Why New Zealand’s club and Test performances are just not good enough

GIVEN the talent at their disposal, the current performances of the New Zealand national side and the Warriors is just not good enough writes GRAHAM LOWE.

The performances of the Warriors are not good enough.

There is more natural rugby league talent here in New Zealand than anywhere on the planet.

Have a look at the Kiwi heritage-dominated age group competitions in NSW and Queensland and it’s hard to deny.

So why can’t the Kiwis dominate in the NRL, and to a lesser degree, internationally?

On Sunday morning New Zealand face Australia in the Four Nations.

For a game that seems now to be focused on metres gained going forward, the key to a Kiwi victory against the Kangaroos will be the width that can be created wide of the ruck.

A valuable lesson was offered to the Kiwis by Wayne Bennett’s England side last weekend when for a period of the first half they played in attack with a width rarely seen in the NRL.

Simply put, their halves were offering running opportunities outside the big Kiwi pack with old fashioned wide passing from the ruck.

The Warriors have long been the underachievers of the NRL.

Jason Taumalolo was widely considered the most damaging runner of the ball this year.

If his coach David Kidwell throws the fashionable left and right attacking formations out the window and dares to try something ‘old but new’ like getting this damaging runner going at the Aussie line 30-40 metres wide, he’ll bust Australia open like a rhino through a rotten wooden fence.

Sure he did look good for the Kiwis against England with his powerful running down the middle and is near impossible to stop.

But this weekend I’d like to see him as wide as possible breaking the line and offloading like Cronulla’s former great wide running Kiwi forward, Kurt Sorensen.

An intercept by Shaun Johnson was the main difference between England and the Kiwis last week and to beat Australia relying on something similar is not enough.

New Zealand will waste their time if they think they can beat Australia by just trying to run through the Aussie middle.

New Zealand will need to drastically improve if they’re to beat Australia.

Taumalolo is the big difference between the two teams and having him offloading well wide of the ruck in Sorensen fashion will win the game for the Kiwis.

As for the NRL, I’ve seen plenty of the local New Zealand competitions here over the last couple of years and in my opinion a second squad of first-grade players are just sitting in line waiting for a start.

So if that’s the case, why aren’t the Warriors anywhere near the NRL’s best teams?

When I consider where the game of rugby league is at in New Zealand, there is very little to crow about in 2016.

In fact at the NRL level we have been going backwards.

Certainly the Kiwis have had some success against Australia and are currently ranked No. 1 in the world.

But something is missing.

The Warriors enjoy wonderful fan support but do little on the field to deserve it. In fact I doubt the game has ever seen a side that has so much talent on an annual basis, yet delivers so little.

When I dig my old coaching hat out of the wardrobe and put it on it becomes immediately clear to me what has been missing.

Shaun Johnson is yet to live up to his near limitless potential.

Quite simply, despite having a pool of naturally talented players that would make every other NRL club drool, they have never had a coach who knows how to get the best out of each one of those individual players.

Add to that a historic acceptance of mediocrity that includes being happy just to make the semis and you have a recipe for non achievement.

I got off side with many when earlier this year I described the place as having a ‘bro culture’ and I still stand by that.

I’m not meaning anything racist with this statement at all and those who know me know I haven’t a racist bone on my body.

But I think across the board they portray a ‘don’t worry be happy’ image that is reflected on the field and this is what I call a ‘bro culture’.

Kieran Foran will play a massive part for the Warriors next year.

His toughness alone will embarrass any player expecting another Warriors cruise through the year.

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I think I speak for most who love the game over here in NZ when I say “I want to hear it yelled from the rooftop of Mt Smart Stadium, we will win the premiership this year”!

It seems no one at the Warriors has ever had the confidence, courage or credibility to get that message across.

If strong confidence is not displayed what does that say about the place. There is an argument that you can’t say something like that in case you don’t deliver.

I disagree 100 per cent with that weak mentality.

Obviously there can only be one winner, but as long as your club goes down with all guns blazing you are entitled to be proud of them.

But the Warriors sink without a ripple.

New Warriors head coach Stephen Kearney is a man I have plenty of time for and hopefully he brings the chemistry that has been missing.

The thing is, with the right leadership, I think they are good enough to win the NRL premiership next year and they’ve had the players to do it for a number of years.

Can Stephen Kearney be the coach the Warriors need?

With my coaching hat still on I look at Warriors sensation Shaun Johnson and think wow, what a talent, he would make any team I picked but I have to be honest, there has something missing in his game.

He needs the right coach to get the best out of him on a weekly basis.

At the moment it’s his natural talent alone that has projected his reputation to the stage it’s at.

There is still a long way to go for this very talented player.

And I’m hoping Kearney will bring some balance to the make up of the team and also the style of play they employ.

For the last few years anyone with any idea about footy could predict the Warriors play to the minute.

That can’t be allowed to continue.

Originally published as Why New Zealand’s club and Test performances are just not good enough