Denver test not dead, but welfare on line
NZRL also says coaching and refereeing pathways must be stronger
NZRL chairman Reon Edwards is confident the Kiwis’ test in Denver against England will go ahead.
Over the past two weeks the controversial USA game, to be played on June 24, has been described as being on ‘‘life support’’, with NRL chief medical officer Paul Bloomfield expressing his concerns over the players’ safety by taking part in the mid-season test.
The NRL’s chief operating officer, Nick Weeks, has expressed similar reservations and so has Clint Newton, from the Rugby League Players Association.
The clubs or the NRL aren’t in a position to call off the the tests and the NZRL doesn’t need to gain their permission for the match to go ahead.
But Edwards believes once everyone has all the facts about player welfare and the details of the trip, there will be less negativity towards the game.
‘‘We’ve still got to have those discussions with the medical director in terms of presenting our player welfare and medical document, which supports the welfare concerns that clubs may have,’’ Edwards said.
‘‘Then it’s a case of sitting down with the RLPA, the medical director and the clubs.
‘‘We’ve got a bit of work to do around that, but we want to make sure we’re dealing with the facts, not speculation around player welfare.’’
March 16 will go down as one of the darkest days in the history of the NZRL, when the scathing review of the failed World Cup campaign was released.
Tim Castle and Raelene Castle highlighted a number of shortcomings inside the NZRL, and while there was plenty of focus around the World Cup, the report also highlighted the lack of coaching pathways in New Zealand.
Presently, Stephen Kearney, Stacey Jones and Tony Iro are the only New Zealanders coaching at the NRL level, while Nathan Cayless is coaching the Eels’ NSW Cup side and John Teina does the same job at the Warriors.
Edwards acknowledges that the NZRL have dropped the ball with not just promoting coaches, but also referees.
‘‘We definitely need to make some changes to how we develop our up and coming New Zealand coaches,’’ he said.
‘‘We need to work through and understand that plan and what it could look like.
‘‘That might involve engaging the NRL more and working through programmes that could mean some lower level competitions provide the next stepping stone and offer some further experience.
‘‘We want to talk to the International Federation about how we can expose our referees, because it’s not just the coaches.
‘‘So how do we provide an international pathway for our New Zealand referees, because they’re in the same boat.
‘‘We want to do more and there’s a real willingness to ensure we provide a more sustainable pathway.’’
The NZRL announced on Thursday that the panel to appoint the next Kiwis coach will be Dean Bell, Frank Endacott, Monty Betham and Waimarama Taumaunu.
It’s almost certain that the next coach won’t be a New Zealander and for that to be the case in a country with such a proud league heritage will be a tough pill to swallow.
‘‘We’ve got a really small pool,’’ admitted Edwards.
‘‘We have to look at ourselves, in terms of what we’ve done over the last 10 years, which has presented us with this issue we have now.
‘‘It’s probably something that’s been simmering away for a number of years and unfortunately this is the situation we have now.’’
One plan Auckland Rugby League have, which would also raise the levels of New Zealand coaching and refereeing, is the formation of a semi-professional competition from 2020.
The ARL want to make it Auckland wide to start with, but then grow it around the country.
‘‘I think good on them for taking the initiative and looking through that,’’ Edwards said.
‘‘But from an NZRL point of view, we haven’t had time yet to carry out any proper analysis of their proposed competition.
‘‘So we need to be given some time to sit down with them.’’