Hail to the Chiefs: people, not
What do you stand for? In a world where the major European football clubs are motivated by an exclusionary capitalist greed and where our Rugby Union is thinking of selling out to a private equity firm, it is surely a question worth asking. What do you stand for?
For me, it is a question that the Chiefs have gone a long way to answering in the past few weeks. Not so long ago they were in a dark place. They had lost 11 matches in a row. They were on the sort of run that would get them thrown out from a plutocrat’s idea of a super league.
Then something curious happened. They found themselves. The Chiefs discovered that sport, like the novel, like most good things in life, is about people.
Listening to some of the players talk after they had just tipped over the Crusaders was a revelation. Anton Lienert-Brown talked about ‘‘sticking tight’’ and ‘‘not cracking’’.
He said: ‘‘When we were in that hole, we probably went away from what the Chiefs are good at. So Clayton’s [coach Clayton McMillan] given amongst this group about Chiefs’ footy, play what’s in front. It’s good to put some mana back in this jersey.’’
Lachlan Boshier said: ‘‘He’s [Clayton McMillan] been really good for us. He’s got a lot of mana already. Last year’s games like that, we probably wouldn’t have won those. This year we’re digging deep. It shows the characters of our fellas.’’
It also shows an enormous elephant in the room. It cannot be seen as a coincidence that the Chiefs’ revival has gone on in the absence of Warren Gatland. And that gives NZR a massive problem. What are they going to do now, because Gatland is due to return next year as the head coach of the Chiefs.
That is not to decry the quality of Gatland’s overall record as a coach. But it is almost impossible to have a foot in both hemispheres and expect to be taken at face value in New Zealand. The moment Gatland put a third Lions tour ahead of footy in his home heartland, he should have been left on the outer.
Because as the Chiefs have shown yet again, the tribe matters. It is buried deep in our survival DNA. But I can’t help asking – who are Gatland’s tribe? Wales? Wasps? The Lions? Gatland has wandered the world for so long that I am not sure he even has one any more.
When Graham Henry returned from Europe it probably took him five years before he found his way amongst his own people again. The early years were defined by a savagely early World Cup exit, some discontented All Blacks and a few frankly wacky ideas. For a while Henry was disconnected.
New Zealand Rugby loves to chant the mantra that good men make good All Blacks, but I think there is more to it than that. Good men make good coaches make good teams. We have seen that with Scott Robertson and Wayne Smith and Dave Rennie.
The latter two put the mana back into the Chiefs and instilled it so deep that McMillan was able to unearth it this season.
McMillan said in December: ‘‘I am the interim coach and I’ve got my own ideas about how things will operate. I could see there was lots of good stuff going on, so it’s not about reinventing the wheel.
‘‘It’s about establishing that identity, getting buy-in to what we want to achieve, and being at the forefront of driving standards and behaviours that are going to help us achieve that identity. The Chiefs are my region – I’ve grown up here supporting the Chiefs and had a number of my players play for the club so it’s fantastic to now be a really integral part of the organisation.’’
Now we’re not at the stage yet where we are going to confuse Clayton McMillan with Harold McMillan. It’s far too early to say of the Chiefs: ‘‘You’ve never had it so good.’’ Those were the Rennie/ Smith years and they will take some emulating. But it is about identity. And the fact that McMillan had to re-establish it, would suggest that Gatland, upright in the back of the coaches’ box, with folded arms, had lost it.
As the Chiefs have shown yet again, the tribe matters. It is buried deep in our survival DNA.
So surely this is the end of Gatland’s time. But why would NZR want Gatland back, a man who is currently having to squabble with the avaricious, selfish Premiership clubs about money and release dates to the Lions. Indeed Mark Robinson should be giving Scott Robertson a written guarantee of that role post 2023 World Cup or sooner, depending on results. Otherwise Robertson
may be gone.
You need to treasure the good men while they are still here. So don’t forget Mark, that while Silver Lake may seem like the silver bullet that will save the game, rugby has never been for sale. It is the people who will ultimately save the game. Always has been, always will be.
It is the coaches, the players, the volunteers and the fans. And never ever forget the true fans. I’m not talking about the fly-bynights who think sport is a product and want to watch an
endless loop of Manchester United versus Real Madrid as if it is part of a superhero film franchise. I’m talking about the bloke who spends half his wages to catch a slow train to follow and sing and despair and occasionally, just occasionally, celebrate Barnsley Town on a cold February night. I’m talking about the woman who still turns up and can still jump for joy after the Chiefs have lost 11 straight.
Like their club, these fans weren’t born yesterday. Barnsley Town was founded by the
Reverend Tiverton Preedy in 1887. And in their way they still stand for as much if not more than the Manchester Uniteds of this world.
It’s about soul. United sold its soul to the greedy Glazer family nearly 20 years ago. But the Chiefs still have a soul.
Another final shout out to those Chiefs fans. McMillan said they were worth points against the Crusaders and Brad Weber thanked them for sticking ‘‘with us through the terrible times’’.
But that’s what good people do and may rugby never forget them.