Kidwell silent on Anzac scandal
Kiwis coach refuses to elaborate on discrepancies in accounts of what happened before and on the night
Kiwis coach David Kidwell believes new captain Adam Blair epitomises the team’s values but steadfastly refuses to answer lingering questions regarding the side’s culture.
Kidwell has repeatedly denied requests from the Herald for a oneon-one interview in the wake of former captain Jesse Bromwich and teammate Kevin Proctor’s involvement in an alleged drugs scandal following the Kiwis’ Anzac test loss to Australia in Canberra on May 5.
At yesterday’s announcement confirming Blair as captain for the upcoming World Cup in October, Kidwell again declined the chance to answer questions about apparent discrepancies between the New Zealand Rugby League’s official statements and Bromwich’s personal account of what occurred that night three weeks ago, in the lead-up to the two players being caught consuming what is believed to be cocaine.
The full-time coach also refused to discuss two other worrying breaches of team protocols from last year involving one high-profile Kiwis player and denied the recent drama involving Bromwich and Proctor could have been avoided if harsher action had been taken and a line drawn in the sand.
The Herald understands the player in question was dealt with by team management following two separate alcohol related indiscretions after last year’s end of season test against Australia in Perth and on the subsequent Four Nations campaign in the UK.
“We’re all a big family when we go on tour and you have little incidents there but we all dealt with that,” said Kidwell.
“We had standards, we had protocols. Everyone else followed them. I trusted those guys, those senior guys in the team, and we’ve moved on from that decision and we’re moving forward.”
Kidwell also refused to be drawn on an interview Bromwich did last week with Melbourne’s Herald Sun, suggesting the Storm NRL frontrower kicked off a seven hour drinking session after the Kiwis’ 30-12 defeat at GIO Stadium and consumed more alcohol at the team hotel before going out on the town at around 1am.
The official line from the NZRL was that the players had returned late to the team hotel for a dry dinner before a small group of players and team staff went out for a quiet drink.
“We’ve reported what happened from us,” said Kidwell. “We had a dry dinner. No one in that dinner had any alcohol.”
Kidwell then declined to confirm reports that Bromwich was on pain medication after the game and under explicit instructions from the Kiwis team doctor to stay off the drink.
When pressed on why he could not provide an answer, the NZRL’s general manager of marketing and communications, Philippa Ivory, interjected saying the matter could not be discussed due to doctorpatient confidentiality.
Kidwell also refused to discuss claims that Bromwich has been left unhappy, after he reportedly volunteered to stand himself down from World Cup selection, with Kidwell insisting he make the public announcement that both players would be banned from playing in the end of season tournament.
“I’m not going to get into the details,” he said. “I’ve had private conversations with both of those guys. They know and I know what decision we came up with. They knew that that was the decision that I made and they accepted it and we move on.”
Kidwell and Blair, together with the Kiwis senior leadership group, are now reassessing their team protocols and considering whether to go alcohol-free throughout the World Cup.
New Zealand and Australia will cohost the end of season tournament with seven matches to be played in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
Blair believes a no-booze policy would be a small sacrifice for the players to make during their fiveweek campaign.
“If you look at the bigger picture, no [it isn’t a great sacrifice],” said Blair. “When you get selected in this team, we’re here for a purpose and we make sure that we’re driving the same purpose. “So if we have to make some sacrifices, we’ll do what we have to do to make sure we’re there in the end to achieve the main goal that we’re there for.”