Endacott hails king Kangaroos

Early tackling took its toll on the Kiwis

New Zealand coach Frank Endacott was generous in his praise for world champions Australia after seeing his side crash to defeat in the final at Old Trafford.

Endacott now fears Australia's strangehold on the game is only likely to get tighter on their showing at the Lincoln World Cup.

"They have plenty of youth and they are going to get stronger," said Endacott.

"They're going to end up the best Australian team there has ever been.

"Around 80% of our team will also be around as well so it's going to be a good final in four years' time."

They're going to end up the best Australian team there has ever been

  New Zealand coach Frank Endacott

Endacott, who is stepping down from the national post to concentrate on his club role with Wigan, said the final had been decided in the first half an hour.

"For the first 30 minutes all we did was tackle, tackle, tackle and it took its toll in the second half," he said.

Ruthless side

"They're a ruthless side and they made us pay."

The coach admitted that his team had made a mistake in trying to expose Sailor with the high kick, claiming that left winger Mat Rogers had been the intended target.

"That was not part of the plan," he said. "I sent three or four messages out. Wendell Sailor was not the one with the blond hair. We got that part of the game wrong.

"But there are no excuses, we were beaten by the better side on the day."