Johnathan Thurston cast aside his personal family tragedy to lead Australia to a 30-6 victory over New Zealand in their World Cup opener at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Only a day after his uncle Richard Saunders was bashed to death in a park south of Brisbane, Thurston produced one of his most composed efforts in a Kangaroos jumper in the most difficult of circumstances.

The star halfback had a hand in three of Australia's five tries, booted four goals and directed their attacking play in a brilliant performance worthy of man-of-the-match honours.

He was finally rested in the 72nd minute taking his record to eight wins from as many Tests for Australia.

Captain Darren Lockyer was another standout, making a seamless return to the green and gold 18 months after he last played for Australia.

Lockyer and Thurston have not played together since Origin III in 2007 but they fell immediately back into the old groove by running Australia around the paddock and controlling the tempo of the contest.

But despite being the marquee match-up of the World Cup, the game lacked the usual spark of Test match football forcing the crowd of 34,157 to start a Mexican wave with 25 minutes remaining.

Their boredom was stopped somewhat when Australian centre Brent Tate suffered concussion in the 58th minute tackling Lance Hohaia.

The loss of Tate was the only thing that went wrong for the Australians.

The same can't be said for New Zealand.

Nothing went to script for the Kiwis as their brilliant warm up form was thrown out the window as their attack fell into disarray.

Halfback Thomas Leuluai was ineffective and at times abysmal while star Benji Marshall never looked dangerous and was well below his best.

Centre Steve Matai was also put on report for a high shot on Paul Gallen in the 13th minute that could attract a suspension.

The only shining light for New Zealand was a strong solo try by forward Sika Manu in the 27th minute as he brushed aside three defenders to score their only try of the game.

Australia led 14-6 at halftime after Greg Inglis and debutant Joel Monaghan scored from sweeping backline plays down the left flank.

The Kangaroos busted the game apart shortly after oranges with Israel Folau barging over the line and then fullback Billy Slater scoring off a Thurston break on the hour for an 18-point lead.

But Slater could find himself in hot water after diving feet first at Jerome Ropati to deny a try in the 74th minute, an act he was warned about prior to the tournament.

Folau completed the dominant win by scoring his second try after some quick hands in the final 30 seconds of the game.

Thurston was unavailable for comment after the game, but coach Ricky Stuart read out a statement on his behalf.

"I would like to thank all my teammates for their support over the last 24 hours," said Thurston.

"Tonight gave me a chance to let out some of the emotion."

Stuart praised Thurston's efforts, revealing he left it up to the player to decide whether he would play tonight.

Thurston will take time off this week to grieve with his family in Queensland before deciding whether he will play England at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne next Sunday.

"I was concerned yesterday to be honest, he was in a pretty emotional state," said Stuart.

"He asked me not to change my mind ... he is a tough kid and he handled it very well.

"We will just take each day as it comes with Johnathan."

Stuart was happy with Australia's performance as a team and vowed the Kangaroos would not let their mental focus slip as they seemingly hold an unbreakable stranglehold on the World Cup.

"We wanted to show the opposition we are here to be serious and on form," he said.

"We are always vulnerable because we always carry the favourite's tag and there is always extra pressure on you.

"It is our mental space that needs to be strong ... we are not weak enough to let that become an obstacle for us."

Kiwi coach Stephan Kearney was "pissed off" with his side's lifeless performance but denied the title was a one-horse race and said his men could rebound and still threaten for the crown.

"We are not chucking in the towel now," said Kearney.

"We made things pretty easy for them tonight.

"We cannot turnover the ball and give away field position to Australia like that and expect to be competitive."

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