Why NZ women are embracing their ‘superpowers’
What are your superpowers? If you’re not Captain America or Wonder Woman, you might think that’s a silly question.
But if you ask one of the 32 members of the Black Ferns’ Rugby World Cup squad, you’ll get a serious answer.
Hooker Awhina Tangen-Wainohu will tell you her superpower on the field is carrying into contact: ‘‘Give me the ball and I love to run it up.’’
Loose forward Kennedy Simon will tell you ‘‘people feel empowered around me,’’ which is exactly what you want to hear from one of the team’s co-captains.
Centre Stacey Fluhler says one of her superpowers is ‘‘carrying the ball into contact’’.
‘‘I love getting the ball and striking hard, using my feet, using my power and using my strength’’.
Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith is quick to note that this is not a concept he’s invented, not by a long shot, but it’s absolutely a way of thinking he has encouraged since being put in charge of the team six months ago.
The Black Ferns play France at Eden Park in Auckland tonight, a team they’ve lost their last four tests against, and if they’re going to win and set up a final at the same venue against England or Canada next weekend, their superpowers will have to be on full display.
Smith says the concept is rooted in analysing players’ strengths, what they can do, rather than their weaknesses – what they can’t.
‘‘I’ve always looked at what a player can do because that’s what makes them a champion.
‘‘Then I try to make that better and try to stop players from working on everything that has no relevance to them.
‘‘If they’ve got a couple of things that they need to fix up that are important to their position, then work on that.
‘‘Through that has come superpowers – ‘These are my superpowers’. Strengths, basically.
‘‘When [the players] put clips up reviewing their game, I always ask ‘What can you do? What did you do really well and how are you going to make that better?’ Rather than, ‘You didn’t do this, you didn’t do that, didn’t do that’.
‘‘Because at the end of the day, when you look at the greats of all time, they’ve got two or three things that they’re better than anyone else at, so that’s the way we operate.’’
Talking about superpowers is a concept more familiar to some Black Ferns than it is to others. Those who have been involved in the New Zealand sevens programme know it well thanks to coach Allan Bunting, who has been involved with the Black
Ferns this year in a culture and leadership role.
It might sound obvious, but Portia Woodman’s superpowers are her strength and speed.
She says she finds herself using the concept when talking to young girls who play rugby and that it’s all about building confidence: ‘‘Once you have that confidence in what you can do, there’s no stopping you’’.
Woodman also says it’s not just about knowing your own superpower – it’s about knowing how it fits into the wider game plan.
In a similar vein, lock Joanah Ngan-Woo says hers is her bigpicture vision and that it’s been cool to hear everyone talk about their superpowers, so their team-mates can try to accentuate them: ‘‘If someone’s superpower is they’re amazing with ball in hand, then we’ve got to get the ball into their hands.’’
Thinking about their superpowers has become such an ingrained concept for the Black Ferns that they sometimes talk about the concept in public without being prompted.
Loose forward Liana Mikaele-Tu’u slipped a mention in two weeks out from the World Cup, when asked what the key focus for the team would be in that period, which led to Stuff asking for the first time: ‘‘What’s your superpower?’’ ‘‘Physical energy on the field.’’ Veteran loose forward Charmaine McMenamin also mentioned it while talking about what advice she would give her 18-year-old team-mate Sylvia Brunt heading into the tournament.
‘‘The big thing here is to just be brave and be courageous. You’ve got your superpower out on the field, so just do it – do what you’re good at – and everything will flow from there.’’
But of all those Stuff has asked about their superpowers, it was cocaptain Ruahei Demant who gave her answer the quickest: ‘‘Taking the ball to the line.
‘‘I wouldn’t say running it straight, because I don’t run straight into people – I run straight into holes, or take the ball to the line to put others into space.’’
Demant remembers vividly a meeting where Smith introduced himself and said one of his superpowers was that he doesn’t follow the herd – that he does things differently.
When she spoke this week in the lead-up to tonight’s semifinal, it was clear she takes a lot of pride from the fact that her team is different to the others left in the World Cup – that they want to make full use of their talents to play an exciting, attacking brand of rugby.
What that boils down to is having a great sense of belief. Know what you’re good at – your superpowers – and back yourself to execute those things, even when the pressure is on.
If the Black Ferns can do that from No 1 to No 23 against France, their next match will be a World Cup final. – Additional reporting by Joseph Pearson