Steve Deane: Lesser-spotted Kiwis deserving of greater profile in their country of origin

If ever a sports team had an appropriate nickname it's the Kiwis. Like their namesake, you can see the Kiwis on TV, but actually spotting them in the flesh is virtually impossible.

Actually, for the average New Zealander, an encounter with the shy, nocturnal flightless bird is probably more likely than stumbling across a Kiwis test match in their local patch.

Sure, both only ever venture out in the cover of darkness, but at least the birds emerge from their nests on a regular basis.

For the league team, strutting their stuff in front of a live New Zealand audience is strictly a once- a-year gig. At least it has been for five of the past six seasons.

The lone exception was 2006, when the Tri-Nations were held Down Under, and Australia and Great Britain (twice) set foot on our shores. In the last two years, Tonga have been the only visitors.

It all adds up to just eight home matches in five years. Eight. Over the same period the Kiwis have played 27 times on foreign fields.

The lack of a professional competition and with it an economic base in this country explains the disparity but, even so, it's hard not to think the game is missing a trick. The Kiwis are the world champions. Their stock has never been so high. League as a sport is capturing the imagination like never before.

But if the Kiwis are to insinuate themselves on the wider public's consciousness as a genuine major player alongside the All Blacks and Black Caps, they simply must come out of hiding. More nights like Wednesday in Rotorua, when a crowd of over 7000 turned out for a game against minnows Tonga, are vital.

The passion those fans had for the national side was impressive - and it's hard to believe that passion was unique to Rotorua.

Sure, there has been no shortage of ambivalence about international league in the major centres in recent years, with small crowds eating into profit margins, but we'll never know if the World Cup victory changed that. Fans in the big centres never got the chance to vote with their feet, and the NZRL never received any benefit of a potential upturn in interest.

With next year's Four Nations to take place Down Under, there may at least be a little light at the end of the tunnel. But even then, don't expect the final to be scheduled in New Zealand. The prospect of a big windfall from a big gate in Australia will see to that.

There is a reason the Anzac test is played in Brisbane every year.

The Kiwis' achievements are consistently under-rated by the likes of the snooty Halberg judges, and it's hard not to think their lack of a consistent visible presence on home soil isn't part of that. Really, though, the exact opposite should apply.

Much is made of the All Blacks' winning percentage, and there's no doubt it blows the erratic Kiwis' overall success rate - if it can be called that - out of the water. But let's compare apples with apples.

When the All Blacks' stats are stripped back to away matches against their two fiercest opponents - the Springboks and Wallabies - over the past five years, their success rate drops to just 50.

That still tops the Kiwis, who have won just nine of 27 away matches. But the Kiwis' victories include two major finals, while a third was lost in extra time.

It hardly needs to be said that the All Blacks haven't gone so flash in finals, or even in getting to them, in the last couple of decades.

But at least the All Blacks can look forward to the comforts of home in 2011. That's a luxury that doesn't seem likely to be afforded the Kiwis any time soon.