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mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
League: Kearney's tactical switch key to win
By Michael Burgess in London
8:56 AM Sunday Nov 8, 2015
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of New Zealand battles for the ball with Ryan Hall of England during the International Rugby League Test Series match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney admits his late switch of Kodi Nikorima for Tui Lolohea today was one of the biggest calls of his coaching career.
At the start of the week Nikorama, who played from the interchange bench last week, was left out of the 17 for this match.
But Kearney - acting on a hunch and some feedback from his coaching staff - decided to make the change on Thursday afternoon.
"It was a real big call," said Kearney. "At the beginning of the week I had it in my mind that I would use Tui there (at halfback). But over the course of the week I just had a feeling myself - and in consultation with the coaching group - I thought Kodi would be a better fit for us today."
Kearney stressed the move - which is rare in the modern game - was purely tactical and based on a gut feel.
"It was certainly nothing that Tui did or anything," said Kearney. "I just felt Kodi was the better fit. [But] it was a tough call."
It will go down as a masterstroke from Kearney. Lolohea - as Kearney said - didn't do anything wrong in the first test - but did struggle to impose himself on the match. In hindsight, it was a big ask for the 20-year-old to run the team with so much inexperience around him.
Nikorima is a slightly more structured player, and was a good foil for Peta Hiku today. He also has more big game experience - having been involved in the Broncos' finals run - albeit with cameos off the bench.
The 20-year-old was remarkably composed, linking well with his outsides and managing some deft grubbers. He also helped to create the only try of the match, making a half break down the blindside before slipping the ball to Tohu Harris Harris who sent Shaun Kenny-Dowall across in the corner.
Peta Hiku also stepped up from last week, where he started well before fading with the rest of the team. The Manly utility was in everything at the Olympic Stadium and twice crossed the English try line, only to have the ball dislodged on both occasions. Hiku was also a key part of an improved kicking game from the Kiwis, and his precise grubbers forced numerous repeat sets in the second half.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=11541910
By Michael Burgess in London
8:56 AM Sunday Nov 8, 2015
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of New Zealand battles for the ball with Ryan Hall of England during the International Rugby League Test Series match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney admits his late switch of Kodi Nikorima for Tui Lolohea today was one of the biggest calls of his coaching career.
At the start of the week Nikorama, who played from the interchange bench last week, was left out of the 17 for this match.
But Kearney - acting on a hunch and some feedback from his coaching staff - decided to make the change on Thursday afternoon.
"It was a real big call," said Kearney. "At the beginning of the week I had it in my mind that I would use Tui there (at halfback). But over the course of the week I just had a feeling myself - and in consultation with the coaching group - I thought Kodi would be a better fit for us today."
Kearney stressed the move - which is rare in the modern game - was purely tactical and based on a gut feel.
"It was certainly nothing that Tui did or anything," said Kearney. "I just felt Kodi was the better fit. [But] it was a tough call."
It will go down as a masterstroke from Kearney. Lolohea - as Kearney said - didn't do anything wrong in the first test - but did struggle to impose himself on the match. In hindsight, it was a big ask for the 20-year-old to run the team with so much inexperience around him.
Nikorima is a slightly more structured player, and was a good foil for Peta Hiku today. He also has more big game experience - having been involved in the Broncos' finals run - albeit with cameos off the bench.
The 20-year-old was remarkably composed, linking well with his outsides and managing some deft grubbers. He also helped to create the only try of the match, making a half break down the blindside before slipping the ball to Tohu Harris Harris who sent Shaun Kenny-Dowall across in the corner.
Peta Hiku also stepped up from last week, where he started well before fading with the rest of the team. The Manly utility was in everything at the Olympic Stadium and twice crossed the English try line, only to have the ball dislodged on both occasions. Hiku was also a key part of an improved kicking game from the Kiwis, and his precise grubbers forced numerous repeat sets in the second half.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=11541910
Sup42
Humble response from Kearney who has proved he is capable of changing his mind on halves selection for the betterment of everyone.
Benji must have been an unforgivable chap to him and the other selectors then.
Coz Kearney's just proved he will change if other people tell him too and its what's best for the win.
Otherwise its a conspiracy against Marshall.
Benji must have been an unforgivable chap to him and the other selectors then.
Coz Kearney's just proved he will change if other people tell him too and its what's best for the win.
Otherwise its a conspiracy against Marshall.
Last edited:
bruce
Contributor
That is a conclusion
I think Kearney is too professional for that...the same degree of professionalism that would not select a player because of poor standards.
mode81
As a fan no way do I want Kearney sacked as Kiwis coach to me he's proven himself and doesn't deserve the sack, this is his golden era of Kiwis success.
Some people can get a bit over the top towards him at times and I'm disappointed with some of his selections but you can't deny how much success he's brought to the Kiwis since he's been in the job.
Kearney understands the Kiwi mentality and ethos, he knows what works best for this team, these guys love playing for him and as the coach if you don't command respect from your players you might as well not even coach. Kearney has the players respect there's no unrest or player power movements to oust him and they all buy into his methods. He knows his stuff.
He's made hard calls like Benji's non selection and dropping Tohu Harris Harris for SBW.. I don't think Tohu Harris would have made an ounce of difference against a rampaging Kangaroos in the World Cup final to be honest. These are minor issues in the bigger scheme of things he couldn't care less and brushes it all aside anyway.
The knives were out for Kearney when he selected all those rookies for an Anzac Test due to depleted playing stocks but those players rose to the occasion for him.. Havili, John, Henry etc .. he knows the type of player he wants to suit his game plan at the time.
I like his hard nose take no prisoners mentality, his professionalism, he knows what makes these boys tick and when he's got a full deck to play with not even the ozzies can go with us when his machine is in full swing.
Some people can get a bit over the top towards him at times and I'm disappointed with some of his selections but you can't deny how much success he's brought to the Kiwis since he's been in the job.
Kearney understands the Kiwi mentality and ethos, he knows what works best for this team, these guys love playing for him and as the coach if you don't command respect from your players you might as well not even coach. Kearney has the players respect there's no unrest or player power movements to oust him and they all buy into his methods. He knows his stuff.
He's made hard calls like Benji's non selection and dropping Tohu Harris Harris for SBW.. I don't think Tohu Harris would have made an ounce of difference against a rampaging Kangaroos in the World Cup final to be honest. These are minor issues in the bigger scheme of things he couldn't care less and brushes it all aside anyway.
The knives were out for Kearney when he selected all those rookies for an Anzac Test due to depleted playing stocks but those players rose to the occasion for him.. Havili, John, Henry etc .. he knows the type of player he wants to suit his game plan at the time.
I like his hard nose take no prisoners mentality, his professionalism, he knows what makes these boys tick and when he's got a full deck to play with not even the ozzies can go with us when his machine is in full swing.
Brother Faisal
I think the tour has been well managed. To be fair the boys have had a long year and it seems theyve balanced out the tourism and work scales pretty well. Remember we are playing a 4nations there next year and we need as many keen young fullas to want to go back again this time of year.
Kidwell is a smart cookie, the best coaches have the smartest people around them helping make decisions. Iro was pathetic as an assistant and it seems like kearney and kidwell work well together.
People forget Kearney changed the culture of the kiwis. He had the balls to cut anyone that didnt buy into his new philosophies, what did that get us? a four nations title and 3 consecutive wins against australia that hasnt been done by a kiwis outfit since the 1950's.
He's not a dummy but he always makes the stlightest changes. He operates at a snails pace with change but putting nikorima into the halves was his biggest call recently. Its good to see a coach follow his gut and listen to his right hand men. Tui doesnt bleed for the kiwis yet whereas you could see nikorima, cramps and all wanted to give his all for the team.
If kearney pulls it off this sunday ill take my hat off to him, its not that he chose not to take halves but that he had the balls to create a game plan that could beat england without halves which only a genius could pull off.
This tour has done wonders for isaac lukes kicking, you can see how that will benefit the warriors next year, the responsibility put on him by kearney has lifted his game mentally and tactically.
Kearney is doing a great job. although the organization is in financial strife the team has never been in better condition on and off the field with its image.
Kidwell is a smart cookie, the best coaches have the smartest people around them helping make decisions. Iro was pathetic as an assistant and it seems like kearney and kidwell work well together.
People forget Kearney changed the culture of the kiwis. He had the balls to cut anyone that didnt buy into his new philosophies, what did that get us? a four nations title and 3 consecutive wins against australia that hasnt been done by a kiwis outfit since the 1950's.
He's not a dummy but he always makes the stlightest changes. He operates at a snails pace with change but putting nikorima into the halves was his biggest call recently. Its good to see a coach follow his gut and listen to his right hand men. Tui doesnt bleed for the kiwis yet whereas you could see nikorima, cramps and all wanted to give his all for the team.
If kearney pulls it off this sunday ill take my hat off to him, its not that he chose not to take halves but that he had the balls to create a game plan that could beat england without halves which only a genius could pull off.
This tour has done wonders for isaac lukes kicking, you can see how that will benefit the warriors next year, the responsibility put on him by kearney has lifted his game mentally and tactically.
Kearney is doing a great job. although the organization is in financial strife the team has never been in better condition on and off the field with its image.
bruce
Contributor
Yes they do, the dunces employ non threatening types for their own job security.
The guy was an amazing player, he had it all. I also liked the way he called things as he saw them. Hopefully Jim has found a niche for him now.
Sup42
Is that why my new boss said I'll fit in nicely ? Then called me Dave.....my names not Dave....
Jay M
Contributor
surfin
mode81
Good way of putting it.. I saw that determination in Kodi last year when the Junior Kiwis played the Junior Roos in Auckland he was scintillating, sometimes you can just tell when a player has it and he definitely has 'it'.
I thought the club should have made a play for him when he was on the open market he proved his worth coming on as an impact player for the Broncos he's a classy player.
Brother Faisal
Yep. He's a class above Tui at the moment. I think tui maybe caught in that konrad hurrell trap of thinking he's made it without putting in the hard yards.
mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
Doubt it. What youre seeing is merely the difference between the NZ and Australian development machines...
mode81
At the moment Kodi is playing a class above that's why the Kiwis coaches changed tack and went with him in the second test.
Coaches going on a hunch is all good that's not a blight on Tui after all this was always going to be a development experience for him getting to mix with some of the elite.
You very rarely hear about Tui away from the game and that's a good thing, he's one of those ninja type guys strike outta nowhere.. perseverance with him will pay off eventually.
mode81
Benji's non selection.. how long has it been since Waerea-Hargreaves last played for the Kiwis?
There's been a few times that I can't think of at the top of my head that he's made some strange decisions, all for the betterment as they say.
Sup42
Remember all the hooplah during the WC when we were using the 'Roosters defensive system ?
There was an article about how the Roosters players had persuaded the coach to try thier system (most effective defence in the NRL at that time).
We don't have JWH or SBW this time round....I imagine the pattern changed after those two were no longer in favor /available...and the campaign turned to shit.
Interestingly we conceded lots of points in that WC against the big two.
The thing that has been of most interest to me since Kearney started racking up wins, has been the defence.
In our victories over AUS post the WC, the best thing we've had going for us is conceding less than twenty points to Aussie in games.
In the NRL....if you can keep the opposition to twenty or under, and you have a Star studded line up, then the games not over till 70 plus minutes.
Before the first test of the series....I was really interested in seeing if.....with key players missing.....we would still see the defensive pattern that has taken us to number one....obviously if you introduce new guys....the defensive understanding is at high risk of bring disrupted.
That to me would be a measurable variable that proves the coach has skills no other Kiwi coach has consistently proved ( past coaches win games in isolation and also preside over massive blow out losses... Kearney had his in the WC final, but six of his guys were drug pigged).
The Leeds game made us look leaky, but you excuse that as Kiwi rust.
The first test saw us ripped open and put
real doubt in my mind as to whether Kearney and Kidwell have anything special going on in terms of the defensive side of rugby league.
Game two is a nine points to two score line which really is an anomaly in international (modern) footy.
Well it is in Rugby League, in Union it happens.
The rugby league exception is State of Origin, which is inherently a defensive series...ergo players with flakey defence tend to only get picked once...when they are exposed....that's it for them....never picked again.
I might be drawing a long bow here....but I'm starting to think Kearney's template of selection and game plan is modelled on the Origin mentality, pick proven tacklers first, aim for shut outs and low errors,
I think this is why Thomas Leuluai has been a perennial favorite, he's a tackler with mean ruck defence.
I think that's why Mannering was made captain post Benji, over someone like Foran who is also a defensive leader with attacking skill (Forans won a premiership Simon's Captaincy at club level is a deserted landscape)... Simon is pure defence....so gets the nod as a role model supreme.
All this bleed for the jersey nonsense (I'm a believer in it) is very Wayne Bennet thinking.
When Bennet was in charge of Queensland and the Kangaroos, the players he picked served him like he was master.
Kearney seems to be doing the same... At the chagrin of Marshall and JWH fans....go back before those two and you have complaints about penalty magnet Matai being left out (unquestionably NZs best veteran center).
Where this model pisses Kiwi fans off most (if indeed,I am right and it exists)....is that we don't have the depth afforded SOO coaches....ergo teams selected from NZ's pickings....with that mindset.....will end up with halves pairings filled by guys who have rarely or never played there.
By my reckoning, Kearney will only risk non defensive players in very minimalist ways.
His ideal selection will allow one attacking half (preferably Johnson) with a tackling half (Foran) and in thier abscenece he picks Tui/Nikorima for the attacking half and shores that up with Hiku...a tackler.
Why would any coach substitute Luke ?
Historically Kearney has replaced him with the defensively sound TL.
When things went pear shaped for Kearney last week ( he looked sour in the coaching box) he shored up his bench with Glen and Brown.....neither are dynamic strike players
Its not Rocket surgery to see thier inclusion Was a defensive move.
Adam Blair as replacement co captain, is someone that's come in from NRL and international wilderness..... His claim to fame this year has been leading the Broncos defensive charge into the GF.... Where he played the role of the best defensive player on the paddock.
There was an article about how the Roosters players had persuaded the coach to try thier system (most effective defence in the NRL at that time).
We don't have JWH or SBW this time round....I imagine the pattern changed after those two were no longer in favor /available...and the campaign turned to shit.
Interestingly we conceded lots of points in that WC against the big two.
The thing that has been of most interest to me since Kearney started racking up wins, has been the defence.
In our victories over AUS post the WC, the best thing we've had going for us is conceding less than twenty points to Aussie in games.
In the NRL....if you can keep the opposition to twenty or under, and you have a Star studded line up, then the games not over till 70 plus minutes.
Before the first test of the series....I was really interested in seeing if.....with key players missing.....we would still see the defensive pattern that has taken us to number one....obviously if you introduce new guys....the defensive understanding is at high risk of bring disrupted.
That to me would be a measurable variable that proves the coach has skills no other Kiwi coach has consistently proved ( past coaches win games in isolation and also preside over massive blow out losses... Kearney had his in the WC final, but six of his guys were drug pigged).
The Leeds game made us look leaky, but you excuse that as Kiwi rust.
The first test saw us ripped open and put
real doubt in my mind as to whether Kearney and Kidwell have anything special going on in terms of the defensive side of rugby league.
Game two is a nine points to two score line which really is an anomaly in international (modern) footy.
Well it is in Rugby League, in Union it happens.
The rugby league exception is State of Origin, which is inherently a defensive series...ergo players with flakey defence tend to only get picked once...when they are exposed....that's it for them....never picked again.
I might be drawing a long bow here....but I'm starting to think Kearney's template of selection and game plan is modelled on the Origin mentality, pick proven tacklers first, aim for shut outs and low errors,
I think this is why Thomas Leuluai has been a perennial favorite, he's a tackler with mean ruck defence.
I think that's why Mannering was made captain post Benji, over someone like Foran who is also a defensive leader with attacking skill (Forans won a premiership Simon's Captaincy at club level is a deserted landscape)... Simon is pure defence....so gets the nod as a role model supreme.
All this bleed for the jersey nonsense (I'm a believer in it) is very Wayne Bennet thinking.
When Bennet was in charge of Queensland and the Kangaroos, the players he picked served him like he was master.
Kearney seems to be doing the same... At the chagrin of Marshall and JWH fans....go back before those two and you have complaints about penalty magnet Matai being left out (unquestionably NZs best veteran center).
Where this model pisses Kiwi fans off most (if indeed,I am right and it exists)....is that we don't have the depth afforded SOO coaches....ergo teams selected from NZ's pickings....with that mindset.....will end up with halves pairings filled by guys who have rarely or never played there.
By my reckoning, Kearney will only risk non defensive players in very minimalist ways.
His ideal selection will allow one attacking half (preferably Johnson) with a tackling half (Foran) and in thier abscenece he picks Tui/Nikorima for the attacking half and shores that up with Hiku...a tackler.
Why would any coach substitute Luke ?
Historically Kearney has replaced him with the defensively sound TL.
When things went pear shaped for Kearney last week ( he looked sour in the coaching box) he shored up his bench with Glen and Brown.....neither are dynamic strike players
Its not Rocket surgery to see thier inclusion Was a defensive move.
Adam Blair as replacement co captain, is someone that's come in from NRL and international wilderness..... His claim to fame this year has been leading the Broncos defensive charge into the GF.... Where he played the role of the best defensive player on the paddock.
Last edited:
brightman
JWH would have been selected for this tour and the ANZAC test and last year's Four Nations if not for injury and making himself unavailable, there's nothing in that one.
Plus given his form of late Kearney and I look forward to seeing him transfer that to the Kiwi's jersey before the WC
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