Kearney sets tone for aspiring Kiwis

Kearney sets tone for aspiring Kiwis

If anyone is qualified to prepare New Zealand’s future league stars for the road ahead, it’s Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney.

After a spectacular playing career that saw him inducted as an NZRL Legend of League in 2012, the former second rower is on his way to becoming our best-ever international coach, with victories at one World Cup and two Four Nations tournaments.

After this year’s Anzac Test victory over Australia, a result that propelled NZ to the #1 world ranking, assistant coach (and former team-mate) David Kidwell gave an insight into Kearney’s winning mentality.

“He was the most professional player I ever played with and has carried that into his coaching,” said Kidwell (Kiwi #769).

Even at 43, Kearney looks like he could still take the field in a black jersey, and often steals away from Kiwis camp for early-morning yoga sessions to maintain his physical and mental fitness.

“That’s where I felt I could get an advantage over others, through the approach and preparation that I had towards the game,” says Kearney. “For no other reason than to be the best I could possibly be.

“As your career goes on, you find new ways and methods to make yourself better, whether that’s from a physical, recovery or psychology point of view.”

This is the same attitude he has brought to the Kiwis — players and staff — since taking over in 2008, but especially over the past 18 months, as they have gained their upper hand over the Kangaroos.

This weekend, he hopes to inspire the next generation to continue that hard-won advantage into the future, when he addresses the 2015 National Performance Camp intake.

Last year, Canterbury Bulldogs coach Des Hasler warned his young audience of the demands facing them, if they were lucky enough to secure an NRL contract.

Kearney now wants them to aim even higher than that.

“Ultimately, these kids want to play in the NRL, but I want them to get the sense that playing for the Kiwis is the ultimate goal and playing in the NRL is just part of the journey,” says Kearney.

And that could come down to one very simple concept. It’s a “D” word, but not “defence”.

“They’re at a high performance camp, because they have ability and are talented,” he says. “But, at the end of the day, they have to want to be successful, no matter what obstacles are put in their way along the journey.

“You see so many examples in sport and life. If a kid wants it bad enough, whether he’s too short or too light or too slow, he’ll find a way to make it happen.”

ENDS

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