Over the years when I was coaching at Richmond and I attended training courses and I got chatting with other coaches I was often told that I was working in a bubble and that the reality of attracting and retaining players was a myth and only a select few clubs such as Richmond, who had the ‘heritage’ thing going for them, actually saw any real changes. Well having now stepped out of that bubble to test myself as a coach and to test out some of the philosophies I have learnt or developed as part of that club, some fundamental truths have become apparent and I would hope that I will continue to adhere to them in everything I do within a rugby environment. I have tested these at my new club 5 leagues lower than Richmond, at Old Mid Whitgiftians which is the perfect stereotype of an old boys club with what appeared to be a limited player base and even more limited funds to bring about change.
If I break these down into certain areas I would hope that people will understand some of the fundamental successes behind Richmond’s recent rise through the leagues and I hope at some stage some successes at Old Mids in the near future.
Training Environment
Having played at a number of clubs there are a few things that I have observed along the way and one of the core things that has always made me curious is the way clubs treat players who train who aren’t necessarily part of the first team. So often at clubs you find that players in the 2nd team don’t turn up to training because they don’t like being used as tackle bags for the 1st team, where they get smashed about. Very rarely do clubs do anything about their 2nd teams who are so often overlooked. Over the last 10 years of my life with every club that I have been at bar none, they have used in excess of 45 players every season in the 1st team league schedule. That means if you only coach the top 25 players in your club, there are 20 more players that at some stage are going to play for your team that you have either shown no interest in or you have turned them off because they don’t like getting beaten up in the week.
I have a simple principle in what I deliver as a coach and that is every player does everything that we are doing and no player is expected to stand out and just take abuse. I know I need 50 players capable of playing the game plan. I almost need to work harder with the second team players to raise their basic skill levels so that when they do step into the team they don’t hold back the team. Every coaches first job should be to raise the basic skill levels of the bottom of the club. Just think of the impact having your worst player capable of executing a basic play, involving catching, passing and winning a one on one would have. There is never a session I deliver where some core skill isn’t done, and admittedly right now the one we do more than others is our passing. But if you watched us play and saw what we were now trying to do with the ball as opposed to 12 months ago, you would understand why I spend so much time on this area, and you can see the results on the field.
Having addressed who we are coaching the next part of creating the right training environment is down to what you are delivering as a coach. If the drills are repetitive, boring and actual serve no purpose then players will start to be turned off, you will also find that numbers will start dropping as a result. Playing numbers can drop for a number of reasons, and I just think that the quality and mix of training is the number one driver of attendance. If it is fun and challenging in the right ways players can’t wait to get there. If you get it right then you will have the opportunity to really do some very interesting stuff with the players. When I arrived at Old Mids, there was one session a week normally attended by the same 8 players. I am proud to say that we now train twice a week and Tuesday normally get to 15 players and Thursdays are up to 25 players.
The impact this has had and what it has allowed me to do as a coach at the club is nothing short of amazing in my view. I have learnt almost as much this season as I had when working for Richmond in the last three season I did there. I truly believe I am a better coach/ Director of Rugby than I would have been 6 months ago, I have a better appreciation of challenges facing lower league clubs and also a better understanding of how to manage the players and their lives at that level. And if we can keep going in the same direction I believe we can and probably have already transformed the mindset of the players for the better, especially with what they expect from training. If and when I do move on, whoever comes into the job is going to have to meet a minimum standard just to keep the players happy.
In short, I believe that you can train a level 8 club the same way you train a professional club because the fundamentals of the game are the same at which ever level of the game you are coaching at, the only thing that differs is the mental application of the players. And so long as you take stock of that and adjust to fit your audience then your players can and will enjoy their training more.
Social Life
Most rugby players are drawn to the game by two things, the first the love of the physical challenges that the game presents and the second and for most more importantly the social life it provides the players with. I am a firm believer that the closeness that players share off the field is often replicated on the field. If they like each other off the field the more likely that they are to stand up for one another on the field. Now you can’t make players like one another but more often than not you can help players form bonds that bind them together.
Often when people speak of social occasions the first thought that springs to mind is the often heavily inebriated versions that existed at University and to be fair those sessions have their place. But more recently clubs like Saracens often head off for a couple of days as a club to Octoberfest in Germany, or Northampton heading off of go-carting days. The social occasion doesn’t always have to involve alcohol but it does require a shared experience between the players. It doesn’t have to be every week, but I do recommend that it be every month. It is a great way for older players to show support and encouragement for the younger players by taking care of them on a night out, either financially or just getting them get home.
Career Support
Today more than ever players are looking for help with their careers. If there was one thing that Richmond did better than anything else, it was getting all of their players jobs within the industries they wanted to work in and sometimes were best suited to. This gives the players stability and opportunity and more often than not brings a level of loyalty to the club and reduces the chances that they would leave for other clubs. If clubs can give players an advantage in being a member such as that then it is even more likely that they will return. What I can’t understand is what has changed since the game turned professional. 18 years ago using your club to find a job was part and parcel of life, where did this go. Having a positive job’s board which really helps find players the jobs and careers they really want to get into has to be part of every club’s daily make up. I know clubs have questioned, ah but I want them to show loyalty to me first, well trust me, if you get them a job and set them up with accommodation they pay for, they generally move to the area in the longer term.
Financial Reward
Now this is starting to become one of the most contentious topics in English rugby at the moment. And what I have found astounding is the amount players are getting played all the way down to level 9 rugby. The quality of some of these players on some quite large salaries bears no resemblance to the standard they are actually capable of playing at. I have heard very qualified stories of clubs paying £650 per game at Level 5 and 6, for players who would succeed at Level 4. Now I understand that those clubs might think that those players are worth it, but when you put that in to context with Richmond who were paying a £100 match fee and £70 win bonus in the season they got promoted from Level 4 to Level 3, you seriously begin to wander about the sanity of some Chairmen. It also makes you question how a club determines how good a player really is. Having spent so long at Richmond, when it came to judging a player’ ability, the only thing that mattered was how well you performed on a Saturday, not how good your CV was.
There are dangers with clubs making the decision to pay players, first and foremost once you start down that road it is very difficult to go back to complete amateurism without effectively getting rid of all of the paid players. The other experience that I have picked up is that having different salary levels at the lower levels can be some damaging to the club and the atmosphere at the club, particularly when the club is going down the leagues, players talk and how much you are paying then gives them an impression of how much you value them. I firmly believe that if you meet all of the other areas listed in this post then remuneration is not actually as important as it first was for the player.
Communication
As is becoming more frequent how you talk to players is becoming even more critical to how a player responds to you. Now I have to confess I am nowhere near mastering this and more often than not, I have to show a little humility and apologise because I may have commented in the heat of the moment rather than considering a proper response. For me it is more a case of working on my timing rather than picking my battles. It remains that at all levels players are looking for a constructive evaluation of the performances and their weaknesses and how you are going to help them work on them so that it no longer affects their selection. I also feel that in today’s world a little bit of honesty goes a long way and it often surprises me how evasive some coaches can be when responding to players about their choices. I have always believed that that if you are going to make any choice in life you have to be prepared to defend that choice against individuals who are upset by them.
There are no hard and fast rules when trying to re build a player base, the only thing that I can say with any conviction is that clubs can’t treat players the way they used to, they aren’t the same people as before, they think differently than their predecessors. It is highly unlikely that a player will respond to you the way his father used to. They are some much more independent than before and you have to talk to them the way they are going to respond to you, which isn’t necessarily they way you want to talk to them.
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