A flat New Zealand side, without a Tri-Nations match for a month, trod water in the first half before a crowd of 52,328 at a heaving Suncorp Stadium to trail 7-10 at half-time.
It was enough for all three All Black coaches, led by Graham Henry, to lay into their charges as the success of their season lay on the line.
They stormed home to win 28-24, which gave them a fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title and a fifth successive defence of their beloved Bledisloe Cup.
"They [coaches] got into us and said we hadn't done what we'd talked about, how physical we wanted to be. We felt we were getting dominated in those areas," replacement back Stephen Donald said.
"We had some pretty harsh words at half-time and the second half was pretty good, so it spurred the boys on.
"It was pretty intense. They all laid it down I guess. The message was loud and clear, and you certainly listen."
Even when the visitors trailed 7-17 after a James Horwill try early in the second half, the tide was turning.
In popular rugby parlance, they began to "win the collisions" at the breakdown.
With the All Blacks' loose forward trio of Richie McCaw, Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino muscling up, they counter-rucked and finally began to string phases together and probe defensive gaps.
The result: three tries in 17 minutes to flying prop Tony Woodcock, Piri Weepu and Daniel Carter.
A perfect night with the boot from Carter, four conversions from four, was also crucial as they still held a four-point buffer after Wallaby Ryan Cross' try with two minutes left.
As the Wallabies attacked desperately in search of the matchwinner, a final All Black counter-ruck forced a turnover, the ball was cleared and the jubilation began.
Coach Graham Henry, whose All Black coaching career neared its lowest ebb after the 19-34 defeat in Sydney in July, gave the win a five-star rating in his five-year tenure.
"I'm just delighted with what the guys have done. It's a very sweet feeling. This is the fourth Tri-Nations in a row, and Bledisloe Cup, and it's probably the sweetest victory that we've had," he said.
"There's a large number of new guys who haven't played in this competition before. Half of them hadn't played before so we were team-building as well as trying to be competitive, and we came through, so that's a good feeling."
It was a third consecutive Tri-Nations test win after Auckland and Cape Town, all three achieved with the same starting XV.
The All Blacks did a mountain of defending, putting in 101 tackles to the Wallabies' 64.
Woodcock put his tooth through his top lip, which required stitches, while So'oialo was the most battered and bruised overall, and Ali Williams and Ma'a Nonu took some heavy hits.
Henry's replacements were crucial, Weepu sparking several All Black attacks and Donald playing a cool hand at first five-eighth in combination with Carter.
Senior men such as So'oialo, McCaw and Carter led the way home.
"We struggled to get into the game. We were up 7-3 but hadn't played a lot of rugby. They scored before and after half-time and that can be quite critical," McCaw said.
"We had to make sure we didn't panic and believe in what we're doing. The guys who've been around a while led that and we got back into the game."
Now the All Blacks have a welcome fortnight's break before some return to the Air New Zealand Cup next month.
• All Blacks 28 (Mils Muliaina, Tony Woodcock, Piri Weepu, Daniel Carter tries; Carter 4 conversions), Wallabies 24 (Adam Ashley-Cooper, James Horwill, Ryan Cross tries; Matt Giteau penalty goal, 3 conversions). Half-time: 10-7.
