League: Kidwell set to name Kiwis captain for World Cup

David Kidwell is close to nailing down the final key positions in the New Zealand camp ahead of the World Cup, but admits there is a long way to go to win back the pride and trust of Kiwis fans.

Kidwell will name his new captain tomorrow - to replace Jesse Bromwich - and will also confirm his second assistant coach within the next fortnight.

But restoring the reputation of the New Zealand team, after the drug scandal in Canberra earlier this month that led to the suspension of Bromwich and Kevin Proctor, is a more complicated issue.

The incident, and the repercussions of it, hung in the air at a World Cup press conference at Mt Smart yesterday, as Kidwell and England coach Wayne Bennett fronted the media five months out from the tournament's opening game.

Bennett belied his frosty reputation with some engaging answers, while Kidwell spent much of his time fending off questions about the Canberra incident.

He denied the allegation - raised by some Australian media - that Bromwich had initially offered to stand down from the team, before Kidwell insisted on making the announcement himself.

"I don't know where that has come from," said Kidwell. "The process was I made the decision and I spoke to Jesse and Kevin, they were the first two people I talked to."

Kidwell also offered no guarantees that the disgraced pair would return after the World Cup, though hinted that it was more than likely.

"I'm concentrating on the World Cup at the moment," said Kidwell. "They are doing the right things with their clubs and I'll be in close contact with them. They are really good men who have made an out of character mistake and we have come to that decision. We'll move forward and deal with that after."

The more pressing goal is the clash with Samoa in Auckland on October 28, which is the first opportunity for the Kiwis to restore their battered image in their first game on home soil since the 2014 Four Nations.

"There's a long way to go to make sure we do the right things off the field with the community and win back [the] New Zealand public," said Kidwell.

"I suppose playing tests here throughout New Zealand will go a long way to get them back. [But] they're rugby league fans, they love rugby league and they want to see the best players out there playing with passion and with heart."

Kidwell said that the quartet of Simon Mannering, Adam Blair, Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck are the prime contenders to replace Bromwich. Kidwell also confirmed that Cowboys coach Paul Green has ruled himself out of contention for an assistant coach role.

"As far as I know he has made himself unavailable," said Kidwell. "He was one of the candidates I reached out to and there's a couple more that I'm in the process of going through."