New Zealand rugby league fans have reacted with outrage and anger over the interviews Kiwis coach David Kidwell, halfback Shaun Johnson and captain Adam Blair gave to the media after being dumped out of the World Cup by Fiji.
The trio launched a stunning response after arguably the Kiwi's worst ever performance suggesting the result wasn't "a negative" along with bemoaning media and fans for daring to predict the team's demise.
Listen to the interviews here:
Passionate fans flooded Daniel McHardy's show on Radio Sport this afternoon, disappointed with the Kiwis response and their use of 'buzzwords'.
"What on earth business have the Kiwis got blaming me," said Matt. "What narcissistic bulls**t have they gone through to make them believe that it's ok to stab your people in the heart. We watch with our pride and our love in our heart and these are the most disgraceful comments I think I've ever heard from a coach.
"I've got a young son who loves the game and he said 'why did that man blame us?' This will be on their record forever."
Caller John described it as the worst performance in New Zealand rugby league history.
"I'm just speechless that the coach and senior players could come out and blame us, the fans. Kidwell needs to step down immediately if he's to salvage any of his credibility. And for Johnson to come out and say we got what we wanted, no, we wanted you to go all the way. And what was Adam Blair on about that they're creating a culture there? A losing culture? It was just disgusting from a fan's perspective."
Paul said the wounds were slowly starting to heal.
"Shaun Johnson, I'm disappointed in his comments about 'us fans' but I think maybe it was heat of the moment and he'll look back and think what an idiot he was."
Katy Atkin thought Johnson behaved like a brat.
"His attitude sums up why the Kiwis and the Warriors are so infuriatingly poor," she posted on the Veitchy on Sport Facebook page. "The complete lack of self-awareness and accountability is mind blowing. He's highly paid professional - he should act like one. No supporter wants their team to lose but having a team acting like losers is hard. The best thing NZRL team and players can do is learn from these losses."