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Steve Smith was back to his best in the Boxing Day Test as he found a way to overcome New Zealand's short-ball attack and go to stumps 77 not out.

Steve Smith made patience his priority against New Zealand to help him return to form and push for a fifth straight Boxing Day Test century at the MCG.

Smith will resume on 77 not out on Friday morning, eying off a 27th Test century after a tough opening day in Melbourne.

Caught out by New Zealand on the pull shot in his last three innings against them, Smith has spent a week perfecting his answer to short-pitched bowling.

The right-hander regularly swayed out of the way of bouncers on the opening day in Melbourne, pulling rarely and only along the ground when he did so.

New Zealand are among the best planners in the world and no doubt believed they had found a weakness in Smith after Perth.

They had him out twice off bouncers with dominant legside fields at Optus Stadium, where Smith scored just 43 and 16 in his two innings.

But in response it's no coincidence Smith's strike-rate of 35.41 this series is by far and away the slowest scoring rate of his career, as he plans to out-grind the Black Caps.

"It's a bit different. It takes a lot of patience," Smith said.

"Just the way they set the field up. There's not a whole lot you can do and it's risky to play the pull shot ... particularly the wrong length.

"I thought I played that well (on day one in Melbourne). I pulled off the right lengths. I got out of the way of a few and copped a few.

"It's just different the way the field is set, you can't really score. Taking it on is a big risk. It's just a patience game and you have to wear them down."

Smith, of course, is one of the best problem solvers in world cricket.

He spent hours in the Melbourne nets this week combating the short ball, rolling the wrists on pull shots to send balls straight to the ground against practice bowlers and batting coach Graeme Hick.

"I replay all the time when I get out and try and figure out what I did wrong and what I didn't do wrong," Smith said.

"Sometimes you get a good ball and you try and there's not much you can do. But majority of the time you get yourself out.

"The best players around the world that make the best decisions more often than not. For me it's just about trying to learn as much as I can on the job."

His reward was a move to 10th in Australia's leading run-scorers in Test cricket, and his first Test half-century since the Ashes as the Aussies went to stumps at 4-257.