David Kidwell (born 23 April 1977) is a New Zealand professional

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player who is the defence coach for the Highlanders in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. As a player, he represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

as a member of the

2005 Tri-Nations The 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was played in Great Britain and Australasia. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand at Elland Road on Saturday 26 November. New Zealand won the match 24-0 and were crowned 2005 Tri-Nations champio ...

and 2008 World Cup winning New Zealand teams. He primarily played as a , though he started his career as a .

Background

Kidwell was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand.

Playing career

A Hornby Panthers junior in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby le ...

competition, in 1995 Kidwell played in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

for the Canterbury Country Cardinals. He then joined the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

in 1996 and also made the 1996 Junior Kiwis that year. He made his first grade début on 17 August 1997 in round 17 for the

Adelaide Rams The Adelaide Rams was an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super Lea ...

against Canberra at Canberra Stadium. In 1999, Kidwell joined Parramatta and played in the clubs heart breaking preliminary final loss to Melbourne that year where the club was leading 16-6 but lost 18–16. Kidwell was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season

1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations series was contested by Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand in 1999. It was the first multi-national rugby league tournament to feature the sport's three world powers since the 1989–1992 Rugby League Wor ...

tournament. In the final against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

he played from the interchange bench in the Kiwis' 22–20 loss. Between 2001 and 2002, Kidwell played for Warrington in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. In 2002, Kidwell joined the Sydney Roosters, he played 18 games for the club but missed out on playing in the clubs

2002 NRL Grand Final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. ...

victory over the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

. In 2003, Kidwell joined Melbourne playing a total of 103 games for the club including the

2006 NRL Grand Final The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, ...

where the Storm lost to the Broncos 15–8. In 2006, Kidwell signed a pre-contract agreement to represent the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

until 2009. In the 2007 pre-season, it was announced that Kidwell would be co-captain of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, along with Peter Cusack for 2007. In April 2007, Kidwell was ruled out for the season after suffering a freak accident at home where he tripped over one of his children and injured his knee. At the end of 2007 Kidwell was named in the Melbourne Storm team of the decade. After failing an alcohol test on 2 May 2008, the South Sydney club stripped Kidwell of his co-captaincy and four others who failed were relegated to the bench for their Sunday match against North Queensland. Kidwell retired from rugby league at the end of the 2009 season.

Representative career

Kidwell made his New Zealand début in 1999. David Kidwell

In August 2008, Kidwell was named in the New Zealand training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

, and in October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

squad.

Coaching career

Kidwell was appointed the Rabbitohs Toyota Cup (Under 20s competition) coach for 2010. They finished minor premiers that year and made the Grand Final, but were defeated 42–28 by the Under 20s

. He later worked as an assistant coach at the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

under Craig Bellamy. On 16 September 2013 it was announced that he would be joining the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in 2014 as an assistant coach. Kidwell joined the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

as an assistant coach in 2014. After Stephen Kearney left the role of being the head coach of the New Zealand national team in 2016, Kidwell was later appointed as the new Kiwis head coach, Kidwell oversaw a brief but embarrassing era for New Zealand Rugby League in which they lost two World Cup matches to tier-2 nations, and fluked a draw against another in the 2016 Four Nations tournament. A series of critical failures in team culture and management led to disappointing results and a mass exodus of players. One notable player to leave the team was Jason Taumololo. Taumololo defected to Tonga, who defeated New Zealand in a World Cup pool match. Kidwell was replaced by Michael Maguire after failing to make the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup. In 2018, Kidwell was appointed as assistant coach at one of his former clubs The

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

. In May 2022 it was announced that Kidwell had been appointed defensive coach of the Argentina rugby union side, by head coach Michael Cheika. In February 2025 it was announced that Kidwell would reunite with Michael Cheika, joining

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

as their defence coach on secondment from Japan rugby until the end of the season. Following the end of the 2024/25 season, Kidwell has left his role with Japan rugby and joined

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (; formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competit ...

as their defence coach on a 2 year contract.

Kiwis coaching record

References

External links

Profile at melbournestorm.com.auProfile at warringtonwolves.rivals.netFreak injury ends Kidwell seasonProfile at souths.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidwell, David 1977 births Living people Adelaide Rams players Canterbury rugby league team players Hornby Panthers players Junior Kiwis players Melbourne Storm players Ngāti Whātua people New Zealand Māori rugby league team coaches New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team coaches New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby union coaches Parramatta Eels players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate rugby league coaches New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England