KEY POINTS:
Former Kiwis skipper Stephen Kearney was today named as the new coach of the New Zealand rugby league team, with Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett taking an advisory role.
Kearney, who is assistant coach with the Melbourne Storm, is contracted with the Kiwis for the next two years.
Bennett's role is initially for the centenary test against Australia in Sydney on May 9.
NZRL chairman Ray Haffenden said Bennett's further involvement would be assessed after that, with a view to continuing it through to the World Cup campaign at the end of the year.
Kearney played 45 tests from 1993 to 2004. He made 264 National Rugby League appearances from 1992 to 2004, with Western Suburbs magpies Auckland (now New Zealand) Warriors and the Storm. He also played a season for Hull in England in 2005.
Speaking from Melbourne, he said it was a thrill to be appointed test coach after having played over a long time for the Kiwis.
"It's also great to know I'll have the chance to work alongside a coach like Wayne, who has achieved so much in the game and made such a fantastic contribution to rugby league over so many years," he said.
Kearney, 35, succeeds Gary Kemble, who was to have guided the Kiwis through to the World Cup but resigned last month after a player revolt, having been just five months in the job.
Bennett's name had been linked to New Zealand job after Kemble's bad start to his tenure, which included a 58-0 defeat to Australia and a 3-0 series whitewash at the hands of Great Britain.
Kemble's premature departure came after skipper Roy Asotasi and fellow senior Kiwi David Kidwell publicly questioned whether he was up to the task at international level.
Two weeks ago, Haffenden and NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz held talks with Bennett in Brisbane.
Bennett has been one of the most successful coaches in the game's 100-year history.
Last week he confirmed he is leaving the Broncos at the end of the upcoming NRL season, his 21st in charge of the club with which he has won five premierships and the lone Super League title in 1997.
Bennett led the Queensland State of Origin side to four series victories between 1987 and 2001 and also coached Australia 16 times between 1998 and 2005.
- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF, AAP
