Ball is in Vic’s court for new rugby season
NEWLY-APPOINTED New Zealand-born head coach Vic Ball has the task of steadying the ship at Boyne RFC as he prepares to lead the Drogheda club into the new Leinster League season.
Monkstown are the visitors to Shamrock Lodge next Sunday (kick-off 3pm) in Division 1B as Boyne look to stabilise after finally losing their top-flight status last spring.
The club have been on a downward curve since fellow Auckland native Craig McGrath ended his hugely successful reign as coach to take up a role in Australia back in 2013.
McGrath had led Boyne to two Towns Cup triumphs and promotion to the All-Ireland League, but after his departure relegation back to the provincial ranks soon followed and now they find themselves in Leinster’s second tier for the first time since the early years of the Noughties.
Ball, who played for more than a decade with Wanderers and DLSP and coached the latter club after retiring from playing, stepped away from rugby for a spell to start up his own business, but Boyne offered the perfect route back into the sport after Gary Downey’s departure at the end of last season.
‘It was always my goal to get back into coaching at senior club level,’ Ball told the Drogheda Independent. ‘To be honest, the longer you are off the scene the harder it is to get back in - out of sight, out of mind - and I threw my name in the hat for a few different roles.
‘I played against Craig at club level and we coached against each other when he was involved with Boyne, and before accepting this role I reached out to him. It was good to have someone like that with a knowledge of the club.
‘It was not a hard decision to make to take the offer and I am very privileged and honoured to be head coach.’
Ball is making no bold pronouncements about bouncing straight back up to Division 1A, however, and is more focused on putting the right structures in place for the long term.
‘I want to turn things around because it’s been a difficult few years for the club, but it’s easy to say we want to get promoted. You have to be realistic as well.
‘My goal is really just to remove as many excuses as possible in terms of the background and the set-up and create an environment where everybody is prepared to work hard. It’s an amateur environment, but we want to bring a professional attitude.
‘I’ve been involved in set-ups as a player where things weren’t going well and there’s arguments about there not being enough tape or the bus isn’t big enough.
‘The rugby is actually the easy side of things for me - the big motivation is building that culture of a good work ethic and instilling a professional mindset.’
There will be a focus on youth also, and not just in terms of bringing members of the Under-18s into the first-team squad at the first opportunity.
‘I want to create a pathway for young players who are looking at the senior set-up, so they can be a part of that,’ Ball explained. ‘Boyne has always had a strong underage section, but the struggle has been to keep these young players and we want to create an environment where they can stay with Boyne.’
The nucleus of the squad hasn’t changed from last year, with the likes of Bevan and Eoghan Duffy, Adam Brodigan, Kevin McCleery, Joe Sweeney, Oisin Howell and Collie Joyce-Ahearne ready to pull on the green jersey once again.
At this stage, though, it looks as if there won’t be an overseas player this season.
‘I’ve had the feelers out, but if an overseas player that comes in isn’t the best player in the team then I haven’t done my job right,’ Ball commented.
‘Money is a factor. You can get any player you want if you have the money and Boyne doesn’t have a whole lot of that, so we’re at the stage now where we might be better off with what we have and look at it again next year.’
The squad began pre-season training two months ago and now the countdown has begun to the visit of Monkstown on Sunday.
‘The boys have been working very hard and getting stuck in, with no shortcuts taken, and training’s been great,’ Ball enthused.
‘We have struggled a little bit with GAA players being away and that wasn’t something that was a problem when I was in Dublin. It’s not my favourite sport at the minute, but those guys will be coming back. Then there’s the usual stuff with work and holidays, but each week we’re getting more numbers back, so that’s given me more reason to be optimistic.
‘I’ve been sent some video of Monkstown and from what I’ve seen they have a big pack and a strong scrum, but without sounding arrogant it’s really about getting our house in order and knowing the work we’ve done will give us confidence.’