We'll call on our local heroes

STEPHEN KEARNEY COLUMN

OPINION: WHILE my key focus at the moment is on the Melbourne Storm and the current NRL finals series, I'm also doing a fair bit of work behind the scenes to ensure the Kiwis are ready to roll when the Four Nations gets underway in mid-October.

Ahead of this year's May test against Australia, the selectors and I made a decision to leave our UK-based Kiwis out of the squad.

The decision wasn't made lightly nor was it made on the basis of their form. It was simply about logistics.

In 2008, Super League stars Brent Webb and Thomas Leuluai made the arduous trek to Australia to play for the Kiwis in the one-off test at the SCG in Sydney.

Unfortunately, they had limited time to prepare for the match and struggled once they took the field.

We learnt from that and realised it was too big an ask to get UK-based players to fly down to Australia for a one-off test.

The upcoming Four Nations, however, is a different story and given it will take place in their backyard, you can expect to see a few Super League players named in the Kiwis squad when the final cut is made.

In order to be selected for New Zealand you clearly need to be playing good footy but the fact the Kiwis playing in the Super League are familiar with the conditions over there will certainly help their case in pushing for selection.

Obviously, given the Kiwis selectors are based in Australia and New Zealand, it's very difficult to keep track of every single Super League game.

We are fortunate enough, however, to have a good network of experts in the UK who can keep us updated on the form and progress of our Kiwis players plying their trade in the northern hemisphere.

Just this week, I had a long conversation with former Kiwis coach Brian McClennan now in charge of Leeds. I respect his opinion and was able to get some good information that will come in handy when I meet with the selectors tomorrow night.

For our NRL-based Kiwis who are not competing in the current finals, they will begin training this Wednesday.

There's been talk about which players will or won't be coming on tour due to injury and we should have a better idea this time next week once independent medical reviews are completed on them.

While we are on the subject of UK-based Kiwis, I'd also like to congratulate Vinnie and Louis Anderson and Paul Rauhihi for their part in Warrington's recent Challenge Cup victory.

An important new roleIf media reports are to be believed, the New Zealand Warriors will next season have a full-time recruitment and development officer on their staff. This is a massive step in the right direction. Most NRL clubs already have a dedicated person in charge of recruitment and their role cannot be taken lightly.

At the Storm we have a guy called Darren Bell who spends countless hours travelling around Australia and New Zealand and also viewing video tape in the hope of uncovering the next big thing. Hence we have looked at the possibility of recruiting South African talent. Bell leaves no stone unturned and in the upcoming weeks will have been across to New Zealand a number of times to check out the talent in the National Provincial Premiership.

If there's a footy carnival somewhere, you can be assured Darren will probably be there with a number of other recruitment scouts from other clubs.

In the NRL, which is so competitive, you have to go that little bit further to get one over your rivals. You can't rely on players signalling an interest in playing for you. You have to go out there and find them.

The decision by the Warriors to go down that path can only be good for the club.

- © Fairfax NZ News