NRL: New assistant coach sees potential for Kiwis to regularly topple Kangaroos

New Kiwis assistant coach David Kidwell. Photo / NZPA

New assistant coach David Kidwell is determined to help the Kiwis reach a new level of consistency that will see them able to beat the Kangaroos on a regular basis.

A former Junior Kiwis coach, Kidwell, 37, will fill the Kiwis assistant role alongside head coach Stephen Kearney, through the remainder of this year and to the end of 2015.

While the Four Nations tournament in November looms as the primary focus, Kidwell explained he is driven to lift the Kiwis' performances so that they can topple the Australians in the annual Anzac test.

"At the moment I'm just happy to be in the environment and to try and help us consistently beat Australia. That's got to be our goal and obviously a future goal is the upcoming World Cup, and being able to build on what the culture has been and make it stronger and get those guys ready," Kidwell explained.

"It's just the last couple of years we haven't been performing to the best of our abilities and obviously we need to fix that up. The Anzac tests, the one-off tests, are something we need to be consistently better at and perform at."

Born in Christchurch, the tough centre turned second-rower played 241 NRL first-grade games and 20 tests for New Zealand, culminating in success at the 2008 World Cup.

Kidwell currently serves as assistant to Wests Tigers head coach Michael Potter, after three years working under Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm. His defensive work with the Tigers has helped turn that team around from 7-17 strugglers last year to 8-7 playoff contenders so far this season, but his specific role with the Kiwis is yet to be fully defined.

"We're both busy with our NRL clubs at the moment but I'm hopefully going to meet with Stephen over the next couple of weeks and then we can figure out my definitive role. I think my experience with playing and being at a couple of really good clubs, I can bring on some things I've learned over the years and bring it on-board to the brotherhood in the Kiwis team."

Kidwell had previously applied for the top Kiwis job when it was advertised earlier this year and is believed to have made the shortlist of contenders before Kearney was re-appointed.

The pair were former teammates in the New Zealand side while Kidwell also played under Kearney in the national set-up.

"It's a good relationship. The [NZRL] board was testing the waters and they decided to go with Mooksy [Kearney] and then when he asked me to come on board it was a definite 'yes' straight away.

"I'm pretty hard but fair. I like to get my point across and make sure everyone's clear on their roles and that's important. I like to balance it up with a bit of fun too. You have a balance in your life and coaching and players do as well and I think that's my coaching style."