League: Coach speaks the players' language

Stephen Kearney can get the best out of players, says Lance Hohaia. Photo / Getty Images

LEEDS - Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy's fondness for four letter words is so great that rugby league officials have twice dispatched architects to deal with it.

When Bellamy was in control of the Country Origin representative team, special boxes were built on top of grandstands to keep the public as far away from Bellamy's 'effs and cees' as possible.

The story is repeated here as an insight into the qualities of Bellamy's assistant, and the Kiwis' World Cup-winning coach, Stephen Kearney.

"Stephen is a calming influence on Craig," Storm chief executive Brian Waldron told the Herald On Sunday.

"The way we do things now is: Stephen sits on the sideline. Craig delivers messages to Stephen in the style that only Craig can, you know?

"But Stephen translates it to the players. He puts his spin on it. His delivery is a little different. And I think if you look at our results this year, it seems to work."

As the Four Nations in Europe heads into its final week, the question of how Kearney turned around a Kiwis team dramatically under-performing into one on the verge of the most successful period in its 102 year-history is no easier to answer.

At least, not simply.

The Kiwis' changes of coach are, with the benefit of hindsight, easy to chart and rationalise. Gary Freeman was a former great with limited top level coaching experience. His replacement was a career coach, but a foreigner, in Daniel Anderson.

Freeman's removal had been justified by a new rule that the national coach must live in New Zealand. Anderson's replacement was locally-grown Brian McClennan, who exceeded expectations wildly by ending Australia's 28-year-reign in major tournaments and series.

McClennan was forced by the aforementioned regulation to stand down after signing with Leeds.

Gary Kemble was a former great and budding coach but his tenure was disastrous, with a clean-sweep loss to Britain and open hostility towards him from his players on tour.

Following the course already set, one would expect a big name with lots of mana - as a coach - to be appointed, to keep the players happy and eliminate the perceived flaws of the previous men. Phil Gould, for instance, comes to mind. Wayne Bennett is another one.

But Bennett didn't want to be head coach of New Zealand. Kearney was plucked from Bellamy's staff, with 'St Wayne' as his offsider. Having coached the Aussie team that McClennan toppled, Bennett managed to garner much of the credit for last year's World Cup success.

For the Anzac Test this year, Bennett removed Kearney's training wheels by opting out - and the 20-20 draw with Australia in London on October 23 suggests the St George-Illawarra boss is not being missed very much at all. So rather than being appointed, Kearney has been manoeuvred, nudged and encouraged into the job he is now doing so well.

"Having Wayne in the ranks was good for the players but I think it was good for Stephen as well," said fullback Lance Hohaia, who has played under the last four Kiwi coaches - and alongside Kearney.

"It helped morale and what Stephen has done is build the confidence that we can win games and win them regularly."

When utility Greg Eastwood was ruled out for the rest of the tournament last week, it was said several times that at least he broke his hand on the field and not in a bar-room fight, as Clinton Toopi did a couple of tours ago.

So how does Kearney keep such a tight ship?

"On one hand, he is definitely one of the boys," says Hohaia.

"He didn't finish playing that long ago so the guys can relate to him. But on the other hand, he just commands so much respect. He played for New Zealand so many times and the staff he has around him, like Dean Bell and Tony Iro, have also played for the Kiwis with distinction. A lot of respect comes from that."

As a day-to-day Storm coach, Kearney is at the cutting edge of things like video analysis. Players don't come into the Kiwis thinking they've joined an amateur set-up, which NRL players often believe when they join teams outside of Australia.

The tactical brain of Anderson and the presence of Freeman but can he match the motivational nous of McClennan? Apparently so ...

"Yeah, he's pretty good at that. He's a composed type of fellow ... but he can push your buttons," Hohaia counters. "The passion he has for the jumper is something that really comes across when he speaks to you."

Hohaia also believes it's just a good time to be a New Zealander when it comes to rugby league.

"Look at some of the players we left behind," he said. "There were five, six, seven who would easily have made our squad. We have pressure within the squad now for places and that is something that wasn't there before. You can't have a bad game now or you will be out.

"In the past, most of the players were from the Warriors. Now there are a lot with Australian clubs and that increases the competition again."

Kearney having signed on until the next World Cup is good news for Melbourne. He has said a number of times he could not be head coach of club and country because there are not enough hours in the day.

Having lost Michael Maguire to Wigan, Kearney's departure would be a significant blow to the Storm.

"If he gets a head coach's job, we have told him he can go," said Waldron. "We have an honest relationship with him."

Kearney, according to his boss, doesn't swear as much as Bellamy because he doesn't have to.

"Those big eyes look at you and you can't help but take notice," he says.