Australia limbered up for their tilt at the Four Nations Rugby league title with a dominant performance in the one-off test against New Zealand brushing aside the Kiwi's 42-6 in Newcastle.
On a beautiful, sunny evening, the Kangaroos took advantage of the dry conditions at Ausgrid Stadium to rip through the world champions, with debutante Akuila Uate, Darius Boyd and Chris Lawrence each scoring doubles.
Retiring skipper Darren Lockyer was at the heart of everything in his final game on Australian soil in front of a sell out crowd, before being rested for the final 15 minutes by coach Tim Sheens.
The Kiwis, with five debutants in their side, struggled terribly in defence, and found themselves 26-nil down at halftime.
Lockyer, who has spent the last month recovering from a shattered cheekbone, saw his surgeons handy work put to the test in the opening minute of the game by the forearm of Russell Packer.
Packer's first contribution as an international player was to be placed on report by English referee Phil Bentham, and he is now in danger of finding himself on the sidelines for the Four Nations opener between the sides in Warrington on October the 28th.
