Taking on a fired up Kangaroos is a daunting prospect - but New Zealand dangerman Lance Hohaia reckons his Kiwis teammates were more worried about getting their new haka right.

As a result, the jury is out on whether the Kiwis will on Saturday night repeat the remarkable scenes that preceded last weekend's Four Nations clash with Australia at Eden Park.

All 24 members of the Kiwi squad took the field for their epic new haka - called Ko Wai Ra - that lasted almost a minute ahead of last Saturday night's clash.

Hohaia admitted a few players were a "little dusty" on the new moves despite three weeks practice, ensuring some deep thinking ahead of the Four Nations final at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Oh, and they also plan to put aside time to work out a gameplan to topple their trans-Tasman rivals.

"I think the boys were more nervous about the haka then the game," Hohaia said of the dead rubber.

"We don't want to be feeling that way ahead of the final.

"So we will have a chat about that and see how we feel about it.

"I think we can do the normal haka as a squad. It is just up to us as a playing group whether it is a good thing for the side and fitting for the occasion."

The idea of the new haka last weekend was to fire up the team and the crowd at the first league game held at rugby heartland Eden Park in 22 years.

They got it half right - the 44,324-strong crowd was sent into a frenzy, so much so that they began brawling in the stands and throwing bottles at the Australian players.

Unfortunately for New Zealand, the haka only seemed to inspire Australia as they burst out of the blocks before the Kiwis finished strongly in a 34-20 loss.

"It didn't seem to work too well for us last weekend," Hohaia quipped.

But the haka is no laughing matter - and Hohaia was deadly serious when asked about the importance of getting the pre-match ritual right.

"The haka is something unique and special to New Zealand," he said.

"It is tradition really, recognising our heritage, the people of our native land.

"I guess it does get the adrenalin pumping and ready for war."

The new haka set the stage for a memorable night for the Kiwis but it became one they would rather forget.

Hohaia rated Saturday night's loss as one of the hardest he had to swallow in his eight year international career.

"With the anticipation of the game at the stadium and the crowd and the expectation that we were going to do well, it just felt like a let down," he said.

"We all felt pretty bummed really. Hopefully we can shake it off in the next day or two.

"We can't afford to do that again."

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