"I was a little bit surprised about the article," said Team Manawatu coach Stu Jacobs. "I think Ricki is a little bit wide of the mark there, to be honest. Over the years I know of plenty of coaches who have been in touch with the Phoenix over players. It might have been with [former assistant coach] Johnathan Gould or someone else in the organisation but there have definitely been conversations."
Another coach said the whole process of recommending players was a delicate business: "When you recommend someone, you are also saying that they are better than what [that coach] has already got. That is the touchy part. Ricki is the national coach and his achievements speak for themselves so it is not as straightforward as you think."
Another ASB Premiership coach said: "I would be more than happy to talk to Ricki but I have to remember who my employers are. My main job is to win games and competitions for them. We don't necessarily want to be losing our best players - but we do want the best for them. Having said that it would be great to open dialogue between ourselves [ASB Premiership coaches] as a collective and the club [Wellington Phoenix]."
He said two or three teams were not that far away from A-League standard, with others probably further back.
"Development is a by-product of the job and not the end goal," said another coach. "While we would be happy to see some of our players move into the professional ranks, we are not going to actively palm them off. Our main responsibility must be to our franchise."
Another coach can see the essence of Herbert's argument: "Players need to be absolutely exceptional in the NZFC to stand a chance in the A-League," he says. "To a degree, Ricki is right in some of his comments. The gulf exists in terms of physical readiness and game understanding."
"Maybe we all need to have more of a look and help our one professional club," said Waitakere coach Neil Emblen. "There is probably room for more communication on both sides."
Apart from the physical demands, he said there was also a huge mental side to the equation: "Players would need to go to trial situations and look guys like Tim Brown and Andrew Durante in the eye and feel they belong," said Emblen. New Zealand Football CEO Grant McKavanagh says that while the communication may not have been great in the past, they are actively trying to improve.
He added that, while the Phoenix are crucial for New Zealand and remain the shop window, they are not the be-all and end-all.
"People who are in the ASB Premiership need to win that," said McKavanagh. "That is their core goal. At New Zealand Football, it is not our role to develop players for the Phoenix, it is our role to grow players to be the best they can be."
The fact that the Phoenix are unable to field a reserve or youth team is a huge - often underestimated - handicap. Imagine the Warriors without the Vulcans or Toyota Cup side; their success in recent years has been closely tied to the results of the under-20 side in particular. If Herbert was able to field a genuine reserve side, he would probably contract more local players.
Additionally, the fact that New Zealanders in Australia are classified as imports, whether at youth or senior level, makes them unattractive to Australian A-League clubs - meaning that the Phoenix are realistically the only pathway in Australasia. Various national league players have been given trials over the years but very few - Ben Sigmund, Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas are obvious exceptions - have made the breakthrough.
However, players like Ian Hogg, Aaron Clapham and Roy Krishna probably deserve a chance in a professional environment, especially in Hogg's case. The Phoenix play Sydney today.
