Stephen Kearney admits last year was tough but insists he is determined to stay the course. Photo / Richard Robinson
From the moment a teenage Stephen Kearney started running amok for Randwick in the early 1990s it was obvious he was destined for league greatness.
Then, a strong Wellington club competition was stacked full of big men with big names. Alongside Kearney, John Lomax, Syd Eru, Morvin Edwards and Tana Umaga were all setting out on the road to bigger and better things.
Kearney's rare blend of size, speed, skill and toughness meant the kid from the Kapiti Coast's stay in the Hutt Valley was always going to be brief. Western Suburbs Magpies handed him a ticket to the NRL while he was still just 19, marking the start of a professional career that would relentlessly gather accolades for the next two decades.
The 39-year-old's gongs include a player of the year award during a four-year stint as a foundation Warrior; an NRL title with the Storm; a Challenge Cup win with Hull; a World Cup as co-coach of the Kiwis and the 2010 Four Nations title. There has been the occasional blip, such as being sent off in the opening minutes of his final game as a player with Hull, however the rise of Kearney's star has been largely uninterrupted.
From Hull he went straight into the Storm's coaching ranks, helping to accumulate a bunch of now-stripped titles alongside Craig Bellamy. Having taken over the Kiwis' reins with the national team at a low ebb, he enjoyed immediate, unprecedented success at the 2008 World Cup. If that achievement was marked with an asterisk owing to the presence of Wayne Bennett's helping hand, the 2010 Four Nations triumph showed he was quite capable of standing on his own two feet.
Needing a coach to conduct a significant rebuilding exercise, Parramatta came calling. Kearney answered the call - and things began to change. After a first-up NRL season as a head coach that saw the Eels narrowly avoid the wooden spoon and an awful 2011 Kiwis campaign that garnered just a solitary win against minnows Wales, Kearney's star has not only stopped rising, but appears dangerously close to being sucked into a black hole.
After a first-up defeat by the Broncos, Australian bookmakers have installed the Eels as wooden spoon favourites. So far the club has fully backed its coach, saying rebuilding was always going to take time, but there is no doubt Kearney is facing his most testing time in the game.
An unflappable sort, he insists he is intent on staying the course, chalking 2011 up as a valuable learning experience.
"Last year was a tough year but every experience, whether it's good or bad, is a lesson for me," he said. "There were some really good lessons out of last year, not only at a club level but also at international level. I feel if I can learn out of all of the occasions, it will make me a better coach.
"I'm very mindful of where I want to take the footy club but also what we are trying to do at international level. The shining light is that I know it's not going to happen overnight but I thought in some of our performances last year, apart from three, they showed enough to say what we are doing there is worth it. That's the continual challenge, to keep working away and not be deterred from what you think will work for your club."
Kearney is also keen to downplay any suggestions juggling a fulltime club job with his Kiwis duties is too big an ask.
"From a coaching point of view with the Kiwis, from a time factor, it's not a great deal of time. It's a week during the year. There's a bit of planning that goes on but a lot of it is self-managed by the NZRL. It's basically me turning up and making sure I steer them in the right direction."
With just the April 20 Anzac test and a return match against the Kangaroos on October 14 on the schedule, the Kiwis' workload is particularly light this season.
"I think it's come at a good time for us," Kearney said. "I know, particularly with last year, a number of guys required surgery and just needed a break from the game. If you look at our performances, some of them who went away probably could have done with a break too."
Kearney's next challenge comes against an equally desperate Warriors side on Monday night. Should the Eels lose, the clouds above his head will continue to gather.
"There's no doubt it's a big game," he said, "but every game in the NRL is a big game."