David Kidwell, we kid you not, is looking for an assistant coach after the New Zealand Warriors of the NRL told Kidwell that they would not make Stacey Jones available, as Kidwell had hoped.
Kidwell lost Steve McNamara and his band to the Catalans Dragons of the Super Rugby League. He had hoped to add Jones for the upcoming World Cup, which will be played in New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Warriors Coach Stephen Kearney thought it better that Jones focus his energy on the Warriors’ prospects for the 2018 NRL campaign, although it is doubtful that Jones can do enough, short of returning to the ground, to make much of a dent in the Warriors’ issues.
We do not claim to be privy to the nature of the relationship between Kearney and Jones, but the Warriors are as good as dead in the 2017 Telstra NRL Premiership competition. The World Cup will take place between October 26 and December 2. The NRL begins the 2018 season sometime around March, so what is truly the motivation behind Kearney’s stance?
The NRL is floating the idea of jumping the 2018 fixture in the United States. Maybe Kearney is worried that Jones might get a sampling of the many fine microbrews to be had in Yank land and pull a Jarryd Hayne on him.
Paul Green had been an option at one time, but he ruled himself out in May in order to focus on his duties with the North Queensland Cowboys that do have a future in this year’s NRL.
Kidwell would obviously get his coaching issues settled sooner rather than later, so that he could focus on World Cup selection and training, along with establishing a code of conduct for the players (no killing, no raping, no pillaging, no cocaine).