Report slams Kiwis over Rugby League World Cup

WELLINGTON

An independent review has issued a damning assessment of New Zealand's failed Rugby League World Cup campaign last year, finding it poorly planned, naively coached and inadequately promoted.

The Kiwis co-hosted the event with Australia but crashed out in the quarter-finals for the first time after humiliating losses to tier-two nations Tonga and Fiji.

An independent review commissioned by the New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) cited a "systemic failure" of leadership at the organisation and "a complete lack of proven high performance sport expertise".

"No decisive action was taken by senior NZRL management to address the unsatisfactory situation," it concluded.

The authors — Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle and sports lawyer Tim Castle — also took aim at NZRL's failure to promote international rugby league's pinnacle event.

"NZRL missed an opportunity to positively showcase the sport of rugby league to New Zealand and to the world," they said.

The Kiwis were rocked shortly before the tournament began when a number of their best players, including Jason Taumalolo, defected to play for Tonga.

The report blamed the NZRL's poor relationship with its players but said problems went back years, including a World Cup campaign plan that was never updated after 2015 and seemingly forgotten about.

Coach David Kidwell, described as "inexperienced", tried to implement a tournament game plan that the authors said was too complex for players already fatigued after the NRL season.

"We rather think that it was naive of David Kidwell to think the new style was achievable for success in the very short timeframe available," they said.

"RLWC is not a place to be testing game plans, new training programmes or Match Week build ups."

Kidwell and captain Adam Blair also put fans offside when they criticised a perceived lack of public support following the Kiwis' exit from the tournament.

The report said the NZRL should have given the pair better advice on how to conduct themselves after the quarter-final loss to Fiji, rather than simply letting them sound off in front of the media.

NZRL chief executive Alex Hayton resigned earlier this month and Kidwell's position appears in doubt, with a decision on the coaching position expected next week.

The NZRL has already abandoned its policy of only appointing a New Zealand coach and reports have linked former NSW mentor Laurie Daley to the job.