Shock defection, awkward presser
David Kidwell would be a court stenographer’s dream. His delivery of speech is slow and deliberate as he tries to make his point. Even the scribblers in the media benches wouldn’t need their sketchy shorthand to follow his words.
And it was hard to feel that the Kiwis coach wasn’t on trial yesterday as he fronted 33 long and difficult minutes at the New Zealand Rugby League headquarters in Auckland, charged with mishandling the country’s greatest current talent.
But it was equally difficult to decipher whether Kidwell was the offender or the victim in these extraordinary circumstances.
What quickly became clear was the undeniable fact that Jason Taumalolo had delivered the most devastating hit of his celebrated career. The rollicking North Queensland forward completely blindsided Kidwell and his Kiwis management with his shock defection to the Tongan team for the looming World Cup.
Convener of selectors Tawera Nikau had spoken to Taumalolo on Sunday night after the NRL grand final and all seemed to be on track for the squad announcement. That was the last anyone in the mix heard from Taumalolo until he confirmed his move on Wednesday afternoon to turn his back on Kidwell’s Kiwis.
This from a player the stunned coach admitted he had based much of his World Cup game plan around. Subsequent phone calls, texts and emails to the star went unanswered. The silence was deafening.
Kidwell had no such luxury when the questions were turned on him about how and why this could happen on the eve of the sport’s showpiece tournament to be played on home soil.
He used a well-worn evasive tactic, basically saying, ‘‘You’ll have to ask Jason about that. It was his decision.’’
Kidwell, Nikau and NZRL chief executive Alex Hayton didn’t really want to discuss this embarrassment, especially not in the setting of the sport’s official museum at Mt Smart. This was unwanted history. But they knew they couldn’t avoid it.
After Kidwell delivered his opening address, trying to persuade the large gathering that he had ‘‘100 per cent commitment from the players we have selected’’, the first question was – surprise, surprise – about Taumalolo, the Tongan terror.
And virtually every question after that centred on the absent player rather than the 24 selected, including five new caps.
After 18 minutes there was the realisation that Kiwis captain Adam Blair was still hooked into the conference via a telephone call from Australia. ‘‘Are you there Adam?’’ asked Nikau. ‘‘We forgot about you.’’
But this is an unforgettable time for the game and once again it’s for the wrong reasons.
What should have been a celebration turned into a fumbled explanation.
There was the persistent but weak line that the unfortunate circumstances would ultimately make a better tournament in which a Pacific Islands team may really threaten the powerhouses now that they had had some of the better talent with Taumalolo joined by fellow Kiwi contenders David Fusitu’a, Manu Ma’a, Sio Siua Taukieaho and Australian star Andrew Fifita in the Tongan outfit.
Hayton, looking uncomfortable at the top table, didn’t offer anything until five minutes from the end, when he tried to explain the ridiculous rules that have allowed this situation to unfold.
None of it was convincing and it won’t have done anything to appease angry Kiwis fans bemused at how this ultimate snub could have unfolded.
Kidwell, with just one win in six tests, now faces his ultimate trial when this World Cup starts. On current evidence he looks to be a dead man walking.
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Kiwis coach David Kidwell has spoken of his disappointment at not being able to speak to Jason Taumalolo before or after his shock decision to turn his back on the Kiwis and play for Tonga at the World Cup.
Kidwell and the New Zealand selectors were left scrambling just minutes before announcing their 24-man squad on Thursday as three other players in Kiwis contention - David Fusitu’a, Sio Siua Taukeiaho and Manu Ma’u - followed Taumalolo’s lead by switching their allegiance to Tonga.
The drama was not confined to the Kiwis, though, with prop Andrew Fifita also withdrawing from the Kangaroos squad to join the Tongans.
Taumalolo’s decision blindsided the Kiwis camp, with Kidwell only learning of the switch two days ago through a third party. Convenor of selectors Tawera Nikau spoke with the Cowboys wrecking ball after Sunday’s grand final and he gave no indication that we was about to jump ship.
Despite numerous attempts to contact Taumalolo since Wednesday’s bombshell, Kidwell confirmed Taumalolo had yet to respond to his calls.
‘‘I haven’t had a conversation with Jason, face-to-face or on the phone,’’ Kidwell said.
‘‘I think that’s the most disappointing thing. I respect his decision but I think a conversation between him and myself would have been a good thing to do.
‘‘It’s entirely up to him and we respect that decision. But we’ve got to focus on the guys that have put their hand up and want to play in the jersey.’’
The punishment handed down to Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor over the cocaine scandal following the Anzac test in May was blamed by Australian media for Taumalolo’s decision to switch his allegiance to Tonga.
The reported Taumalolo was leading a host of players - some eligible to represent
Australia - who made a secret pact last week to represent Tonga instead.
Bromwich and Proctor were penalised $40,000 and suspended six club matches combined, and the playing group believed that was punishment enough, according to the
Fifita has turned his back on Australia for the rugby league World Cup. Other big names to turn out for the island kingdom in the side named today were David Fusitu’a, Michael Jennings, Solomone Kata, Tuimoala Lolohea and Manu Ma’u.
The Kiwis new caps were Nelson Asofa-Solomona, who last weekend helped the Melbourne Storm win the NRL grand final, prop Addin Fonua-Blake from the Manly Sea Eagles, Newcastle hooker Danny Levi, Sydney Roosters forward Isaac Liu and Brad Takairangi, a utility player at Parramatta Eels.
Kiwi coach David Kidwell said the Kiwis were looking for a big wave of support for the ‘‘new Kiwi spirit’’.
‘‘The key is the ‘we’. That is what a true team is, that is what a family is. We need our country to get behind us and believe we are going to get to the top of the world.’’
Asked if the squad was finalised an hour before it was named, Tawera Nikau gave a big grin. Nikau said ‘‘We want players who want to play for the black jersey, we want players that are 100 percent committed.’’
Captain Adam Blair, who joined the announcement via telephone due to family commitments in Australia, said it was a ‘‘massive privilege’’ to lead the side,’’ he said. ‘‘What’s happened, has happened.’’
On Wednesday night, Sydney Roosters’ Sio Siua Taukeiaho, who has one cap for New Zealand, confirmed he will play for Tonga.