New Zealand rugby league fans had reason to hope on Saturday night, not the least because their side had just trounced Papua New Guinea and Benji Marshall's hamstring strain was declared a minor inconvenience.

More so, it was the incisive play of hooker Isaac Luke that will have them daring to believe they can still be a force in a tournament looking so lop-sided organisers may have to implement a mercy rule.

After losing 30-6 in a bitterly disappointing World Cup opener against Australia, the Kiwis were roundly lambasted for lacking flair in an attack centred largely on golden boy five-eighth Marshall.

With rake Nathan Fien and halfback Thomas Leuluai largely negated, New Zealand were craving another spark to light their offensive fires. In Luke, they may have found their answer.

Omitted against the Australians, the 21-year-old Rabbitoh was summoned from the bench to help orchestrate the 48-6 belting of the Kumuls on the Gold Coast, confounding their ruck defence with his strikes from dummy half.

His game was highlighted by a number of powerful shoulder charges and a 35m second-half try, where he split the Kumuls through the centre and galloped untouched over the line.

Marshall, while admitting his combination with Leuluai was taking some time to gel, said Luke was a welcome compatriat and determined to show coach Stephen Kearney he belonged in the first-choice 17, no matter the opponent.

Kearney has said he will employ a horses-for-courses approach this World Cup, selecting the best team to match up with the opponent.

"He's been hanging to get out there. He wanted to prove that he could have a spot and I think he did a good job. (There was) a bit of spark out of dummy half from him and he had a good second half," Marshall said.

Kearney was under growing pressure to include Luke against the Kumuls after his ball-starved side showed a distinct lack of bite against the Kangaroos.

"Obviously Isaac provided some real punch off the bench. I was well aware that's what he was capable of," Kearney said after the match.

On the back of his performance against the Kumuls, Luke will be difficult to dislodge from the top squad and will be pushing hard for a starting berth in Saturday's clash with the English in Newcastle.

Luke said even though he sat out the drubbing against Australia, he still felt the pain of a loss which his captain Nathan Cayless described as a let-down for the entire country.

"I think it goes for everyone. It's something that you honour. You wouldn't want to let them down. It comes down to how you play. (Against PNG) we did our country proud. It felt awesome," he said.

Despite the marked improvement from week one's performance, Luke said the Kiwis knew they had a long road to trod if they are to rise to the level of the white-hot Australians.

"We showed a lot in stints but we've got to go game by game. We've got some big days coming up and then we play England so we'll look at that rather than the whole competition," he said.

There was more bad news for the Kumuls, with PNG set to lose prop Makali Aizue for Sunday's clash with Australia after he was charged by the Rugby League World Cup match committee.

Aizue was charged with making unnecessary contact with the head or neck following a grapple tackle on New Zealand winger Sam Perrett in the first minute of Saturday's pool game.

The tournament's match review commissioner, Greg McCallum, recommended a one-match penalty which would rub him out of the final pool A game against the Kangaroos in Townsville.

PNG has until tomorrow evening to accept the penalty or challenge it at a Wednesday night hearing.

Kumuls winger David Moore was more fortunate, escaping with a caution after he was charged with leading with the leg into Simon Mannering's body in the first half.