Two late goals blew out the scoreline as the New Zealand men were beaten 4-1 by Australia in the first of two tests at the Perth Hockey Centre on Thursday night.
The Black Sticks trailed 2-0 at halftime but were much improved in the second half, before back-to-back goals from Jacob Whetton in the final minutes snatched the game out of reach.
The clash was much closer than the scoreline suggested. Experienced midfielder Shea McAleese scored the lone goal of the night for New Zealand.
Coach Colin Batch said he was pleased with many parts of his side's performance against the world No1.
''We're not happy with the result but there were certainly a lot of positives to come out of tonight's game,'' he said.
''I was very pleased with how we stood tough and defended early in the first half under pressure ... We played some good hockey in the second half and created opportunities and scored an excellent field goal.''
The side plays the Kookaburras again tonight, at 11pm NZ time.
