League: Lucky country jackpots for NZ

Tony Kemp is looking forward to hearing more Australian accents in the Kiwis' dressing room.

While old stagers and some fans will blanche at the prospect, Kemp, the New Zealand rugby league high performance manager, says it is inevitable and can only be good for the game.

"The increasing trend is that there will be more and more second-generation Kiwis," says Kemp, "and we will have a lot of Aussie accents in our side."

National coach Steve Kearney, who admits having picked up a certain twang after years across the ditch, agrees it is only a matter of time, especially at the junior levels.

"I think the majority [of the Junior Kiwis] are still born in New Zealand, but that might change in a few years."

Even the NZRL has begun working in the area of talent and eligibility identification. Since 2007, Kemp has been charged with building a database of Australian-born or raised players who are eligible for New Zealand and the project has really gathered momentum this year.

Roughly one third of all the under-16, under-18 and under-20 players competing across the ditch are eligible for the Kiwis. In the recently selected 30-strong Junior Kiwis train-on squad, more than two thirds were born or have spent their formative years in the lucky country.

"It is like a virus spreading through the juniors over there," says Kemp, "I constantly get calls from parents, uncles, aunties, relatives saying 'Do you know this kid is a Kiwi?"'

A decade ago, workalcholic hooker Richie Swain was the only member of the New Zealand side with an Australian background, but in recent years the Kiwis have featured Australian born or raised players such as Benji Marshall, Nathan Cayless, Kieran Foran, Adam Blair, Jason Nightingale and Jeremy Smith.

In March this year, Kemp ran a camp in Sydney for 40 juniors with luminaries such as Marshall, Cayless, Tawera Nikau and Ruben Wiki espousing the merits of opting for black and white.

There was another gathering in Melbourne across the Anzac test week; Wiki and Kemp met the North Queensland juniors when they played the Warriors in round 10; and Kearney caught up with the Junior Warriors when the Storm came to town eight weeks ago.

"Previously there has never been a pathway for these kids of Kiwi descent to play for New Zealand and that has made their choice (to represent Australia) a lot easier," Kemp points out.

"I'm not about snatching players," affirms Kearney. "I want the ones who want to play for the Kiwis. I want guys who feel that in their guts and in their heart."

The Kiwis coach and Storm assistant coach hails the example of Foran and predicts there will be more and more of that ilk. Foran played for New South Wales and Australian schoolboys but said he "had known since he was a kid" that he wanted to play for the Kiwis.

"He bled black and was never ever in doubt. Kieran is part of the strategy that shows there is nothing wrong with it," says Kearney.

"I will guarantee that there will be guys picked in the New South Wales and Queensland schoolboy teams that end up in the Kiwis. They get picked in those sides, but when it comes to the nitty-gritty of choosing to play for their country, they want to play for New Zealand."

Kemp says it is crucial that the international programme for junior sides continues to develop. Things are on the right track, with two matches scheduled as curtain raisers to the Four Nations tests in Wellington and Rotorua.

Alongside that, Kemp hopes the pull of the culture will be a deciding factor against the undoubted attraction of State of Origin.

"Kiwis embrace culture, we build on that cultural significance and that is a huge part of what makes our national side unique. We need to stay in regular contact and retain their hearts."