The Australian league coach Tim Sheens believes the Warriors' NRL grand final loss will do nothing to halt New Zealand's rise as a rugby league power to rival Australia.
The Kiwis boast the World Cup and Four Nations trophies, while the Warriors were represented in all three grades on grand final day, justifying Wayne Bennett's claim six years ago that New Zealand was the sleeping giant of the game internationally.
Sheens says it's the emergence of classy halves like Benji Marshall, Manly's Kieran Foran and the Warriors wonder-kid Shaun Johnson that has the Kiwis' fortunes rising.
New Zealand and Australia meet on the 16th of this month in Newcastle before their Four Nations round-robin match in England on the 28th of this month.
