Pick me, Harbour coach tells Blues

STEVE JACKSON has put his hand up for one of the two assistant coaching roles at the Blues next year.

Applications for the positions, recently vacated by World Cupwinning mentor Sir Graham Henry and All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne, closed yesterday and the Blues hope to make appointments by the end of August.

A former New Zealand Maori, Southland, Tasman, Auckland and North Harbour lock, Jackson assumes Harbour’s head coaching role this year after a successful stint under former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga at Counties Manukau.

Before that, Jackson’s coaching credentials were honed by claiming back-to-back club titles with North Shore club Massey and a championship with Marist in Nelson, where he also assisted Tasman in the NPC.

Jackson signed a two-year deal with Harbour and remains fully committed to transforming the beleaguered union, who have won eight from 42 games in the past four years.

But there is, essentially, no downside to signalling his ambition to progress to the next level.

‘‘I’ll send in an application and see where that goes,’’ Jackson said, having just finished lacing the boots for a fitness and conditioning session with the Harbour squad.

‘‘I’m not expecting anything. At this stage I’m North Harbour head coach and that’s what I’m looking forward to.

‘‘I always thought I’d be a better coach than I was a player. I’m a believer in ‘you do your apprenticeship’. I’ve come through the club system, worked under Tana and learned a lot from him. Things have progressed from there.’’

Jackson’s hard-nose attitude and strong grasp of the forward pack intricacies already hold him in high regard in wider rugby community. And a forwards mentor is exactly what the Blues require with Byrne moving on.

Jackson is also passionate about the region and impressed by overseeing the Blues’ success at the recent 10s tournament in Singapore.

‘‘I was born and bred out West Auckland so I’m a Blues man through and through,’’ he said. ‘‘If you don’t try you don’t know. If you go through the process you never know what will happen.

‘‘As long as people know that you are interested and keen to go to the next level then it’s worth it. I’m still young in my coaching career. We’ll see how it goes. If my application is successful then we’ll sit down and look at where we go from there.’’

With a squad that includes new recruit Robbie Robinson, Tevita Li, James Parsons, Hayden Triggs, Pita Ahki and Nafi Tuitavake, Jackson is confident he can lead Harbour to the second-tier championship semifinals this season.

‘‘That’s our goal as a team. I’ve made it clear that’s where we want to be. The team at this stage won’t settle for anything less,’’ he said.

‘‘We need to get this team moving forward.’’