Manawatu rugby goes hi-tech
You can’t accuse the Manawatu Rugby Union of falling behind the times.
Among its list of additions for 2017 are a high performance centre, a mobile app, beetroot juice and drones.
The Manawatu Rugby Performance Centre was the latest to reach completion with its official opening on Wednesday night.
It marked the end of $500,000 project to re-fit the old A&P Society bull shed, which boarders Arena field four and Waldergrave St.
The building will be the home of the Manawatu Turbos complete with showers, offices for the Turbos’ coaching staff, trainers and academy manger, a treatment room for the team doctor and physio, a video analysis room and a player’s lounge which can double as a seminar room.
Manawatu Rugby Union board chairman Tim Myers said it was amazing to see the transformation the building has undergone since work started on it late last year.
‘‘I walked through what was a shed [before work started] and to be honest I was a bit ginger about entering the building - it was not the sort of place that you felt comfortable walking into for fear of the place collapsing in on you,’’ he said.
‘‘Yes, we don’t have a Super Rugby franchise, but I bet you you could wander through any provincial union and you’d be hard pressed to find a facility like this.
‘‘This union has a real aspiration to be best in class. That means not only on the field but in every aspect of what we do. Yes it means winning, but it also means being able to offer a facility like this to our community.’’
Myers said while it was being dubbed ‘Home of the Turbos’, the building would have a much larger reach.
‘‘It is important to realise that while the name Rugby Performance Centre is over the top of this build, it is about our community... In time we are hoping that this building will be more than just rugby.’’
That was a sentiment shared by Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith, who said it would good to see other Manawatu athletes be able to take advantage of the gym.
‘‘I hope we can have perhaps carded athletes be able to use this gym, not only the Turbos.’’
He said the facility was top quality.
‘‘I was fortunate enough to go and have a look at the Warriors and then the Melbourne Storm facility and I can tell you on the scale on where we are in rugby, this is outstanding.’’
The completion of the gym marks a significant step forward as the union works to continue to solidify its financial standing.
In 2009 the union was at threat of slipping into the Heartland division of provincial rugby with a hefty deficit hanging over its head.
Now eight years on from the Save the Turbos campaign, which helped turn the finances of the union around, the completion of a significant asset should add a further glow to the financial books.
The performance centre was funded through a number of trust grants and from money raised in 2012’s house-build fundraiser.
It is just the latest step as the union continues to look for ways to compete with larger provinces.
Coach Jeremy Cotter has jumped on-board with the innovative thinking.
They now have a drone to help capture better footage for analysis during training.
And Cotter also wanted to use the benefits of players drinking beetroot juice - studies suggest the nitrates in the juice can help enhance blood flow and therefore improve performance.
Earlier this year, Cotter said forward-thinking was key for smaller unions like Manawatu.
‘‘One of the things we want to be is progressive and innovative,’’ he said. ‘‘We want to try everything.’’
He believed the opening of the performance centre was a sign of the union’s commitment to the future.
‘‘I think it is a great window of the nature of the union for young players coming here. We want to be progressive, we want to up with the times and we want to have a high performance centre that as soon as you walk in, it takes your breath away.’’