Rookie Kidwell comes up trumps against master coach
OPINION: A few days ago some in England journalist didn’t even know David Kidwell’s name. Well they will do now.
At a press conference ahead of the Kiwis’ 17-16 win over England yesterday, Kidwell was called ‘‘Stephen’’ by one reporter.
But given how Kidwell, in just his second game in charge, was able to get one over Wayne Bennett shows that the new Kiwis coach has found his feet at international level.
Coming into the top job at short notice when Stephen Kearney jumped ship to the Warriors, meant this Four Nations loomed as a tough proposition for whoever took over.
No question that Kidwell blundered in his first test in charge, the 26-6 loss to the Kangaroos in Perth a few weeks ago.
But in Huddersfield he proved he is the man to take the team to next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
There was a nice use of the interchange from Kidwell, bringing Martin Taupau and Adam Blair off the bench later in the first half, after what was a pretty ordinary start to the game from the Kiwis.
He was also able to instil confidence in the team after that disappointing test in Perth.
Bennett was billed as the great redeemer when he took over the England job, replacing Steve McNamara who was axed, despite winning the three-test series over the Kiwis last year.
But England fans are finding out that bringing in the highest profile coach in the game doesn’t automatically make a team successful
Following the first half of the opening 40 minutes, the Kiwis were mostly in control and Bennett would have been fuming that they couldn’t make the most of their early domination of play.
However, this wasn’t a faultless display from the Kiwis and was a way short of the level of performance needed to beat Australia.
It was perplexing to see New Zealand go for a kick at goal in the 30th minute when under the England posts and Shaun Johnson landing a field goal in the 65th minute did seem a bit early.
However, as they came away with the win, there can’t be too many complaints.
One thing that may need to be looked at however is the use of Jordan Kahu as the team’s goalkicker.
He missed a relatively simple shot in the 57th minute, following Jordan Rapana’s second try, which kept England in the game.
Johnson has had kicking issues this year with the Warriors because of his injuries, but Issac Luke was on the field and it could be time for Kidwell to explore alternative options to Kahu.
The ridiculous fixture scheduling of this Four Nations means that it’s likely that the tournament is already over for England, unless they can pull off a miraculous victory over Australia at the Olympic Stadium in London in two weeks.
The Kiwis play the Kangaroos in Coventry next weekend, but this should become an almost irrelevant game, now that they’ve got the win over England, which is likely to be enough to get them into the final.
Kidwell should have a couple of weeks to tinker and experiment with his side before the Four Nations final and he should use that time wisely.
There would be nothing better going into a World Cup year than another Four Nations success.