KEY POINTS:
The NZRL's director of football, Graham Lowe, is at home recovering after a successful operation to remove a blood clot from a major artery in his leg.
Lowe, who has suffered heart and brain haemorrhage problems in previous years, went to his specialist after feeling unwell.
"I had an MRI scan and he spotted it straight away," the former Kiwis coach said.
He had arterial bypass surgery in his left leg at the Mercy Hospital and after a week there has been allowed home and told to rest, with full recovery less than a month away.
He still managed to meet Kiwis selectors Darrel Williams and Daryl Halligan this week and is talking to fellow Kiwis coaching selectors Frank Endacott and convenor Howie Tamati.
Lowe said work and the stress that went with his job was not a factor in his health problem. "It's a factor in my blood, I always have to watch it."
The selectors will meet next week to determine which of the prospective Kiwis coaching candidates make it to interview stage, and the process to be followed from there in determining a replacement for Brian McClennan.
With applications closing today, the list of candidates could be described as "all the likely suspects", with leading Bartercard and representative coaches Phil Prescott from Canterbury and Bernie Perenara from Waitakere, Paul Bergman from Wellington, former Junior Kiwis coach Gary Kemble and former Kiwi and Warrior Duane Mann all confirmed.
Lowe was confident of finding "another Bluey".
* Former Kiwis prop Paul Rauhihi's career may be over after he suffered an elbow to the throat while playing for Warrington against Hull KR at the weekend. Rauhihi, 34, has a haematoma the size of a golf ball on his trachea and has been told not to play again this season.
