They are a very very good team. Some people would say the Australian team from the late 80's and early 90's with the likes of Stuart, Daley, Langer, the Walters brothers, Meninga , mark Carroll, E.T. Elias, ETC. But for me its the Team of 2011 with Lockyer in the squad and Cronk on the bench

I think the fact that they looked unchallenged was more to do with how good they were, rather than how poor NZ were. They were effectively so dominant that they looked as if NZ were no more of a threat than the USA, or Ireland. Yet this is the same NZ team who broke English hearts in a heroic game last week which most of us thought was about as high a quality performance as possible.

I think the Aussies made their own room to play, and denied the Kiwis similar space.

Well said.

at least their union team is being beaten lol

As I said, it seemed to me the Kiwi's didnt take more than 2 steps forward in defence, conceding 8 metres every tackle right from the start, the only way to play the Aussies is to get into their faces, thats what they did in 2008 , and what they did to England last week

All opinions

They've only played 2 'real' tests though, England in Cardiff, and the Kiwis today. Ok they've dispatched the 4th best team in the world more than comprehensively twice but i can't say that this Aussie team ever.

I felt in 2008 they were better but just got caught out in the final. I think the Aussies put 50 past both England and NZ that year.

I have read what has been said but to me the invincible, of the 1980 era were better they went a very long time before they got beat and I am talking about the old test matches they were greats

There have been times in the past when anyone who was fair dinkum would have the best 17 in the world as all Australian, but this time around Burgess, Graham, SBW and possibly a few others are better than their Aus counterparts.
Many of the Aus players are well past their best - Smith, Slater, Bird, Gallen and others are all past their best.

Watching the Kiwis today was like watching England in Tri and Four Nations finals against Australia. They looked beaten at the kickoff, absolutely drained of energy - whether that was nerves of the impact of last week who knows?

This is certainly as good an Australian side as there has been for the last 10-15 years, the only real "weakness" potentially being in the front row where they are nothing special. As for the "best ever", it's hard to compare.

The Invincible sides of 82 and 86 were made to look much better by the paucity of British opposition. It was effectively full time athletes against part time players. The Kiwis were a thorn in their side around that time though, pulling off some good performances with the likes of McGahan, Graham and Filipaina outstanding.

Through the 90s, GB were there or thereabouts against an Australian side featuring legends like Fittler, Daley, Meninga etc, just never being able to string two wins together in the same series.

The current Australian side is very, very good. How many of them would make it into an all time Australian XIII though, which is surely the measure of whether they are the "greatest ever"?

In the early 80's our rugby was so far behind the Aussies it's hard to really judge just how good they were.

We do know that now we have a number of players who are as good if not better than them.

The big difference is how composed and meticulous the Aussies are. They rarely put themselves under pressure, they work their way through their sets, they execute their last play, they make sure everyone is ready for the kick, or they have numbers to defend a kick.

No amazing skills, no standout performances, just 100% composure and execution.

Compare to last week when with 2 mins to go, we got out of position on the 4 th tackle and subsequently put an aimless kick in the air, giving the kiwis field position to get back in our half. No way the Aussies would have put an aimless punt like that with 2 mins to go.

That isn't superstar play, it is very good preparation and mental strength.

Just thinking through the Aus squad, only Inglis, Hayne and a few of the bench guys might still be in the side in 4 years time.
Slater, Smith, Gallen, Thaiday, Bird, Parker, Thurston etc will all be retired, and many of the younger players like Boyd etc are nothing special and will be challenged by other players for their spots.
A couple of injuries and we could see a completely different Australian side in 4 years.

That Australian performance today was simply exceptional. It was one of the best all round rugby league performances I've ever witnessed when you take account of the quality of opponent.

The execution in attack, the discipline in defence and the performance of the pack was something very very special.

We witnessed world champions in every sense of the word today.

Take a bow

I'd agree with this the NZ pack were hammered from first minute when their prop dropped the ball. In turn their defence couldn't match the same intensity plus just look at Thurston, Cronk and Slater different league likewise NZ didn't create anything through their pivots.

As for the best 17 in the world I think players like James Graham and Sam Burgess if Aussies would be their first choice props.

The teams of the last two decades & further back have been greats, what is to be praised admired & worked towards is the length of time they have been top dogs. GB & NZ trip them up in the odd game. Australian teams have consistanly upped the standard of play, GB & NZ also improve but getting the consistancy of performance is what they do better than us. Frustrating as it is I give them credit for their quality & effort. Lets just try & push on from here & get the numbers of players up to the figures we had when GB regularly beat them then we can give them a run for their money. WELL DONE AUSSIES.