Ruben Wiki: Kiwis coach is a big decision but I'm a big Mac fan

With Daniel Anderson now on his way to English club St Helens, it's important the New Zealand Rugby League makes the right decision appointing the next Kiwis coach.

Brian McClennan and James Leuluai have been with the Kiwis set-up for the past couple of years and it would be good to see one of them appointed ahead of the Tri-Series.

It's always been said that stability in selection is important when it comes to picking a team and I don't see any reason why it should be any different when appointing a new coach.

There has been a clear pathway to the top job established recently, with Brian and James appointed as assistant coaches and it would be a shame for the NZRL to move away from that.

The players are familiar with them and they also know what to expect with the job so I don't think they would be overawed by the position.

Both guys also have some great ideas on the game and, in Brian's case, he has proved himself as a coach considering virtually every side he's been with has gone on to win trophies. He has a lot of coaching credibility and the players respect that.

When he speaks he gets the message across pretty easily, while James is a bit like me - he doesn't say a lot but, when he does, people sit up and take notice.

While Tawera Nikau and Mark Graham were both great international players and I have a lot of respect for them, Tawera in particular needs to prove himself as a coach first.

He's been leading Waicoa Bay in the Bartercard Cup for only a couple of years and for his own good he needs to take them to the next level. If he can do that, then he would deserve to get a shot further down the line.

It's certainly sad to see Daniel go because he's done a great job with the Kiwis over the past couple of years - for an Aussie - and despite a record of only two wins from nine games he has taken us to the next level mentally.

Even though I know that I'm a bit long in the tooth, I was always willing to listen to what he had to say and he taught me a great deal during his time with the Kiwis.
The future looks healthy because we've got the talent, it's just making it click into place and Daniel has been working hard during his time as coach to make it work.

He's also done a great deal of work setting up development programmes so we can make sure we have the next generation of Kiwis coming through and I hope the next coach carries that on.

Of course Daniel needed to do what was best for him and even though he's been in New Zealand long enough we can claim him as a Kiwi, he wants to get back to coaching week-in and week-out and I wish him all the best.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY