Four Nations
Dates: 23 October - 13 November
Coverage: Live coverage and highlights on BBC One and BBC Two, BBC Sport website and BBC 5 live sports extra By Dave Woods
BBC TV and Radio 5 live rugby league commentator in Australia |
  Marshall is a Kiwi star making a big impact in the NRL |
New Zealand rugby league is on top of the world - and plans are afoot to keep them there for a long time to come. The Kiwis are reigning world champions and are being tipped as possible Four Nations winners this year as well. But the New Zealand Rugby League has designs on keeping the national team at the summit of the game, not just relying on an occasional golden generation to threaten Australia's usual monopoly of international league. And according to NZRL's football manager Tony Kemp, the plan is kids' stuff. The former Castleford stand-off and Wakefield coach is heading a junior development process that is seeing more young Kiwis than ever before taking up rugby league. And hundreds of New Zealand youngsters are now being educated in rugby league's toughest finishing school, Australia's NRL. "The junior game here is now very strong," Kemp told BBC Sport. "The schools competition is growing at a very fast rate. In the past students would always choose to play rugby [union] ahead of league. But that's changing, a lot of them now choose league."  | 606: DEBATE |
The new mood in New Zealand has been brought about by the influence of the NRL, with many more young Kiwi players now getting the opportunity to make a career out of the game than they have ever had before. "They see the NRL on tv and have heroes in the likes of Benji Marshall and Jeremy Smith. When they see them come back here and play for New Zealand it just makes them want to pull on the black shirt," added Kemp. "The NRL clubs are now recognising more and more the young talent we have here. "If you just look at our game it's great for Polynesian, Pacific race and New Zealand people who are big and strong. "They have got the fast twitch fibres to get them over a short distance very quickly and playing very effectively. A lot of NRL clubs are noticing that now and signing our players at junior level. "There is a mix throughout the country. Auckland has the largest numbers but right throughout the country there are kids who want to play in the NRL." The popularity of New Zealand youngsters in Australia is such that one-third of all the players in the Toyota Cup, the NRL's under-20s competition, now hail from across the Tasman. It means the production line for the next generation of Kiwi stars is getting stronger and stronger. And that's bad news for England who could find themselves cast further adrift in the race to keep pace with rugby league down under. Follow me on Twitteras I cover the Four Nations for the BBC.
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