NZ Kiwis hope a return to the creature comforts of home will give them some of the impetus they need to try and get one back against the Australians in their Pacific Championship finale this weekend.
In last weekend's dress rehearsal in Melbourne, the New Zealanders faded late after a competitive opening three quarters of their match against the World Cup champions to fall to a 36-18 defeat.
They'll square off again in Hamilton this with much higher stakes, with the winner to clinch the tournament title.
Kiwis wing Jamayne Isaako believes being back in front of a partisan crowd at FMG stadium will play a huge part reversing their fortunes.
"We spoke in our team meeting about being back on home soil again and being able to play in front of a home crowd," said Isaako.
"We've got that this weekend. They obviously had it last weekend. We'll be looking to go out there and put our best foot forward for the last game.
"It's obviously a massive booster. When you have got a home crowd advantage its always easier to get up for the games and having that support behind you can sometimes lift the boys.
"We'll be looking forward to all of the Kiwi support at Hamilton stadium this weekend."
Saturday's result extended the Kangaroos' dominance over the Kiwis, having won eight of their past nine games against New Zealand since 2015.
They'll need look no further for inspiration than their women's counterparts in the Kiwi Ferns, who set the tone with their own drought-breaking upset in last weekend's curtainraiser against the world champion Jillaroos to claim their first win over their trans-Tasman rivals since 2016.
"It was inspiring and we're really proud of the women and how far they’ve come," said Isaako.
"They got a good victory on the weekend and we'll b looking to back that up as well this weekend in the last game."
And there's understanble cause for optimisim within the Kiwis' ranks they're capable of doing precisely that in Saturday's rematch.
They were within reach of the Australians for the majority of their fixture at AAMI Park, only to concede a couple of late tries to ensure a somehwat flattering scoreline in the Australian's favour.
Isaa'ako says the squad recognise they're well within touching distance of their rivals, and this week is simply a matter of making some minor adjustments, starting at the defensive end.
"We've reviewed the game this morning and there wasn’t really too much to improve on apart form a few defensive reads we got wrong," he noted.
"Against a quality side like the Kangaroos you can't afford to give away cheap football - the calibre of players they have can hurt us.
"They played most of their football down on our end of the field and we didn't capitalise on a few of their errors and didn't finish in the corners. We all know if you don't get good field position it's hard to put points on the board."
In a vote of confidence in his players, coach Michael Maguire has named an unchanged gameday squad for Saturday's showdown.
"The players are excited about playing in such an important test and doing so in front of a passionate home crowd,” said Maguire.
"We've got great belief in our side and I’ve got a lot of confidence in where we're going.
"We've had a good look at where we need to be better from last week and the boys will take those lessons into Hamilton."
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