Grim Kiwis story
boss Alex Hayton at first paused before explaining how tough the challenge was facing any coach.
“If you look at the track records of a lot of Kiwis coaches over the years, Australia is the benchmark and it is a hard ask,” Hayton told Newstalk ZB’s Tony Veitch. “When we’re playing Australia, it’s like in rugby union for everyone else playing the All Blacks. is signed to a long-term contract, so removing him now would be costly for the cashstrapped New Zealand Rugby League.
the NZRL want a New Zealander as Kiwis coach, there aren’t many other experienced options.
World
Cup is less than six months away, which is never an ideal time to make a change.
has faced Australia, who are in a different class to anyone else, in four of his six tests in charge. Games against Samoa, Tonga and Scotland at the World Cup will allow some precious opportunities to build combinations and confidence.
this year, New Zealand won’t host another World Cup for at least 12 years. It ’s a wonderful opportunity for the sport and the Kiwis need the best possible person as head coach. Based on the available evidence, there must be serious questions that Kidwell is that man.
Kiwis are blessed with a golden generation of talent but Kidwell seems unable to get the best out of them.
gulf between the Kangaroos and Kiwis appears to be widening.
at the last minute has worked before, with Stephen Kearney replacing Gary Kemble as Kiwis coach, 10 months out from the 2008 World Cup.
“I think there was a step up in the performance and where we’re at. There’s still room for improvement obviously, because we didn’t get the result we wanted. We’ll now work towards the World Cup and, hopefully when we meet them, we’ll get the result that we want then.”
Hayton was also content with the make-up of the coaching staff, saying Kidwell already had enough support without someone such as Green being introduced.
“We’ve got Shane Richardson and Steve McNamara in there, and they both bring a lot of experience to the team. Not just to David, but the players. So we are building a structure to get us the performance that we want.”