Kearney looks to future as New Zealand win Four Nations

The Kiwis followed up their 34-20 win over the Kangaroos in the 2008 World Cup final with a dramatic 16-10 triumph at the same Suncorp Stadium today, scoring two tries in the last 10 minutes to once more upset the odds.

Kearney was delighted with the way his team responded to a 34-20 defeat by the Kangaroos in Auckland just seven days earlier but he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

"I knew we were a lot better than we showed last week," he told Sky Sports. "It was just a matter of giving ourselves an opportunity and we did that right to the very end. So I'm very, very proud of the guys.

"Australia are a champion side but we showed some fairly good qualities tonight, too.

"Last week showed that there is a still gap between ourselves and Australia and it's a matter of always trying to close that gap.

"I thought we did a little bit of that tonight. But it's an ongoing challenge."

The Kiwis trailed for most of the match and were still 12-6 behind with 10 minutes left before striking back with tries through Jason Nightingale and Nathan Fien to seal another famous triumph.

Skipper Benji Marshall told the crowd: "You don't understand how much this means to us tonight. To my player, it's a pleasure to stand up here and be your captain."

Australia twice led by six points thanks to tries from centre Brent Tate and full-back Billy Slater, both converted by Cameron Smith, but were badly hit by injuries to Tate and Luke Lewis, which left coach Tim Sheens with the use of just two replacements for the entire second half.

Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer, who has almost certainly played his last match for his country on home soil, was magnanimous in defeat.

He said: "Obviously we're very disappointed with the result but you can't take away the effort that the New Zealand boys put in, they deserved their win."

The victory capped a spectacular season for Wigan scrum half or hooker Thomas Leuluai, who was man of the match in the Warriors' Grand Final triumph at Old Trafford.

"It's been a special one," he admitted. "We've worked real hard. It's been a long tour but credit to everyone. We were down and out after last week but we stuck together.

"As usual, I thought Benji Marshall had an awesome game."

Match-winner Fien, who was a tryscorer in St George Illawarra's Grand Final win over Sydney Roosters, added: "Anything is possible with a player like Benji Marshall in your side. He can create opportunities from nothing.

"We really embarrassed ourselves last week at home and we wanted to bounce back because we played so well in the first part of the tournament.

"It's a great feeling right now. It doesn't get any better than this. It's pretty special. I got a try in the grand final and now I've got one in the Four Nations final. It's been a great year."