our centres Kotoni Staggs and Latrell Mitchell had ordinary games, so does Walters look at using Trbojevic in the centres where he defends a lot better?

It’s worth considering.

So is using the Queenslander connection – Munster and Tom Dearden – as our halves.

Anyway, the Kangaroos grabbed the win they needed and will cruise into semi-finals with victories over Fiji and Cook Islands in the next fortnight.

But I thought the stand-out performance of the weekend was Tonga’s 30-12 win over England in Perth.

Don’t let the final scoreline fool you – the Poms were in the contest for most of the journey but lacked polish and execution at critical times.

I love the mix of pace, skill, aggression and toughness in this Tongan side.

What a combination.

I can’t wait for them to take on Samoa in a winner-takes-all clash on November 1.

I reckon it will be the highlight of what is shaping up to be the best World Cup we’ve seen.

And don’t get me started

Don’t sing, don’t take the money.

That’s my advice to any player who wants to represent Australia but doesn’t want to sing our national anthem.

I was disappointed to see a handful of Kangaroos and Jillaroos players suddenly lose their voices and take a vow of silence before World Cup games on the weekend.

Compare that to the emotion and passion we saw from the rest of the nations on show.

Haumole Olakau’atu was crying as the Tongan song was being belted out - and he wasn’t the only player reduced to tears over the weekend.

The Wallabies can’t play rugby but at least they stood together as one and sang the national anthem with great enthusiasm before being buried by the All Blacks.

I get that not everyone loves our anthem and I would not be against a change for something that everyone gets behind – like the Yanks, who always support what I believe to be the best anthem in the world.

As someone who played 12 times for his country, I can tell you there is no prouder moment than standing there with your mates in the green and gold and singing your country’s song before going into battle.

If you don’t want to take part, see you later.

Before I go

After watching the NRLW finals and the start of the women’s World Cup, I am blown away by the growing standard of players and teams.

In what seems a very short period of time, the quality has reached the very good level as skill and fitness levels rise.

Which brings me to this question.

We are seeing equality and representation for women in rugby league almost across the board – except for one last frontier.

When will a woman be appointed coach of a men’s NRL team?

And if not as a head coach, then as an assistant?

We have the NRLW competition, women’s Origin, women refs and touch judges, female administrators, commentators and NRLW coaches.

If it’s good enough for a man to coach a women’s team, why not a female coaching a male side?

The knowledge and expertise is obviously there but which NRL club will be bold enough to be the first to take the leap?

The one that does will be on the right side of history.