Rugby League World Cup Final 1988: New Zealand v Australia

This is the rugby league World Cup final of 1988 played between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park, Auckland. Australia finished top of the table after the four year World Cup cycle that started in 1985, and New Zealand earned a place by narrowly defeating Great Britain in Christchurch.

Auckland won the right to host the final, which had many locals believing that the Kiwis should be favourites following their 1987 defeat of Australia and the return of experienced veterans Mark Graham and Kurt Sorensen. However, they were also missing key players like Darrell Williams and Hugh McGahan through injury, while many players had been largely inactive since the July 17 defeat of the British; most of the Australians were match-hardened from their Winfield Cup campaigns for the October 9 clash. And the Australians had a certain whistle-blower on their side. Still, you can't say the Kiwis weren't fired up for the match.

Teams
New Zealand: 1. Gary Mercer; 2. Tony Iro; 3. Kevin Iro; 4. Dean Bell; 5. Mark Elia; 6. Gary Freeman; 7. Clayton Friend; 8. Peter Brown; 9. Wayne Wallace; 10. Adrian Shelford; 11. Mark Graham; 12. Kurt Sorensen; 13. Mark Horo. Reserves: 14. Shane Cooper; 15. Sam Stewart.
Australia: 1. Garry Jack; 2. Dale Shearer; 3. Andrew Farrar; 4. Mark McGaw; 5. Michael O'Connor; 6. Wally Lewis; 7. Allan Langer; 8. Paul Dunn; 9. Ben Elias; 10. Steve Roach; 11. Paul Sironen; 12. Gavin Miller; 13. Wayne Pearce. Reserves: 14. Terry Lamb; 15. David Gillespie.
Referee: Graham Ainui (Papua New Guinea)