Australia heads into Friday’s Anzac Test showdown with New Zealand in the familiar position of overwhelming favourites.

New national coach Mal Meninga is exuding the same calm and confidence that underpinned Queensland’s record-breaking Origin run under his stewardship, and he’s picked a Kangaroos squad laced with experienced superstars – along with a smattering of blue-chip debutants.

All-time greats Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Greg Inglis combining with Sami Radradra (though many argue the Fijian powerhouse shouldn’t be there), Michael Morgan and Blake Ferguson is a tantalising prospect.

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But there’s something different about the lead-up to this clash at Newcastle’s Hunter Stadium.

The Kangaroos no longer boast the world No.1 ranking – that tag belongs to their opponents – and they’re staring down the barrel of four successive losses to the Kiwis for the first time in 63 years.

Defeat on Friday night would also consign the green-and-golds to three straight Test losses against all comers for the first time since going down to France and New Zealand in four consecutive internationals in 1953.

Issac Luke (L) and Greg Eastwood celebrate last year’s win. Photo: Getty

Australia face a re-jigged Kiwis line-up decimated by injury, suspension, disciplinary stand-downs and form-related omissions.

They’re missing eight players from the side that trounced the Kangaroos 26-12 in last year’s corresponding fixture in Brisbane. But that factor only highlights this match’s status as the Australia’s most important Test of the modern era.

Seven of the Kangaroos’ 17 are over the age of 30. The veterans have signalled their desire to play in the 2017 World Cup on home soil, but a loss to a decidedly second-string Kiwis combination could force Meninga and the selectors’ hand for this year’s Four Nations campaign.

And this Kiwis side won’t roll over.

Sure, there’s a few players out of position, but there’s also a handful of the best players in the world.

They have a big, aggressive and skilful forward pack laying the foundation, a freakishly gifted halfback who has won almost as many Tests as he’s lost against Australia, and a coach who has masterminded five victories over the Kangaroos in eight seasons.

The backs-to-the-wall, siege mentality plays conveniently into the Kiwis’ hands. Wins by Wests Tigers, Parramatta and the Warriors after a variety of disruptive setbacks last weekend illustrated the positive impact adversity can have on a team – particularly for a one-off encounter.

New Zealand will play hard and simple footy, and their stand-ins won’t let anybody down.

The match is sure to be physical. Photo: Getty

It was easy for the Kangaroos to explain away the 2014 Four Nations defeat – there was a plethora of high-profile withdrawals. But with a full-strength, legend-stacked team in last year’s Anzac Test, they were out-enthused and well beaten.

For too long Australia has leant on its mind-blowing array of talent to get results, rather than getting stuck in for the green and gold jumper.

The gap in ability on the international stage has closed dramatically, so now they need to find something extra as they stand on the precipice of a major overhaul.

The ’Roos need to show the same desperation and desire that marked Ashes-winning campaigns in England in 1990, ’94 and 2001, when they recovered from shock first Test losses to win the series.

Or the same passion that Darren Lockyer’s injury-ravaged squad mustered to pull off an unlikely 3-0 whitewash of Great Britain in 2003.

Or the pride the Lockyer-led Australians displayed in 2006, ’09 and ’11 with emphatic triumphs in tournament finals 12 months after being stunned by New Zealand.

Since 1978, they had not lost two Tests in a row … until last year, when the Kiwis debunked that decades-old aura of invincibility.

It’s up to Meninga’s Kangaroos to reclaim it.