Australia captain Isaah Yeo has warned New Zealand will be "a hundred times better" than during their first Pacific Championships clash if the traditional rivals meet again in the Pacific Cup final.
His warning came as fellow forward Cameron Murray urged the Kangaroos not to fall into the same trap as last year by letting their guard down should they meet the Kiwis again.
The Kiwis will start hot favourites to beat Tonga in Auckland on Saturday and book a rematch with the Kangaroos, who punched their ticket to the decider by winning 22-10 in Christchurch on Sunday.
New Zealand showed positive signs in Stacey Jones' first game at the helm, controlling the territory battle for long stretches and guarding possession better than Australia.
But they were outperformed defensively, and a long list of absentees meant halfback Shaun Johnson had little support in orchestrating the Kiwis' set plays on return from retirement.
While the Kangaroos came into the clash on the back of a win over Tonga earlier this month, most New Zealand players were lining up for their first competitive game in almost two months.
In total, 10 members of the Kiwis' 17 played in NRL teams that missed finals this season, so they last played a competitive game in the week beginning September 2.
Australia had themselves looked out of practice in their first match of the Pacific Championships, as they made a staggering 19 errors in the win over Tonga at Suncorp Stadium.
Improvements shown in the defeat of New Zealand led Yeo to believe the Kiwis were capable of similar growth should the sides meet again to decide the Pacific Cup on November 10.
"I felt like we were a better side this week than last week, and I think just the extra week's prep, you have the game under your belt," Yeo said.
"I certainly think New Zealand will be a hundred times better.
"There are blokes in there who wouldn't have played for four or five weeks. So automatically, you get 80 minutes under your belt and another week's training, you'll be a better side for it.
"Off the back of that, whoever wins next week will be a better side again because they've got another game under their belt."
The Kangaroos have extra reason to be wary given recent history.
Australia defeated the Kiwis 36-18 during the Pacific Championships group stage last year, only to fall to a record-breaking 30-0 loss in the final.
"It's a trap we fell in last year," said second-rower Murray.
"We had a good win against them in the second game and then we probably patted ourselves too much on the back and fell asleep. It's definitely in the back of our minds."
Yeo was pleased for the Kangaroos to have recorded their first defeat of the Kiwis in New Zealand since 2012, but still felt Australia had unfinished business in the tournament.
"It was certainly nice to get one back on them for sure, but I guess the ultimate goal and all that matters is that championship in two weeks' time," he said.
