Gary Kemble

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Gary Kemble
Personal information
Nickname Crayfish
Playing information
Position Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
19??–?? Ellerslie
1981–87 Hull FC 195 180
Total 195 0 0 0 180
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1976–?? Auckland
1980–86 New Zealand 19 1 0 0 4
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1993 Northcote
1994–95 Hawke's Bay
1997 Warriors Reserves
2006 Counties Manukau
Total 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1994 Junior Kiwis
1995–97 NZ Residents
2007 New Zealand 5 1 0 4 20
As of 1 August 2009
Source: Playing & Coaching RLP

Gary Kemble is a New Zealand former rugby league player and coach. He has both played and coached the New Zealand Kiwis.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

A Ellerslie club member, Kemble debuted for Auckland in 1976, aged only 19.[1] He then played rugby league at a senior level throughout the 1970s and 1980s. His career included a lengthy stint with English club Hull FC during a golden period for the club. This included helping them to lift the Challenge Cup in the 1982 final at Wembley. Kemble played for Hull FC alongside his future Kiwi assistant coach James Leuluai and was amongst the first large group of New Zealand rugby league players to play their professional rugby league in England. He made 19 test appearances for the New Zealand Kiwis.

[edit] Coaching career

Kemble coached the Northcote Tigers in 1994 before being appointed the coach of the Hawkes Bay Unicorns in the new Lion Red Cup. During 1995 World Cup he served as an assistant coach to the New Zealand Kiwis.[1]

In April 1997 he was made the Auckland Warriors reserve grade coach, replacing Frank Endacott who had been appointed head coach. The team made the Grand Final but lost to the Bulldogs.[2]

During this time Kemble held a number of representative coaching posts, including the Junior Kiwis, the New Zealand Residents and New Zealand "A".

[edit] Appointment to Kiwi coach

After several years working away from rugby league Kemble was named the coach of the Kiwis, filling the post left vacant by Brian McClennan in July 2007.[3]

Kemble's appointment to the position of the Kiwi coach was controversial from the outset, in part through no fault of his own. First of all, the departure of Brian McClennan to coach the Leeds Rhinos was confusing given his unprecedented success and popularity amongst the Kiwi players and the New Zealand rugby league public as well as his expressed desire to remain in the role.[4] Preventing McClennan from remaining in the role was a controversial clause whereby the NZRL will not consider anyone living outside New Zealand for coaching the Kiwis.[5] The NZRL were criticised severely for losing McClennan with rumours abound that he was "pushed" out of the role. Outspoken chairman Andrew Chalmers and Kemble's former coach Graham Lowe bore the brunt of public derision.[6]

Although Kemble had been an integral part of the New Zealand coaching structure for several years some questioned his credentials on the basis of his lack of experience coaching in a more rigorous competition such as Australasia's NRL or Europe's Super League. However this argument was dismissed by the NZRL on the basis of the considerable success of Kemble's predecessor Brian McClennan who did come through the New Zealand coaching system to lead the Kiwis to victory in the 2005 Tri-Nations.

[edit] 2007 Centenary Test vs Australia

Kemble's test coaching career got off to the worst possible start both on and off the field. On 14 October 2007 the Kiwi's suffered their largest ever defeat in the Centenary Test losing 58-0 to the Kangaroos at Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington.[7] The evening following the test match a young woman claimed she was sexually violated by a group of men believed to be with the Kiwi side at the team hotel in Lower Hutt. The woman subsequently chose not to pursue the matter however several Kiwi players faced internal disciplinary action.[8]

[edit] 2007 Kiwi tour of Great Britain and France

Under Kemble the Kiwis went on to lose the first of their three test series against Great Britain going down 14-20 against the Lions at Huddersfield on 27 October 2007.[9] Following the loss an Australian newspaper reported that former Kiwi captain Hugh McGahan was concerned at Kemble's poor start and suggested that former Australian and current Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett should be pursued for the role.[10] McGahan later claimed that his comments had been grossly misreported by the journalist.

In the second test of the series on 3 November 2007, Kemble returned to KC Stadium, the ground on which he had spent a large portion of his playing days with Hull FC. It was to be a disastrous homecoming however as the Kiwis suffered their second humiliating defeat under Kemble when beaten 44-0 by an inspired Great Britain.[11] The win gave Great Britain an unassailable series lead leaving the Kiwis with only pride to play for in the final test at JJB Stadium in Wigan.

Intense criticism followed the 2nd Test loss, some of it directed at the players, some of it toward the management of the NZRL, however Kemble also copped severe criticism from some quarters with one commentator suggesting that Kemble "must be sacked at the series-end" and describing him as a "captain of calamity".[12] Following the loss, Kiwi's captain Roy Asotasi hinted at the possibility of internal issues for the players in adjusting to Kemble's coaching style when he compared Kemble's approach with that of his predecessor McClennan describing them as "very different" and reporting that the group was "still trying to gel".[13] Following the loss in an extremely frank admission Kemble acknowledged that he was contemplating resigning from his post if the Kiwis were whitewashed 3-0 by Great Britain.[14]

Despite a far more spirited performance in the 3rd Test the Kiwis were unable to prevent the whitewash losing 22-28 after leading 12-0 early in the match. Kemble was forthright in expressing his desire to remain Kiwi coach following the loss with the general feeling being that the loss was "close enough" for him to retain the position. [15] Kemble was the subject of some ridicule for post-match comments which suggested that the Kiwis "almost won the test series" despite an aggregated score of 92-36 across the three tests.[16]

The Kiwis beat France in the final test match of the tour 22-16 giving captain Roy Asotasi his first win as Kiwi captain.

[edit] Resignation

On Saturday 18 January 2008, Gary Kemble resigned. Captain Roy Asotasi along with fellow Kiwi teammate David Kidwell expressed their concern publicly at the lack of respect they and other senior players held for the coach due to his inexperience at that level and deemed the 2008 World Cup already a failure if Gary didn't receive some kind of help. Subsequently pressure from the media and public and with the respect for the jersey not to mention the best interests for the game, Gary quit and has made no mention whether or not he will coach again.

[edit] Personal life

Gary Kemble is married to Stephanie and they have four sons. After his stint with the Auckland Warriors reserve grade side Kemble spent some time away from rugby league working in real estate for several years. Prior to his international rugby league career, Kemble was an up-and-coming cricketer. He played his club cricket as a Wicket-keeper for Papakura, and was part of the Northern Districts Under-23 cricket team that won the national title.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Coffey and Wood The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League ISBN 1869710908
  2. ^ Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. ISBN 1-86958-922-X.
  3. ^ Gary Kemble appointed new New Zealand coach NZRL Press Release, 17 August 2007
  4. ^ McClennan quits to take Leeds deal ABC News, 11 July 2007
  5. ^ NZRL 'too embarrassed' to remove clause on no overseas coaches AAP, 30 October 2007
  6. ^ NZRL deny pushing McClennan out TVNZ July 12 2007
  7. ^ Kiwis crash to worst-ever scoreline New Zealand Herald, 15 October 2007
  8. ^ Woman drops sex assault complaint against Kiwis players New Zealand Herald, 20 October 2007
  9. ^ Kiwis lose league test Fairfax Media, 28 October 2007
  10. ^ New Zealand legend sends out SOS to Broncos coach Courier Mail, 29 October 2007
  11. ^ Kiwis coach calls for calm after slaughter New Zealand Herald, 4 November 2007
  12. ^ Where there's no hope, there's no glory New Zealand Herald, 5 November 2007
  13. ^ Kemble's at a loss over big defeat New Zealand Herald, 5 November 2007
  14. ^ Kemble considers stepping down New Zealand Herald, 6 November 2007
  15. ^ Kemble upbeat despite series loss Fairfax Media, 12 November 2007
  16. ^ Kemble pleads for job after whitewash New Zealand Herald, 12 November 2007
Preceded by
Brian McClennan		 Coach
New Zealand Kiwis
2007		 Succeeded by
Stephen Kearney
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kemble"