Leeds: New Zealand coach Michael Maguire plans on using a Panthers blueprint to upset Australia, before unleashing his “caged animal” in the World Cup final.
Maguire is without veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (hamstring) for the semi-final showdown against the Kangaroos in Leeds on Saturday morning AEDT.
Waerea-Hargreaves missed the quarter-final after he was banned over a swinging arm on Ireland’s Dan Norman in the group stages.
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The Roosters veteran was returning in that Test from a three-game suspension he copped for a head slam on Rabbitohs star Tom Burgess in the NRL finals.
Maguire has backed James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota to fill the void left by JWH, backing the Penrith duo to share the enforcer role and replicate their grand final heroics.
The Panthers props were immense in the NRL decider and destroyed Parramatta through the middle with their barnstorming runs which created plenty of space out wide.
“They have just come out of a grand final and those two were probably two of the best players on the field in that game,” Maguire said.
“If they play that way I’m sure they’re gonna have a good game. They were outstanding in that grand final and you obviously as a player, at this level, you want to play like that each week.
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“We’ve got a pretty handy front row, with Joe Tapine here as well who I think was the best front-rower in the NRL (this year).
“I’ve got a few candidates that will take that (enforcer) mantle, but they’re all about playing for each other and playing the game how we want.
“We’ve got a really strong group and a lot of the players have now played in really big games – a lot of them played in semi-finals and grand finals.”
Maguire said Waerea-Hargreaves was devastated to miss the clash but confirmed the prop will be available if the Kiwis progress to the final.
“Yeah he is (gutted), I mean he’s like a caged animal really but that’s the way he plays. Off the field he’s a champion fella and he understands his role,” Maguire said.
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“It’s unfortunate, but he also knows that the playing group, his mates, can do the job
“If he was available, he’d be playing but in saying that I’ve got some pretty handy guys that I just spoke about. It would have given myself some good headaches if I had him available.”
New Zealand are ranked world No. 1 but they only scrapped past Fiji in the quarters and Maguire emphasised they must improve against Australia.
“In and around our attack we need to be sharper. I thought defensively, at times,we need to be better too,” he said.
“We had to go into the deep end and we got a bit of an arm wrestle happening and we probably hadn’t had that for a while so it was nice to actually go through that and the players have that experience now.
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Kangaroos playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans claimed Australia are the underdogs this week due to their world No. 4 ranking, but Maguire was having none of it.
“Australia have got the runs on the board in the World Cup,” he said.
“But at the end of the day this is a whole new 80 minutes and there’s a lot that’s gone into where we are right now.
“The players have prepared really well and it’s our opportunity. I’ve been talking to this group for four or five years now, we set up way back to get to this point.”
The Kangaroos left edge of Cameron Munster, Angus Crichton, Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr has been dominating sides all tournament.
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But Maguire said he’d be sticking with Peta Hiku and Jordan Rapana on his right edge and leaving Roosters superstar centre Joey Manu at fullback.
“Everyone is aware of where Australia will go, it’s about how we go about defending and where we put the ball,” Maguire said.
“I’m pretty happy with Peta and Raps out on the edge there, they’re doing a good job for us.
“Peta has been an outstanding player for a long time and probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves as a centre.
“He’s very sharp and very smart about how he goes about things so it’s going to be a good clash out here on the right.”
