Kiwis need to make us all proud again
OPINION: With the Kiwis now in camp for the Rugby League World Cup, it’s time for there to be some pride about the team.
For so long the Kiwis have been either the disgraced or forgottenabout national team of New Zealand.
Over the last four years there have been a catalogue of disappointments.
There was the dreadful display against the Kangaroos in the last World Cup final and the subsequent revelation that players mixed sleeping pills with energy drinks during the tournament.
Although they won the Four Nations in 2014, there was the disappointing tour to England in 2015, losing the dour series 2-1.
Last year Stephen Kearney left them in the lurch by quitting as coach just before the Four Nations and this year it couldn’t have been any worse.
First there was the one-sided 30-12 loss in the Anzac test, where the Kiwis were down 24-0 at halftime; then the incident involving Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor.
Any hope of being able to move forward to the World Cup campaign in a positive manner was ended when Jason Taumalolo, chose to represent Tonga, rather than the country of his birth.
So, more bad headlines about the Kiwis and once more David Kidwell is under the pump through no fault of his own.
Sadly for the Kiwis, when they’ve not been under fire they’ve been ignored.
Rarely do you see a kid walk around in a Kiwis jersey. They’ve become detached from the New Zealand public, because they’ve played here so rarely.
Their last test in New Zealand was the Four Nations final in Wellington in 2014 and they haven’t played in Auckland, the hotbed of the code in the country, since 2012.
How can people feel connected or passionate about a team they never see play?
All changes next Saturday when they take on Samoa at Mt Smart Stadium. It should be a moment where everyone can move on and reconnect with this national team.
So let the crowd be vocal and passionate and let’s see the likes of Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa- Sheck, Adam Blair and Jordan Rapana get stuck in.
And when they play Tonga in Hamilton, teach Taumalolo and the other New Zealand-born defectors a thing or to.
In some sports and in some countries, they’d be burning effigies of a player if he did what Taumalolo did. I’m not suggesting anyone do that to Taumalolo, but he shouldn’t be given an easy time in New Zealand.
Tonga have continued to play the ‘poor us’ card and Taumalolo still hasn’t answered any tough questions.
For the sake of the Kiwis’ pride they need to thrash Tonga on November 11.
They need to show the New Zealand public they’re a team worthy of their support.
They need to capture the public’s imagination at this Cup and most importantly of all, do the country proud.