‘The game needs some leadership’

Former Kiwis coach Graham Lowe has slammed the Kiwis’ reaction to their Rugby League World Cup exit as ‘‘unforgivable’’ and ‘‘un-Kiwi’’.

Lowe, Kiwis coach from 1983-1986, stopped short of saying the Kiwis needed a new coach and captain, but called on the New Zealand Rugby League to ‘‘show some leadership’’ and ‘‘act now or step aside’’.

Kiwis captain Adam Blair claimed the loss to Fiji was ‘‘not a negative’’, playmaker Shaun Johnson hit out at the team’s fans and critics after the loss to Fiji, and coach David Kidwell stressed the Kiwis had a great culture.

Lowe said the Kiwis’ reaction was ‘‘ridiculous’’. ‘‘To disrespect the fans is unforgivable. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

‘‘I’m sure the Kiwis camp were distraught [at being eliminated from the World Cup], but they were absolutely immature and childish in their thinking.’’

Lowe said he never saw any signs of public or media antipathy to the Kiwis during the campaign.

‘‘There was fantastic support for the island nations, but there was no anti-Kiwi feeling that I could see. It’s going to be hard to forgive some of that nonsense. It’s un-Kiwi.’’

Lowe was dismayed at Blair’s immediate after-match reaction. ‘‘Why he said what he said, the body language . . . the whole thing was beyond comprehension.’’

Lowe said he thought the Kiwis played well at times during the tournament, but could not blame the fans or critics for their failure.

‘‘It’s a real simple game we are involved in. If you play well, you win, if you play poorly you lose – it’s as simple as that.’’

Lowe said the ‘‘acid is now on the NZRL to show some leadership and courage’’ and give the game some direction.

‘‘The game needs some leadership, it’s been a terrible year [for rugby league in NZ]. The Warriors were diabolical – they had some of

‘‘It seems to me like these guys think the game does owe them.’’ Graham Lowe, above

the worst performances we’ve seen – and now the culmination of all this is what happened with the reaction at the weekend.

‘‘The whole thing was amateur hour. It’s like they’ve forgotten that the game doesn’t owe any of us, we owe the game. These guys have forgotten that – it’s too easy for them.

‘‘It seems to me like these guys think the game does owe them.’’

Lowe said the NZRL needed to act immediately, not delay a World Cup review. ‘‘It needs to be done now. They’ve got to throw all the PC bulls..t out and fix the thing, or step aside and let someone who’s not afraid to do it.’’

Lowe backed Kidwell’s decision to drop former captain Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor from the World Cup squad after they were caught using cocaine during a drunken night out after the Kiwis’ loss to Australia in Canberra last May.

‘‘That was a tough call for David Kidwell, but I think he handled it really well. He did the only thing he could do.’’ But he felt Kidwell’s ‘‘lack of experience caught up with him’’ at the World Cup, and felt the NZRL needed to create pathways to encourage more New Zealand coaches.