Cayless calls for 17 heroes

Skipper urges side to leave everything on the field

Last updated: 21st November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Cayless calls for 17 heroes

Cayless: played in 2000 final

We will need to have 17 players playing to the best of their ability. We can't afford to have two or three who are not at their best.

Nathan Cayless
Quotes of the week

Watch the World Cup final live on Sky Sports 2 from 8.30am on Saturday or log on to skysports.com for live, interactive text commentary


Related links

Teams

Also see

New Zealand captain Nathan Cayless admits it will take an heroic effort from all 17 Kiwi players if they are to upset Australia in Saturday's World Cup final.

The Kangaroos - winners of the last six World Cups - are hot favourites to repeat their success over New Zealand in the 2000 final.

Cayless - the only Kiwi survivor from the that Old Trafford clash - has been impressed by the Green and Gold machine.

"They've been outstanding. Some of the football they've played has been exciting," he said.

"Their halves are playing well, Billy Slater is on fire and their forwards are going forward. There are no real areas in their game that we can identify as a weakness. A lot of players are on top of their game.

"We will need to have 17 players playing to the best of their ability. We can't afford to have two or three who are not at their best."

The Kiwis are aiming to halt a run of eight successive defeats at the hands of Australia, going back to their shock 24-0 victory in the 2005 Tri-Nations final.

Cayless says his players are acutely aware of the sense of occasion and are determined to grasp their opportunity.

No regrets

"We've spoken a lot this week about not having regrets after the match, just making sure we leave everything out there on the field because I'm not too sure if a lot of us will get another opportunity to play in another World Cup final," he added.

"It's been eight years since the last one and who knows when the next one will be? We're pretty aware of the occasion and what it means to us and our families and supporters in New Zealand.

"It's a special occasion. We've worked really hard over the last six or seven weeks and we're really looking forward to it."

The Kangaroos were boosted on Friday when loose forward Paul Gallen completed training after initially struggling with a "dead leg" and will take his place in the team.