CRUSADERS!
From modest beginnings to formidable professionals
The Crusaders are not just another sports team. From a modest beginning grew the most formidable professional club entity rugby has ever seen, as evidenced by the sum of 11 Super Rugby titles won across the 25 completed competitions between the dawn of open professionalism in 1996, and the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition of 2020. Yet the on-field results, excellent though they were, are just part of the story of a team and an organisation that succeeded by living their stated ethos of hard work, embracing diversity, and committing to represent the people of their region with pride and humility.
Penned by a former member of the team management Matt Mcilraith, Crusade On! takes you inside the operation, providing a full 360-degree view of the first 25 years, through the eyes of those who helped make the Crusaders a symbol of excellence including the fans.
We asked Mcilraith a few questions:
During your time working with the Crusaders what was your most memorable experience?
My last night with the team was pretty special, when we beat the NSW Waratahs in the 2008 final which sent Robbie Deans, Reuben Thorne, Caleb Ralph and Greg Somerville off in style. Ultimately it’s about the people as much as it is anything else. While it was a labour of love, the player directory in the book, which details what every player achieved throughout their careers, who they played for and where they went after, was pretty satisfying to put together.
What makes the Crusaders special?
Obviously winning helps, but I think the way the team was established and has been run makes the difference. The structures that have been put in place around player development, team standards, internal and external leadership, succession planning and the like have all contributed massively to the ongoing success.
Did the team help the morale of Christchurch after the earthquakes?
While I was away in Sydney at the time the quake happened, certainly that was the overwhelming feedback I had from the community. The players helped on community projects, maintained a visible connection with the population and ensured the public knew how much representing them meant to the team. If anything, I think their efforts, and the spontaneous response the public gave them when they made it home after the final, only reinforced the close bond.
What was your favourite chapter to write in this book?
Ironically it was probably the first chapter around the first season and the challenges they had. We only think of the Crusaders as winners. The teams I had worked with had been successful, so to understand what they had faced in that first year, why it had gone wrong, and the lessons that they learned, was fascinating. I don’t believe the team would have been anywhere near as successful through the years had it not been for the hardship experienced in that first season.
Was there one player during your time as media manager at the Crusaders that stood out?
There is one player I went a long way back with but discovered, during the course of writing the book, that I didn’t know nearly as well as I thought I had. Corey Flynn was a great player, a good team man, and a great Crusader. It was not until talking to a lot of players and coaches that I realised just how much he did behind the scenes. How good he was with the younger players, how he both encouraged and helped guys — even rivals for his position — but was also prepared to call guys out who weren’t living up to off-field standards they had agreed to, which are conversations that are necessary, but not always easy to have. I asked a lot of people during the course of the research who had had the most influence on them in the group, and ‘Flynny’ was easily the player that was named most often. It is a credit to him, which we’ve recognised in the book, but also a good lesson for me: if you have a particular perception of something or someone and are not prepared to look beyond it, then you might not see what is right in front of you. So even 13 years after I left the place, the Crusaders are still teaching me things!