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AAP
AAP
Jasper Bruce and Melissa Woods

Kiwi Ferns out to snap seven-year slump against Aussies

The chance to snap a seven-year losing streak against Australia will give the Kiwi Ferns extra motivation in the upcoming Pacific Test, says NRLW premiership winner Shanice Parker.

New Zealand have not defeated Australia since the NRLW played its first season in 2018, early in the Jillaroos' ongoing seven-game winning run.

The Kiwi Ferns last tasted victory in 2016, when current lock forward Georgia Hale was named played of the match in a 26-16 triumph in Newcastle.

Australia will equal the longest winning streak for the fixture with one more win, set by the Kiwi side between 1999 and 2008.

New Zealand dominated the early days of the trans-Tasman clash, clinching the inaugural fixture in 1995 and 12 of the following 13.

They have come closer to recapturing their winning ways in recent times.

Australia's Jessica Sergis scores a try.
The Kiwi Ferns suffered a 54-4 World Cup final drubbing late last year.

The Kiwis lost to Australia by two points in the World Cup group stage last year, though went down by 50 in the final, and fell 16-10 in Townsville earlier in the ongoing Pacific Championships.

Ahead of the sides' final match of the Test series at AAMI Park on Saturday, Newcastle back Parker is confident they are drawing closer to victory.

"We got really close last Test match, we almost got a taste of the win," Parker told AAP.

"It'd really top it off to get the win this Saturday with the girls and create that legacy going forward.

"(The Jillaroos) are such a class team, they always put on a great performance. They're very physical, very fit and they won't give up. 

"They're very gritty but we're the same and I can't wait to see the match-up this weekend."

A dual premiership-winning Knight, Parker made herself eligible for New Zealand from 2021 despite her mother Danielle representing Australia as a middle forward in her own playing career.

Parker's father, a winger during his rugby union days, has Maori heritage, making the Newcastle centre eligible for either nation.

"I picked the Ferns because I feel like this is where my values align more and mum's fully supportive of that," she said.

"Culture is really important to me, being Maori myself and now having my son who is both Aboriginal and Maori, two of the best cultures in the world, this is where I love to be in the Kiwi Ferns."

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