Australia coach Ricky Stuart said his side's comprehensive 46-6 defeat of Papua New Guinea was just reward for taking the Kumuls seriously.
PNG defended admirably to defy some pre-match predictions of a 100-point margin of victory for the Kangaroos.
"We knew they'd be very enthusiastic and physical," said Stuart.
"We had a huge amount of respect for them before the game and we weren't going to be ambushed by not preparing well enough physically and mentally."
Stuart added: "We had to not just match their physicality but to overcome them by making sure they knew that we prepared for them as well as we've prepared for any."
Australia rested several key players, including Darren Lockyer and Greg Inglis, and gave Test debuts to the likes of winger David Williams, stand-off Terry Campese and second rower Anthony Watmough.
Williams marked his debut with a well-taken hat-trick, but Stuart would not be drawn on whether any of the new faces would be in the frame for the semi-final against either Fiji or Ireland.
"That'll be something that I'll just deal with within the team," he said.
606: DEBATE
But Stuart raved about the disciplined performance of half-back Johnathan Thurston, who kicked seven goals in an accomplished display.
"I thought his goal-kicking was exceptional and he kept a real level head," said Stuart.
"When you're a half-back and you've got a scoreline where it's jumping out a little bit you can become a little bit flamboyant, lack a bit of discipline and start playing away from our structure but we didn't do that for 80 minutes."
Meanwhile, PNG coach Adrian Lam was full of praise for his hard-working players after they put in a display the rugby league-mad country could be proud of.
"I thought there were plenty of effort put into the match, I was pretty happy with the defence through some parts of it considering what I've seen from PNG sides in the past," said Lam.
"There was times there where they defended three or four sets on the line which I was really proud of.
"Wearing the Kumuls jumper changed my life"
The end of the match saw Kumuls legend Stanley Gene - the only player to have featured in the 1995, 2000 and 2008 World Cup tournaments - carried off the pitch on the shoulders of his team-mates as he brought his proud international career to an end.
"Wearing the Kumuls jumper changed my life," said an emotional Gene.
"I'm still in a dream world even now. And what a nice way to finish my last World Cup, playing the best team in the world.
"I want to thank everyone back home and everyone who has played a part in my career - especially all our supporters back in PNG."
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