‘I took that personally’: Kiwis winger holds hands up for Australia loss

Following a heart-breaking Rugby League World Cup defeat to the Kangaroos, Kiwis winger Jamayne Isaako is holding his hand up for his part in New Zealand’s defeat.

Despite the Kiwis spending the majority of the 80 minutes on the front foot, a hat-trick to winger Jack Bostock – who scored three of Australia’s five tries – saw New Zealand fall short by two points in a 24-22 loss in Sydney.

For Isaako, that hat-trick hurts on more than one level. Not only is Bostock his NRL teammate at the Dolphins, but two of his three tries came from beating Isaako in the air.

Being from the same club, where they play on the same edge, you can wager Bostock and Isaako would have trained catching high kicks against each other.

That defeat leaves the Kiwis third in Pool A, and needing to win both of their next two games against the Cook Islands in Christchurch on Sunday, and Fiji on the Gold Coast on October 31 to have any hope of progressing.

But after accepting the loss, Isaako has outlined that the Kiwis have collectively drawn a line under what happened against Australia.

And even with the Cook Islands game to be played in his hometown of Christchurch, the 30-year-old isn’t letting anything distract him in the build-up.

“I’m mainly just focused on the game and preparation this week,” Isaako said. “That’s the key.

Jack Bostock scores for Australia after beating Jamayne Isaako in the air. Photo / Getty Images

“[I’m] disappointed with the result. I took that pretty personally – Bostock scoring two tries on me. I want to focus on my job and do my job to the best of my ability.

“I took the [lessons] from it, there were a couple of things we knew we could be better at. Coming together for a short amount of time and trying to prepare leading into that game, you try to do everything as best you can.

“But there were definitely a few [lessons] from that game that we’ll look to rectify and hopefully fix for the Cooks game.”

Isaako is perhaps being harsh on himself there. It was only his boot that got the Kiwis anywhere close to Australia on the night – after New Zealand were outscored five tries to three – after a perfect night off the tee that also saw two penalties.

While it’s rare in the NRL to see kickers point to the posts for a shot at goal from a penalty, the opening round of the World Cup has seen teams take the points on offer.

Samoa’s Stephen Crichton missed his attempted penalty, albeit in a 78-4 win over France, while Tonga’s 30-12 victory against England saw Isaiya Katoa – another of Isaako’s Dolphins teammate – kick four.

“When you come up against some of the bigger teams, it can be the breaking point of a game,” Isaako explained. “It’s a crucial point of the game, going up in sixes is something that is really important for any team.

“The Tonga and England game was pretty close, you could see that whenever Tonga got penalties, they were taking the twos.

“It helps with momentum a little bit, but as the World Cup goes on, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of countries take the two.”

As the only game in this World Cup to be played in New Zealand, Sunday’s clash is all the more special by the fact it’s in Isaako’s hometown. The Kiwis’ training session on Monday morning was held at Aranui, Isaako’s first club.

Jamayne Isaako (R) in the Kiwis' haka against Australia. Photo / Photosport

And while test appearances for any country are limited in the condensed calendar that the NRL brings, the chance to turn out on home soil in Christchurch’s new One NZ Stadium isn’t lost on the former locals.

“It’s nice to be back home. To get to play a World Cup game here is pretty cool. Not too many games are being brought back to New Zealand.

“It’s a massive boost being able to play on home soil. Playing in the black jersey is something we don’t take lightly.

“Playing most of our football across the ditch, when we get the opportunity to come back here is massive for us.”

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.