Former Kiwis enforcer now Juniors boss

Former Kiwis hard man David Kidwell – the enforcer famous for putting lippy Kangaroo Willie Mason on his bum – has been appointed Junior Kiwis coach.

The 14-year NRL veteran retired from professional league last year after seasons with the Adelaide Rams, Parramatta Eels, Warrington Wolves, Sydney Roosters, Melbourne Storm and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

He was immediately appointed coach of the Rabbitohs' under-20s and heading into the final round of the season had his side on top of the National Youth Competition ladder with 16 wins from 23 matches.

Kidwell – who played 25 tests for New Zealand between 1999 and 2008 – has worked for the New Zealand Rugby League on the ground in Australia this year, turning out to speak to promising young Kiwis about playing for their country at the organisation's well-publicised Kiwi Roots camps.

He was approached about coaching the Junior Kiwis a month ago by NZRL football director Tony Kemp and Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney. After some deliberation he decided to commit to the side he played for just under two decades ago.

"When I went to the Kiwi Roots camp earlier in the year, Kempy and Mooks [Kearney] said they wanted to find a role for me somewhere within the administration," Kidwell, 33, told Sunday News last night.

"At the time, they weren't too sure what exactly that role was. But then they hit me back about three or four weeks ago and, to be fair, I was pretty undecided initially.

"I've got a lot of work on with Souths and I wasn't too sure. But I went through the same system and played for the Junior Kiwis myself. I talked it over with my wife and, yeah, now I'm the coach of the Junior Kiwis."

The Juniors haven't played since 2007, when they beat the Junior Kangaroos 24-22 as the curtain-raiser to the now infamous 58-0 loss for the Kiwis to the Kangaroos in Wellington.

But Kemp is adamant the under-20s national side needed to be resurrected.

They will play two matches against the Junior Kangaroos during the Four Nations, one as the curtain-raiser to New Zealand's opening test against England in Wellington and the other before the Kiwis' match against Papua New Guinea in Rotorua.

"It's critical for us that the Junior Kiwis play matches," Kemp said. "We need something for our Kiwi kids in the NYC to hang on to and that can be something like this, where they can benchmark themselves against the best juniors in the world.

"That can only be good for the international game. If you look at that 2007 team, 14 of the 17 boys who played have gone on to play regular first-grade now and that's really important for New Zealand.

"Offering our potential future Kiwis a pathway to the national side has been missing for the past few years. We can say to them that we want them to play for New Zealand but there's never been any games for them to play through those junior structures."

- © Fairfax NZ News