Fitness holds key in final

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 40

Fitness holds key in final

By

SRI KRISHNAMURTHI

of NZPA in Auckland Fitness will decide whether New Zealand or Australia wins the rugby league World Cup final at Eden Park on Sunday, the rival coaches said yesterday. The Australian coach, Don Furner, and his opposite, Tony Gordon, both picked fitness as the eventual factor which could swing the match. "The team with the greater fitness in the end will win,” Mr Gordon said. “I’ve been impressed with the way in which our boys have kept in shape since the season ended. “We’ve been working on certain aspects of our play but in the end it will have to boil down to the

fitness,” he said. Mr Furner agreed with Mr Gordon’s sentiments saying that discipline and mental toughness would also be instrumental in the final result. “We’re not completely happy since the match is several weeks after the Australian league season finished but we have to make do with what we have,” he said. He said that the lack of physical conditioning showed during the Kangaroos build-up match against the Wellington Invitation XIII last Sunday. “Yeah, they looked a bit out of shape, I would have preferred playing this match in the middle of the season when the players are mentally and physically into the game.”