League: Benson credits NZRL strategy for career move

Junior Kiwis coach Tony Benson believes the New Zealand Rugby League's strategy for developing coaching talent is the reason he has landed the coveted job at British club Leigh.

Benson, 38, moves to the north of England next month, after beating 36 other applicants for the post at what he described as the hotbed of the English game.

Little known in Britain, the Aucklander believed his background was what swayed the decision his way.

"To be perfectly honest, it's the pathway I followed with New Zealand league," he said.

"It's pretty thorough, involving the New Zealand Academy of Sport. You train in a lot of areas and it's quite extensive."

Benson said English clubs would often appoint recent test players, who might not have had much coaching behind them.

"Playing it and knowing it is different from communicating it effectively," he said.

"What the New Zealand league has taught through its system is how to communicate it. The training side that I've done, like having a focused plan, was alien to them (in England)."

Benson's coaching background includes five years with Bartercard Cup side Hibiscus Coast, including two grand final appearances and one title.

He has guided the Junior Kiwis for the past three years, his stint ending with a 46-8 hammering of Australian Schoolboys in Brisbane in July.

Through the NZRL and Prime Minister's Scholarship, he has spent time with National Rugby League clubs the New Zealand Warriors, Parramatta and Brisbane, and Super League outfits London, Bradford and Leeds.

"No one in Britain can do that, because the clubs in Britain would tell them to go away," he said.

"So when you put all that on paper, it looks pretty exciting to an employer because you can bring all those ideas in."

Leigh will play in division one next season after having been relegated from the Super League.

Part of Benson's aim is to try to encourage up-and-coming talent to stay in the area.

Benson has lived in Britain before. For a couple years in the late 1980s, he played for first London club Fulham and then at amateur level.

He was looking forward to being immersed again in the passion that the English had for the game.

He was reintroduced to that passion when his appointment to a two-year contract was announced this month.

"There was a huge media launch, which blew me away."

Benson was also looking forward to catching up with some familiar faces, including former Warriors Iafeta Palea'aesina and Karl Te Mata.

The two props, whom Benson has coached, have joined St Helens and London respectively.

"'Feka' (Palea'aesina) will be just down the road and Karl has just gone over, so there's a few Hibiscus Coast people over there now."

- NZPA