NOT even the Rocky scripwriters could have helped New Zealand get off the deck and overcome their Australian tormentors in the Rugby League World Cup final.

Pity really, as such a successful tournament, which has captured the imaginations of most neutral sports fans, almost deserved a more captivating concluding contest.

But the Green and Gold machine ground the Kiwis into fine patè and served up a reminder that their recipe for revenge has been in the chiller since 2008.

Each side may have swapped penalties during a nervy opening but with New Zealand looking nothing other than knackered, after their epic encounter with England last week, it was soon one-way traffic.

Billy Slater, like all superb professional sportsmen, had the perfect answer to anyone who wanted to remind him, ad nauseam, of his World Cup nightmare in Brisbane five years ago.

He took the simplest of cues, from kicking king Jonathan Thurston, to glide through the air and twist over the line to open the Aussies' account.

Cooper Cronk may have been denied a second by some in-goal heroics by Isaac Luke, to add to the Australians' advantage, after a scrappy succession of play soon afterwards.

But a slip by Luke, after a probing run and miskick by Greg Inglis, let Cronk in for a deserved score just before the half-hour mark.

And when Manu Vatuevi - The Beast- was marshalled into touch by five Aussies just as the Kiwis tried to salvage some pride before the interval then the writing was day-glo on the wall.

If that wasn't a psychological sucker-punch, New Zealand were effectively down for the count within moments of re-emerging from the tunnel.

Once again the Queensland axis cut the Kiwis to ribbons, with Thurston feeding Darius Boyd on the short-side, for Slater to get his just desserts for scampering up on the outside.

The follow-up kick-and-chase try, fortunately the only union reminder of the day, which was finished off by Brett Morris, was just extra cream on the cake.

And when the sainted Sonny Bill Williams tried something novel to get at least one try on the board for the boys in black, he offered Morris the cherry, after being teed up beforehand by interceptor Jarryd Hayne, who had dashed 70 metres upfield.

Like most homegrown fans, I had a hankering for a Kiwi repeat victory, even despite England's semi-final heartache seven days ago.

But when you witness a rugby league masterclass, a perfect indictment of mind over muscle, even I'm willing to tip the hat to the all-conquering Kangaroos.

Just for the doubters it bears repeating, the game was watched by an international world record crowd. And hopefully it will have turned on even more supporters to one of the toughest and enthralling team sports around.