Australia skipper George Smith says the excitement of taking on New Zealand remains just as high.

This was despite the increasing number of games between the two southern hemisphere heavyweights.

When the teams line-up at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday night it will be the third time they have faced each other in this year's Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup series and they will squeeze in another Bledisloe Cup showdown in Tokyo at the end of next month before embarking on their respective tours of the northern hemisphere.

But for Smith, who will be playing in his 105th Test on Saturday, it is a fixture that retains special status.

He said: "We do play them a lot within a year, but the excitement doesn't wane.

"It's always been a pinnacle for Australian players to play against the All Blacks in the Bledisloe.

"Playing the All Blacks is not like playing any other team. There is a special meaning there.

"The desire to beat them doesn't change and tomorrow will be no different. The boys will be out there to try and win this match.

"As history has shown we haven't beaten them too many times over here in New Zealand so it's a great opportunity for us to do that."

With South Africa crowned Tri-Nations champions following last weekend's 32-29 win against New Zealand in Hamilton, the trans-Tasman foes are left trying to avoid the wooden spoon.

The Wallabies' New Zealand-born coach, Robbie Deans, believes both teams will remove the shackles and go for it.

"I think you will see a lot of movement. Conditions will dictate how that's applied - whether it's kicking or carrying - but there will be movement," said the former Crusaders coach.

"The points table is not relevant. It's pride and honour and neither side will want to come second. I don't think either side will play conservatively."

New Zealand have won tight encounters in Auckland and Sydney so far this series, coming from behind on both occasions to snatch much-needed wins that have pushed All Blacks coach Graham Henry out to a 5-1 win-loss ratio against the man who wanted to replace him after the 2007 World Cup failure.

Deans has in the past slammed his side's inability to close out the tight matches but believes they took a big step forward in the 21-6 thumping they gave the Springboks in Brisbane two weeks ago, and is hopeful they can carry it on to end a winless drought on New Zealand soil that stretches back to 2001.

"Obviously our history isn't that great in New Zealand but I guess the thing you get with a young group is that they are not burdened by the past," said Deans.

"They are very excited about the opportunity that they have and I think they showed that in Brisbane.

"We're hopeful that that will have been a fillip for them and that some of that will have galvanised into a deeper seated belief because when you look at the history that has been a contributing factor, that lack of belief."

Deans also stressed the need for discipline, which was their undoing in the Test in Auckland where Stephen Donald kicked the All Blacks to victory with four second-half penalties.

The Wallabies then endured the heart-breaking loss thanks to a late Daniel Carter penalty in Sydney.

"There is likely to be a bit of breeze so ticking the scoreboard over with penalties will be advantageous and there is no doubt that we did contribute to our own demise in some of our early fixtures," admitted Deans.

"We've made some headway and we've got the benefit of that in our last outing.

"We don't want to revert in any of the elements that we believe we've made some progress in."