Australian captain Stirling Mortlock expects a fierce physical onslaught from New Zealand, when the two teams meet in Auckland on Saturday in the return Test in the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations tournaments.

Mortlock, who missed the Wallabies' impressive 34-19 triumph over the All Blacks in Bledisloe One in Sydney at the weekend, is expected to reclaim his place in the midfield when the team is announced on Tuesday.

He has now made a full recovery from the head knock suffered in the 16-9 win over the Springboks earlier this month and is set to replace Ryan Cross as Berrick Barnes's midfield partner — also reclaiming the captaincy from George Smith.

Looking ahead to Bledisloe Two, in Auckland, Mortlock predicted that it would be "arm wrestle" in which the Kiwis will use brawn to beat the Wallabies' brains game.

"The fact that we did beat them (in Sydney) is going to make them come bull at a gate, probably wanting to bash us," Mortlock told AAP.

He predicted an "extremely, unbelievably tough game" for the Wallabies on Saturday.

"I've been over there (to New Zealand) a number of times and there's always a common theme with playing them over there, they are always arm wrestles and extremely tight," Mortlock said.

"I think the group state that we are in mentally at the moment, it would be to go over there with a real positive mindset.

"It's a great challenge and one that is going to be extremely difficult but one that we are looking forward to."

While there are mental hurdles the Wallabies need to leap in beating New Zealand away for the first time in seven years, Mortlock insists overcoming the fatigue factor will be just as important.

"It's an interesting challenge for us as well because it's our third week in a row of playing unbelievably intense Test matches," Mortlock said.

"We've got to get the mix right, the balance right at training and make sure we get that right physically, also get mentally right for what the atmosphere and the reception will be like on game day at Eden Park."

365