Rugby League: Anderson just needs the nod

By PETER JESSUP

Daniel Anderson can have the Kiwi coaching job if he wants it but Warriors' majority owner Eric Watson is the man likely to have the final say on whether he gets it.

The New Zealand Rugby League will this week release details of its new coaching contract and expects applicants to make themselves known - it won't be approaching anyone up-front.

But the board has agreed on a scenario where a candidate "heads and shoulders" above all others would be given the position outright, without reference to a selection panel that is also in the making should no such candidate appear.

That's a thinly-veiled cover for an invitation for the NRL coach-of-the-year of 2002 to put his hand up and be crowned.

Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin and Sparc league manager David Pearce have agreed to sit on the selection panel if it is required, with former Kiwi Daryl Halligan and one or two board members to fill it out.

Approval from Watson would give Anderson the go-ahead.

The Warriors' and Kiwis' jobs complement each other to an extent - two-thirds of the national team are always likely to come out of the Auckland club. Frank Endacott managed both pretty well, though admits it was extremely time-consuming.

Anderson, in his mid-30s, and father of three young children, is lying low.

He clearly likes a challenge, otherwise he wouldn't have come to the Warriors. He obviously doesn't have trouble working with Polynesians. He can see talent and develop it, his record includes finals appearances and grand final wins at age-group and reserve grade level. And guiding the Warriors to the NRL minor premiership and grand final proved he can motivate a team, and provide technique and strategy for success over the course of a season.

But he won't openly say if he's interested. The City of Origin and New South Wales jobs hold some attraction, he said yesterday. Working with an emerging nation at an international tournament or any job like it would be a challenge and challenges keep life interesting.

Would he go for the Australian job over the New Zealand one? It wasn't that simple, he said. He'd consider any opportunity that came up.

There are few other candidates.

Former Junior Kiwis and Warriors development coach Gary Kemble, in fall-out with the club after restructuring of the development foundation run with the NZRL, wouldn't say whether he would apply but the scrap would appear to diminish his chances.

Graeme Norton has indicated he's a starter and, highly regarded by players and after enjoying success with the Super League world nines team and at national domestic level, is a chance but has been out of top-level league in recent seasons.

Assistant last year Gerard Stokes looks the only other realistic contender and his run shouldn't be tarnished by the ordinary returns in England, given head coach Gary Freeman's control.

Freeman's jobs with Fox TV and a poker Machine company leave him in a poor position to apply. The new contract will require the coach to be resident in New Zealand and to take a hand in the development of players through age-group levels and Junior Kiwis as well as to guide Bartercard Cup and representative coaches so a common aim is achieved. But it won't pay a fortune - around $25,000.

The NZRL, which had the opportunity to roll over Freeman's contract, has further shown he is out of favour by applying that option with two-year extensions to the contracts of tour player manager Gordon Gibbons and business manager Pat Carthy - so it was happy with the off-field returns but not those on-field.