{"id":368087,"date":"2024-02-15T23:22:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T00:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=368087"},"modified":"2024-02-16T01:02:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T01:02:41","slug":"star-urges-kiwis-to-green-light-bennett-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=368087","title":{"rendered":"Star urges Kiwis to green-light Bennett reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starting out on the pristine beaches of Newcastle<\/a>, Joseph Tapine<\/a> was only able to get a sprinkle of magic dust from super coach Wayne Bennett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two combined for a short period in 2014 \ufeffwith Bennett departing the Hunter after that season, while Tapine's time at the Knights ended before the 2017 season.<\/p>\n

However the two could soon be reunited with Bennett putting his hat in the ring for the New Zealand Kiwis role<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Fresh selection headaches emerge for Bulldogs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Foxx, Hammer headline 'fastest backline ever'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Australian captain Alyssa Healy out for 99 after brilliant captain's knock<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffTapine revealed he's "hoping" the seven-time premiership winner will land the role.<\/p>\n

"I loved him as a coach\ufeff, he's one of those fellas – I don't know how he does it – he makes you want to play for him and I had that experience young," Tapine told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"He's an experienced coach so I'm hoping he gets that job because he'd be so good in the space, especially all the young fellas we've got in the squad."<\/p>\n

If Bennett does become coach, he'll be walking into a successful Kiwis side who recently shocked the Kangaroos, winning the Pacific Championships final 30-0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The boilover in Hamilton came only a week after the Kangaroos comfortably defeated the Kiwis 36-18.<\/p>\n

Watch the NRL All Stars clash on Friday February 16 \ufefflive and free on Nine and <\/strong><\/em>9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Tapine simply described it as "crazy". \ufeff<\/p>\n

"Leading up to the whole week we touched on the loss and all week we trained unreal and we had a great bunch of leaders. On game day, everything flowed," he said.<\/p>\n

"The week before we were clunky and (next game) we actually just played good football.<\/p>\n

\"Pacific<\/p>\n

"It's really exciting, especially with the talent we've got at the Kiwis, seeing some of those young boys come through like Matty (Timoko), we've just got to get stronger and stronger. The (Kangaroos) are obviously strong as, they've got Origin to lean on but we \ufeffdon't get that type of test until the end of the year so it's something we've just got to build on."<\/p>\n

For teammate and second-rower Isaiah Papali'i, the next step for the Kiwis – and Bennett if he is successful – will be to ensure the Pacific Championships result is not a one off. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"It was pretty cool, obviously they gave us a bit of a towelling the week before and then to put a score on like that on such a good side is something I really enjoyed and proved we have the ability," he told WWOS.<\/p>\n

"To do that week in, week out, is probably our next goal."<\/p>\n

Tapine agreed, \ufeffhoping the Kiwis can mirror what the Kangaroos have achieved over a long period of time.<\/p>\n

"That's the thing with the Aussies, they're consistent, and that's what we want to do, be that consistent footy team that don't just show up once every three games," he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starting out on the pristine beaches of Newcastle, Joseph Tapine was only able to get a sprinkle of magic dust from super coach Wayne Bennett. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":368089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=368087"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368091,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368087\/revisions\/368091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/368089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=368087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=368087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=368087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}