Athletics: Tigerish twins can be best - coach

Zane Robertson celebrates after winning bronze in the Men's 5000 metres final at Hampden Park Stadium during day four of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Photo / Getty Images

The mercurial talent of the Robertson brothers will be nurtured to ensure the fireworks emerge while running rather than off the track.

The twins have been one of the revelations of the New Zealand team in Glasgow, creating headlines both during and after races in their first appearance at a Games.

And although some of the attention was undesirable, the 24-year-olds are set to compete among the elite of long-distance running until Tokyo 2020 and beyond.

Zane's bronze medal in the 5000m was one of the more impressive Kiwi efforts of the Games - athletics high performance coach Scott Goodman said it was the "stand-out result" - while Jake's explosive rant at the end of his campaign was also somewhat extraordinary.

Goodman would like to see more of the former and less of the latter, considering just how bright the future of the black singlet could be with the twins involved and performing at their peak.

"They want to be the best in the world, and I give them a chance," Goodman said. "That race, the 5k, that was a pretty world class group of athletes and they were right in the mix.

"I think by Rio they'll be really competitive but, age-wise, Tokyo is where they're going to be at their best. So we've got five or six years of watching them race."

Judging by the pair's performance in the 5000m, at least until Jake was accidentally tripped by Nick Willis, it will be pleasurable viewing. Goodman revealed that race had been the talk of the athletics meet, with outsiders discussing the duo's abilities to mix it with the Kenyans.

That's of little surprise, really, considering the Robertsons have spent the last seven years living and racing in Kenya, a single-minded approach to running that has already reaped rewards.

"Jake and Zane are very special people and they've put themselves in a very special environment," Goodman said. "What they do is very unique and I'll do whatever I can to help those boys. I think they can be the real duck's guts."

The Australian-born Goodman may confuse a few Kiwi fans with that piece of lingo, but he was much more clear on the issue of Jake's tirade after the 10,000m. The most notable target was Willis for his role in Robertson falling out of contention in the 5000m, a grievance that threatened the harmony in the team Goodman has invoked.

But the coach believed the trio of runners enjoyed a solid relationship that would suffer no damage because of a remark made in the heat of the moment.

"When you catch them at the end of a race, a 10km race, they're oxygen-deprived and it was probably best he hadn't said anything. He was disappointed because he thought the 5k was a chance for him to show where he's really at. He believes he could've won. He's not angry with Nick so much, personally - he knows that's racing."

Willis, too, shrugged off the comments when speaking after his bronze in the 1500m yesterday morning, choosing instead to take aim at the messenger.

"We're athletes - that's your job to do sensationalist journalism on stuff the athletes might say."

And while the content of Robertson's message could have crossed a line, Goodman was more than content with the tone of his young charge.

"They think they can win - that's why I say they're special. When they come through [the interview area] they're angry because they got beaten. That's better than the, 'Oh, I went out and tried hard and did nicely'. I actually like that," Goodman said. "They've got a bit of tiger in them."