Greatness ‘not far off’

Press, 5 December 1989, Page 56

Greatness ‘not far off’

NZPA Narbonne The 1989 Kiwi rugby league team was only five points away from being regarded as one of the great sides to leave New Zealand, the coach, Tony Gordon, said yesterday. Unfortunately, he said, with the Kiwis losing the third test 106 — and as a result the series — to Great Britain, New Zealanders at home would think of the team as losers.

If they had won the series they would have become only the second Kiwi team to do so in Great Britain.

“The public should be proud of this side.

“The third test against Great Britain was just one of those games. It could so easily have gone our way.

“This was the youngest side ever to leave New Zealand and

in three years only a few of them will have left through age.

"You don’t become a top side overnight and this side is close to being one.”

Mr Gordon said the 13-win four-loss record was “exceptional” when compared with the 15-win three-loss and one draw record of one of the best Kiwi teams, the 1985 tourists. The early bad form of the 1989 Kiwis, with a loss in the opening game to St Helens, a narrow win over Castleford and then a defeat at the hands of Wigan, was a result of the players having a break after their seasons. “We weren’t match fit at the beginning of the tour,” Mr Gordon said.

“It was also too hard a beginning. If we’d had some lesser sides to play first we could have built up our combinations."

The Kiwis went through a period of low morale because of their bad form but managed to dig deep to catch Britain by surprise in the first test, Mr Gordon said.

“That first test will go down as one of the great Kiwi victories. We just took control right from the beginning. To be up 16-6 at half-time was incredible.” He said the second test was the only game on tour the Kiwis were not in with a show of winning.

“I thought we had knocked any complacency out of our approach. “After Gary Freeman was head-butted by Steve Hampson all discipline seemed to go out of our play. "We just lost control and nobody knew what they . were doing.”