Gary Kemble. Photo / Dean Purcell
Embattled Kiwis coach Gary Kemble will not attend today's crucial New Zealand Rugby League board meeting as he continued meetings with player prospects in Australia.
"Both sides will be keen to hear from each other", when Kemble lands back in Auckland tonight, said NZRL manager Peter Cordtz.
The
Souths players, Roy Asotasi and David Kidwell, who raised the question of his competency were in transit to Jacksonville, Florida yesterday. Others chose not to comment. Kemble is yet to make his thoughts known.
Today's board meeting was supposed to be finalising the calendar and budget for 2008. The tour returns from England are yet to be finalised as is the balance sheet for the domestic competitions for the year ended December 31 so the league's financial position will remain cloudy for a while yet.
There is determination to resolve the player/coach dispute as soon as possible. The issue is sure to draw considerable discussion today with expectation there will be change.
The rule via which the NZRL dumped Gary Freeman in 2003, which requires the Kiwis coach to reside in New Zealand, seems certain to be scrapped. The irony is that it was this rule that eliminated Kemble's successful predecessor Bluey McClennan, which initiated the current soap opera.
It has to go if they are to engage Aussie Wayne Bennett in a mentoring capacity, as is the intention. It's expected that today's meeting will thrash out details of the ranking structure and Bennett's role and that an NZRL official will then meet him in Brisbane to settle a deal.
Talk that dual-eligible Polynesian players may play for Tonga or Samoa ahead of the 2008 World Cup is just that. Players must have already determined eligibility by now - by appearing for island countries in qualifying games. Under Rugby League International Federation rules, any who represented New Zealand last year cannot switch.
The current drama, plus the rapid development of league in Samoa through the work of former Warriors and Kiwis including Nigel Vagana and Tony Tuimavave who now lives there may influence younger players in years to come.
