KEY POINTS:
New Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney admits to having some nerves at the prospect of teaming up with super coach Wayne Bennett when he arrived in the Centenary Test camp in Bondi on Sunday morning.
"I spoke to my wife and told her I couldn't remember the last time I was that nervous - I was never that nervous playing footy."
Bennett had made both him and the players feel right at home, Kearney said. That first night they spoke to the group as a whole, Bennett telling stories about his six grandfinal wins and other anecdotes and the squad lapping it up, before the two coaches took each individual aside and told them what was expected of them in the match. They were playing for their country, their family and friends and each other.
There is no friction over who speaks and Kearney doesn't tell Bennett when to speak nor when to stop.
"I'm very comfortable with him now. All I want is for the group to be given the best information. He's one of the best coaches of all time - I'm not going to tell him to stop."
Kearney's approach to the game as a player was meticulous and he brings this to the coaching role, no stone left unturned. "I try because that's what works for me and that's how I operate."
So half an hour after he was appointed as the Kiwis coach he was on the internet checking the NRL draw to see who was playing who and who had a bye around test week, what the Super League draw was like and who of the England-based players was a prospect.
It was in this area that Bennett's influence was immediately felt.
Kearney wanted to secure the release of fullback Brent Webb from Leeds and half Thomas Leuluai from Wigan. He checked that the players wanted to be part of the squad; both were eager. But the toughest part of selecting the side was always going to be securing players' release from English clubs.
The official channels did not work. The Kiwis coach approached management at Leeds and Wigan. "I tried the back road, it didn't work out.
"I said: 'Wayne, you need to talk to someone at the NRL'."
Bennett spoke to ARL secretary Geoff Carr and lo and behold, the two Aussies on the Rugby League Executive Committee voted for New Zealand - for the first time - when the issue was discussed.
"We really need to encourage our strengths," said Kearney. "We have a useful set of forwards that can really apply pressure to teams and that's [partly why] we needed to get Tommy and Webby back, because they are the link between that and the edges."
In the middle of this week Kearney was out for a jog when he met Carr walking the other way. Carr casually suggested the New Zealand coach needed to speak to referee Ashley Klein so he was clear on international interpretations different from those in the NRL - again, an unusual helping hand from the enemy. Bennett was to speak to Klein yesterday.
In training runs, it has been Bennett working hard on the defence and Kearney guiding the attack. Much of the defensive preparation has been aimed at stifling the dummy-half running of Cameron Smith and the ruck-running of Johnathan Thurston.
The preparation had been good, Kearney said. "We've we've given the guys a vision of what we think is going to work."
The first win for Souths last weekend was timely, Kearney said, Kiwis and Souths captain Roy Asotasi conceding he felt a lot more confident having that first victory under their belt, Kearney said. "[The] Cowboys are a quality team so that win was important for the Kiwis team."
Despite the obvious benefits of having one of Australia's greatest coaches involved, the controlling hand remains Kearney's. Five-eighth Thomas Leuluai is in no doubt who is in charge of the game plan. "Steve is doing a great job. Everyone is enjoying both his and Wayne's company. Steve is the coach - he calls the shots."
Dean Bell, football manager, was equally clear: "There's one coach there and that's Steve Kearney. If Wayne Bennett has something to say, obviously if you have him in the camp why not use his experience?" Bennett had told the team the coaches would prepare them as best they could, they were all experienced enough, but the result lay in the 80 minutes on the park.
It is Kearney who has done the video breakdown, hours and hours spent at home. "Steve's meticulous, he's spotted some weaknesses," Bell said of the analysis.
Is the game-plan one that can work? "Of course it is. It's about what you do, you can't concentrate on what they do."
