Graham Lowe: Accent on Aussie breaks my heart

It's a sad state of affairs when we have to advertise in Australia for Kiwis players.

Is the New Zealand Rugby League now saying an Australian accent will give you a look in?

I find it insulting to the game in New Zealand that players who have never served any type of footy apprenticeship in this country are even considered.

Those who disagree with me could point to Nathan Cayless and Richard Swain, and say there are players we should be looking at. Well, call me old fashioned, but I want born, bred, and developed Kiwis playing for New Zealand.

What does it say for the way we play the game here? All countries have their own style of football, and this should be protected.

I'm well aware how successful the Aussies have been over the past decades, but to revert to getting possible talent through the back door is a disgrace and must make some of our past league greats cringe.

If the thinking is that we have been losing tests against the Kangaroos because we lack talent, then I must be watching different matches. We have lost for many reasons, but lack of quality players isn't one of them.

Let's be frank, the Australian game is considered by some to be robotic, albeit very effective, whereas the New Zealand game has been guilty on occasions of being too flamboyant.

Of course this is not entirely true, but we do provide entertainment with our style, and to lose that quality would be a shame.

But don't forget, the Kiwi style has won more games in the past than recent efforts, when we seem to have tried copying the Australian style. The Kiwis could do a lot worse than ask former greats Roger Bailey and Ron Ackland about how New Zealand used to play.

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Monty Betham has paid the price for a lazy tackling technique and will be one sorry young man this week.

He is a wholehearted player and one many felt could take over from Kevin Campion.

Whether Betham is achieving that is debatable. You can't deny his enthusiasm, but his attack, in my opinion, is not offering enough of a challenge to the defence.

With his suspension, the Warriors needed to look for a new on-field leader and they have gone for Stacey Jones.

The only other contender was P. J. Marsh. He is possibly the club's form player and a great inspiration, so he was an obvious contender.

But if the club are to go all the way - and if the Kiwis are to beat Australia - I think Jones has to step up and retain the captaincy on a permanent basis.

He is now an experienced player and needs to shed his humbleness and shyness, and announce to the league world in the way he knows best - on the paddock - that he is the No 1 halfback in the game.

It appears he admires the Knights' Andrew Johns greatly and has often said he would like to be as good as Johns.

Well he is. He just needs to step up and show it. He has the ability to be our greatest player ever. A couple of years ago I thought Jones could do without the responsibility of being captain, but he is now ready for it.

He can play the leadership role Brad Fittler has for the Roosters, and that is what has been missing in the last couple of Warriors games.

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The Warriors pack will function with more balance with the return this week of Logan Swann.

Towards the end of last year I thought Swann was lucky to hold his spot, but he has regained great form and brings a combination of defensive and attacking skills that were missing against the Panthers.

The Bulldogs will be desperate tonight and although I'm sure they wouldn't admit it, I think the Warriors will be as well.

We are only eight games into the premiership, but this is a must-win for the Warriors because the table is so tight and a couple of straight losses for any team makes recovery very tough.

It is starting to sound like a stuck record, but it's hard to be confident before a difficult game such as tonight with a poor goalkicking record, and although Marsh looks like he is striking the ball well, a chat to Matthew Ridge could do wonders.

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