ARU in historic think tank
FOR the first time in history, all of Australia’s top professional coaches and high performance staff will meet in one room to work out how to develop the next generation of Wallabies stars and reclaim major trophies like the World Cup and Bledisloe Cup.
The unprecedented twoday meeting in Sydney, tomorrow and on Thursday, will see Wallabies and Super Rugby coaches and assistants undergo leadership training and profiling run by UTS business faculty and the Australian Institute of Sport.
This is the brainchild of Rod Kafer and Ben Whitaker.
Kafer took up the role of head of special projects in the ARU high performance unit, which is run by Whitaker.
The pair had to convince every Super Rugby franchise’s coaching and analysis staff to put distrust and rivalry aside for the greater good of Australian rugby.
“It is borne out of the fact that we had no Super Rugby wins against the Kiwis and 15 years of Bledisloe Cup losses,” Kafer said. “People at some point have got to say, ‘Maybe we need to do something a little bit differently’, and I reckon we’re at that point.”
Different leadership programs will be held for head coaches and assistants of the four Australian Super Rugby franchises – Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels.