League: Kemp to be Kiwis' team manager

New Zealand Rugby League football manager Tony Kemp has been appointed Kiwi team manager, the NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle said today.

Kemp, a former Kiwi and one-time coach of the New Zealand Warriors, replaces Gordon Gibbons, who held the role for the past two years.

Former test skipper Ruben Wiki, who was one of the trainers during New Zealand's successful 2008 World Cup campaign and is now the NZRL's high performance manager, will be part of the new management team.

Doyle said the national body last year established a new internal structure that led to the creation of a football department and clearly defined roles.

"That restructuring was also designed to flow through to linking the Kiwis and the NZRL to ensure we provide continuity and consistency," he said.

"Having a fulltime football manager, it logically makes sense for him to have this position with the Kiwis, as it does with Ruben in his capacity as our high performance manager."

Doyle said the changes were no reflection on Gibbons' performance and the NZRL was grateful for the job he had done.

Gibbons, who was reported earlier today by the Truth Weekender as being "gutted" at losing the job, said in a statement issued by the NZRL that he fully supported the changes.

"I would have enjoyed the chance to continue but I fully understand and agree with the changes the NZRL has made to the management structure," he said.

"I'm 150 per cent behind anything that helps the Kiwis to perform better on and off the field and I'll always be available to help in any way I can."

The Kiwis' football manager over the past two years, Dean Bell, was unavailable because of his commitments with the New Zealand Warriors.

Test coach Stephen Kearney will again have former Kiwis teammate Tony Iro as his assistant for the Anzac test in Melbourne on May 7 and for the Four Nations tournament to be staged in New Zealand and Australia in October and November.