KEY POINTS:
Gary Kemble may be out of his depth, but Graham Lowe has got to be off his rocker.
Long are the jokes about sports club owners and chairmen offering unqualified support for beleaguered managers. Invariably it is seen as the kiss of death.
Unfair, I've always felt, because what else is a chairman supposed to say?
Good old Lowie, the New Zealand Rugby League football manager, has taken completely the opposite tack over Kemble's position as Kiwi coach. Among his comments of limited support, he reckoned Kemble was out of his depth and showing his inexperience.
Kapow - now that's a real kiss of death.
A team with little faith in its coach now finds he has been well and truly nobbled by the man who presumably helped to appoint him. How Kemble got the job in the first place beats me - he has no record at all to speak of. As for his likely replacement, as I've already stated this week, who would know?
There isn't exactly a line of brilliant New Zealand candidates with surefire records out there. Melbourne's Steve Kearney perhaps. Or will the Bring Back Bluey signs go up?
First, the NZRL must scrap its residency rule for coaches. While a home-based coach may be ideal in an ideal world, it's a bizarre shackle to put on oneself when the only professional competitions are overseas. The NZRL has to be able to consider the overseas option if it is going to get out of this mess.
