KEY POINTS:
"Well, he can't do any worse than the last bloke."
That was the reaction of a friend on hearing Stephen Kearney and not, as many had assumed, Wayne Bennett, had been appointed Kiwis coach.
It was a fair enough sentiment. Gary Kemble's spectacularly unsuccessful record shouldn't take much beating. And Kearney shouldn't have much trouble running a tighter ship. From day one, Kemble's mercifully brief tenure was dogged by ill-advised behaviour and public utterances from all quarters.
Yes, Kearney will do better than Kemble - but that's not necessarily saying all that much.
And it rather glosses over the fact that the NZRL have plumped for a man with such non-existent coaching credentials that his appointment needed to be sold alongside the revelation that Wayne Bennett has agreed to act as his mentor.
Kearney described the relationship between the two as "teenager-parent".
Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
What exactly Bennett's role will be is unclear, although it is unlikely he'll be in the changing room before matches. Kearney will be the one calling the shots. Bennett appears likely to be a source of friendly advice. And not much more.
Kearney's coaching credentials - two seasons as an assistant at Melbourne Storm - don't exactly inspire confidence. Especially given that, for most assistants, their first year is largely spent putting out the cones and manning the stopwatch during fitness drills.
There are, however, exceptions. Ricky Stuart and Nathan Brown are recent examples of players who've made a good fist of coaching more or less straight after finishing playing.
Kearney certainly has some of the attributes needed to succeed. It is, as the saying goes, hard not to like the cut of his jib. A player who always demanded the best of himself, Kearney will expect likewise of his players.
And, while he may be young for a coach at 35, success has always come early to a man who knew at 16 that rugby league would be a career rather than a pastime.
A standout player and a leader in a Kiwi-studded Randwick pack at just 18, he was spotted by Winfield Cup club Wests in an era when New Zealanders were still a relatively rare sight in Australia's top competition.
He debuted for the Magpies at 19 and became the youngest-ever captain of the Kiwis on the 1993 tour of Great Britain when still just 21.
Unlike many precocious talents who break through young and burn out early, Kearney lasted the distance as player, finally hanging up the boots in 2005.
His last ever game, however, was not one he will remember fondly. Playing for Hull FC in a playoff match at Bradford, he was sent off after just seven minutes for a horrible high tackle on Great Britain prop Stuart Fielden. Hull fell apart and lost 71-0.
While it was a bitter end for Kearney the player, it did rather highlight a fiery side that was never far from the surface. How that element of his nature will manifest itself in Kearney the coach is anyone's guess. After all, he hasn't really done any coaching.
That said, he has been around the game long enough to know how it is done and he was quick to point out that his mentor at Melbourne, Craig Bellamy, has created a pretty decent blueprint for success.
Kearney also said he sees his role as providing an environment that would allow the Kiwis players to succeed - something his predecessor was palpably unable to do.
NZRL chairman Ray Haffenden was at pains to point out that Kearney has the mana to coach the Kiwis.
No doubt the same would have been said about Gary Freeman when he was appointed in 2001. At the time, the spiky Freeman was the most capped Kiwi with 46 appearances.
The parallels with Kearney's appointment and Kemble's end are unmistakable. Freeman's tenure ended after a dismal tour of Great Britain in 2003. Such was his performance that the NZRL felt moved to change its constitution to get rid of him. The governing body will be praying that history doesn't repeat. Presumably Bennett is involved to make sure it doesn't.
