Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens will use a revamped forward pack for the Four Nations final instead of the one that lost to the Kiwis in the opening match of the tournament.
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Sheens has altered his pack since the 30-12 loss to the Kiwis two games ago. David Klemmer and Boyd Cordner have come into the squad while Ryan Hoffman, Aidan Guerra and Robbie Farah have not played since the opening game.
Klemmer has been strong off the interchange bench while Aaron Woods and Josh Papalii combined to help the Kangaroos beat Samoa 44-18. The inclusion of Papalii up front allowed experienced duo Greg Bird and Sam Thaiday to shift to their preferred edge position.
"I would be loath to change it," Sheens said. "I will go have a look at the video. [It was the plan] to start with an experienced back row and move the younger back-rower in later in the game."
Beau Scott is expected to recover from a hamstring injury in time to play the Kiwis on Saturday and an impressive debut from Ben Hunt, followed by a steady second game by the Brisbane half, is expected to keep Farah on the sidelines. "I played with the bench," Sheens said. "We'll look hard at the video and see what the injury situation is."
Sheens said it was a mixed performance by his side after a strong start. "In patches we were really good," he said. "We allowed some soft points and we still have a little bit of work to do. The guys responded well to the must-win scenario.
"When we got a few points in front we tried to play touch football instead of playing the way we wanted to play. I always worry [scoring early] first points. When you score them quickly everything goes out the window. What coach has been saying won't happen. It did, they came back at us. We did want to start hard and fast."
Meanwhile, Samoa coach Matt Parish said his side had made "big inroads" after overseeing his team's three competitive matches.
"We have kept the Four Nations alive," Parish said. "If we could have stayed within a try of them for most of the game it would've lifted our blokes. We've had a great tournament. We've enjoyed it. They had to win and came out blazing, that's why they are the world champions.
"[In] the first 25 minutes, they got out of their end way too easily. They scored easy tries. [In the] previous two games, we defended really well."
