There’s no defence for these Kiwis, on and off the field

Kidwell: Values important Sharks boss: No problem SKD: I’m no rulebreaker

OPINION: Bloody Kiwis. Useless on the field. Worse off it.

A common opinion since Friday night’s Anzac test, and one loudly expressed by the muscular guy in the Martinborough Hotel public bar on Saturday.

And nobody snorted, not simply due to him being the size of a standard issue league front-rower. Patrons responded with headshakes and nods. A discouraging word was not heard.

Simply put, there was no defence, just like the Kiwis in the first half on Friday.

Wasted 30-12 after trailing 30-0, in a miserable final Anzac test loss that aptly recalled the military shambles that was Gallipoli; other than both Australia and New Zealand lost on that occasion.

Wasted in Canberra after the game as well; legal TMOS putting Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor on report for allegedly snorting the illicit drug cocaine.

Smashed on the field. Smashed off it.

At least it can be said the Kiwis are consistent.

High on the delights of life on Saturday morning, a day later the two Kiwis were sorry for their ‘‘poor decisions’’ and ‘‘devastated’’.

It’s not clear what poor It has been an awful weekend for Kiwis coach David Kidwell, who after suffering a convincing defeat to the Kangaroos in the final Anzac Test suffered the ignominy of his captain being caught up in a cocaine sting.

‘‘I’m pretty gutted,’’ Kidwell said yesterday of the trip to Canberra where captain Jesse Bromwich and team-mate Kevin Proctor were allegedly caught inhaling cocaine outside a nightclub following the 30-12 rugby league test defeat.

‘‘They haven’t only let themselves down, but also their Kiwi team-mates, the family and their respective clubs. I put trust in these men in these one-off tests

decisions they were sorry for actually were, as Proctor was so drunk he couldn’t remember ‘‘exactly’’ what happened.

Squeezed between delight and devastation came ‘‘doh’’; the police release of CCTV footage purporting to show two men in Canberra sniffing a white substance through rolled banknotes at 5.10am on Saturday.

So, one might ask, is the ‘‘devastation’’ Proctor and and clearly they’ve broken that trust.’’

‘‘Clearly we have to look at our code of conduct and we’ll be making adjustments to that where it’s need it,’’ Kidwell said on Monday morning.

One of the immediate tasks facing Kidwell is to name a new Kiwis captain and the coach wants to make sure he picks someone who has the right values.

‘‘I do need to appoint a new captain and it has to be someone who lives and breathes what we’re trying to achieve and build at the Kiwis,’’ Kidwell said.

‘‘That’s a good characteristic that they’ll need.’’

Bromwich feel the result of them simultaneously being hit by a lightning bolt of realisation they had made ‘‘poor decisions’’?

Or is it more ‘‘we had a great time, but annoyingly got nabbed on CCTV, so we’d better play the devastation card’’.

Canberra man Adrian Crowther is facing charges he supplied the drug to two NRL players. Both Bromwich and Proctor have said they were too Cronulla chairman Damian Keogh says he does not have a drug problem following his arrest for possession of an illegal substance.

Former Australian basketball star Keogh, 55, was allegedly found with a small resealable bag containing a white substance at a Woolloomooloo pub as police conducted a drug dog sweep.

‘‘It’s obviously been a very distressing time personally and for the family. I’ve just been bunkering down and trying to register things,’’ he told News Corp.

‘‘I’ve stood down as chairman of the Sharks to try and distance myself from that at this stage.

‘‘It’s been a very challenging weekend but it gives me a greater appreciation of what a lot of our players go through when they have issues.’’

Keogh, who is also the CEO of cinema chain Hoyts, was charged with possessing a prohibited drug, reportedly cocaine, on Friday night.

‘‘No I don’t have a drug problem,’’ Keogh told reporters yesterday.

‘‘People who know me know this isn’t me, it’s not what I’m about.’’

Keogh said he was in discussions with lawyers on the matter and could not discuss them yet.’’

He is due to face Downing Centre Local Court on June 30. Shaun Kenny-dowall denies ever using cocaine and has reportedly offered to take a hair follicle test to prove it.

The 20-test Kiwis international, who wasn’t selected for last Friday’s defeat to Australia in Canberra, is fighting to save his National Rugby League career after he was charged with drug possession at a Sydney nightclub when out with fellow players.

The Sydney Roosters outside back was arrested at the Ivy nightclub at about 1am on Friday after allegedly being found with 0.46 grams of cocaine by Australian police.

The 29-year-old will face Downing Centre Local Court on June 21, and his place in the Roosters team to face Parramatta this weekend is uncertain.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported Kenny-dowall has denied using cocaine in a confidential letter from his lawyers to the NRL integrity unit on Monday.

Via his lawyer Chris Murphy, Kenny-dowall offered to take a hair follicle test which can trace cocaine use in the previous 90 days. The letter reportedly reads: ‘‘My client has been subjected to many random tests in his substantial playing career. He has never broken the rules in this area of chemicals or prohibited substances.