Willie Mason says Australia's campaign to reclaim world number one status in rugby league will count for nothing if they don't win the Tri-Nations final.

The Kangaroos face New Zealand in the tournament decider at Aussie Stadium desperate to avenge the 24-0 hiding dished out by the Kiwis in last year's final.

That loss ending 27 years of dominance by Australia in international tournaments or series.

And while the Kangaroos have since beaten New Zealand in three Tests and topped the Tri-Nations table, Mason said those performances would be rendered worthless if Australia slipped up again in the title decider.

"All them games don't mean nothing unless you win the final," said Mason, who is expected to be named for the Kangaroos after missing last weekend's 33-10 win over Great Britain through suspension.

"That's what we've been building to the last five or six weeks so we'll just have to see what happens.

"If 17 players play to their potential then we're going to be a hard team to beat."

Mason said last year's final loss was embarrassing.

"The players that were there are definitely thinking about it and how bad it did feel after being beat in a final ... it was quite embarrassing."

He also admitted New Zealand would go into the match as the "form" team after nearly knocking off Australia in Melbourne last month and then belting Britain 34-4 a fortnight ago.

"They're going to be having a fair bit of confidence coming in to play us," Mason said.

"Even though they haven't won (against Australia this year) they perhaps should have won in Melbourne and they definitely gave the Poms a whacking.

"At the moment their form is probably the better out of the two teams. But we've definitely got some improvement to be made and got a week to do it."

Mason will likely force Antonio Kaufusi out of the 17 with the Bulldogs enforcer putting forward his case for a starting spot.

Despite playing just two of Australia's four Tri-Nations Tests, Mason has dominated headlines during the series.

He sparked controversy during the opening game against New Zealand by swearing during the haka and was soon after on the receiving end of a David Kidwell bell-ringer.

He missed the return match against the Kiwis in Melbourne - won 20-15 by Australia following two late tries - and was then suspended for one-match after punching Lions prop Stuart Fielden in Britain's upset of Australia at Aussie Stadium earlier this month.

Meanwhile, winger Matt King is confident he'll be fit to play after missing last weekend's clash with Great Britain with a calf injury.

"I'm pretty confident I've got on top if it now," King said after pulling up well from a light run.

"I'm not 100 per cent, but pretty close to it. If I get through (Tuesday's) session and Wednesday's session, I'll certainly give (coach) Ricky (Stuart) something to think about.

"I just want a jumper. It's a pretty classy backline at the moment. I'll be happy enough to fit in anywhere along that."

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