Where are all the PI and Maori coaches?
DESPITE 44 per cent of NRL players coming for Pacific Island or Maori background, rugby league remains a white man’s game when it comes to coaching and administration.
The NRL are working to rectify this, with former NRL and Kiwi player Nigel Vagana encouraging players from these backgrounds to stay in the game when they hang the boots up, but he admits it’s a long-term project.
Vagana is the welfare and education manager for the NRL and NZRL and says they’re trying to rectify the balance.
‘‘Last year we were at 44 per cent of players in full-time squads [from Pacific Island or Maori backgrounds],’’ Vagana said.
‘‘But behind the scenes, we’d be lucky if it was one per cent in the coaching/high performance, which is why we’ve been working on this for a number of years.
‘‘You can’t just walk in and be an NRL trainer, you need to have degrees, masters and PHDs to understand the sports science of it.
‘‘The days of giving your mate a job are gone and if we’re going to do stuff properly, we need to make sure that not only do they have the experience, but they’re also capable and qualified so that we don’t compromise their opportunity.
‘‘The last thing we want to do is throw a player in, just because they did well on the field or played for a long time.’’
The NRL has been running a retention programme for six years. There are three channels: an elite football type pathway, focusing on strength and conditioning as well as coaching; a community and junior pathway, working with schools or community groups; and third, an administration pathway.
‘‘Over the years we’ve had a lot guys filter through the admin pathway,’’ Vagana said.
‘‘For example David Solomona has been in it (as a welfare officer in Queensland) for a couple of years after coming back from the UK.
‘‘Frank Puletua is in the system (at the NRL), Dene Halatau retired last year and is doing a bit around education and wellbeing and also some stuff with the Tigers. There’s Ben Henry and Jerry Seuseu at the Warriors too.’’
Tyran Smith is one of the leading NRL player agents, while Joe Galuvao, Jerome Ropati are involved in community work in NZPA Sydney and Auckland respectively. But it’s in the coaching department where it’s been tougher to make changes.
‘‘Because high performance is more specific it takes longer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done,’’ Vagana said.
‘‘We prepared David Kidwell and he got into coaching the 20s at the Rabbitohs as soon as he retired, then got an opportunity to go to the Storm and learn under Craig Bellamy for a couple of years, then went to the Tigers and has now taken over the Kiwis role.’’
Stephen Kearney is the only head coach of Maori descent currently coaching in the NRL and there are none from Pacific Island backgrounds.
Kearney said it was Bellamy who got him into coaching.
‘‘It’s about someone taking a punt,’’ Kearney said of his opportunity.
‘‘Craig rang me when I was in England to see if I was interested in coming back to help the club out, I was and it went from there.
‘‘He might of seen something in me back then, I don’t know.
‘‘When you consider the large number of New Zealand and Pacific Islanders in the NRL, you’d probably think there would be a bit more.’’
Part of the work being done by the NRL is to change of attitudes from players. Vagana said in his day Pacific and Maori players never contemplated staying in the game.
‘‘When we were playing, we never saw any coaches that looked like us,’’ he said.
‘‘There weren’t any Kiwi coaches in the NRL, but they now see guys in the system like myself and Stephen Kearney, David Kidwell, Willie Talau on the coaching pathway and Jerome and Joe Galuvao in the communities, they can see there are different pathways to still be involved.’’
One controversial method of getting more Pacific Islanders into coaching jobs would be to copy the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires all teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.
However, Vagana doesn’t believe this would help make a difference in the NRL. ‘‘If you had a rule like that in place it almost becomes a token.’’
‘ We’d be lucky if it was 1 per cent in the coaching/high performance.’ NIGEL VAGANA