SPECIAL FEATURE Welcome to the Crusaders university
From Dunedin to Dublin, players from the 2000s era Crusaders have continued their careers as coaches to pass on their knowledge.
It isn’t the bent noses, scarred eyebrows and and bung knees that set six coaches apart from their Super Rugby counterparts. Given the punishing nature of the professional rugby industry it isn’t surprising that the bodies of Scott Robertson, Aaron Mauger, Mark Hammett, Daryl Gibson, Brad Thorn and Tabai Matson bear permanent reminders of their playing days at the Crusaders.
But their time at the Christchurch-based club also left a lasting impression for another reason. Not all left with an intangible desire to coach, but the seed, whether they realised it or not, had been planted.
Robertson (Crusaders), Mauger and Hammett (Highlanders), Gibson (Waratahs), Thorn (Queensland Reds) and Matson (Chiefs) all have hands-on roles with teams in Super Rugby.
There are others earning their coin in New Zealand, and beyond. Former Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder is now aligned with English premiership team Bath, Leon MacDonald (who worked under Robertson as an assistant backs coach last year) is head coach of Tasman, Joe Maddock is in charge of Canterbury and Dave Hewett recently took over at Southland. Greg Feek looks after the scrum for Six Nations champions Ireland.
All were on the Crusaders’ books when former coach Robbie Deans oversaw the team’s programme for the 2000-08 seasons.
Deans, now the boss of the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan, said the realisation that so many players had made the transition to coaching didn’t hit him until he arrived at Suncorp Stadium for the Brisbane Global Tens tournament in late February.
‘‘To be honest I wasn’t really conscious of it until I was at the Brisbane Tens and I looked around the room, so to speak, and I thought ‘crikey’,’’ Deans said. ‘‘It is something I reflect on and think maybe that is a good sign you know?
‘‘It is great, first and foremost, to see these guys putting back into the game. It is an indicator that they understand what it is all about.’’
One cynical joke that has been a constant in many sports codes over the years is that newcomers to the world of coaching deserve a sympathetic tap on the shoulder, rather than a congratulatory slap on the back. It’s not a job for the mentally fragile.
Stories of New Zealand rugby coaches getting the chop before their contracts expire are rare. Yet it doesn’t minimise the scrutiny. The keyboard cowboys have never had it so good with social media, spraying off shots in all directions without having to disclose their name or location.
Clearly none of the above has dissuaded the batch of players who, having left the Crusaders, decided to seek work as teachers of tactics, technique and also become the harvesters of talent.
It can be a nasty business. There is never any escaping the dud results, or the points accumulated on the competition log. Reputations rise and fall as each weekend passes.
Robertson, who last year guided the Crusaders to a title in his first season in charge, says that’s what also makes the job so intoxicating.
‘‘The ability to prepare a group of men for a week is extremely unique,’’ he says. ‘‘Not many people get paid to do a job they love, where people pay to come and watch. It’s like back in the day when the gladiators fought in the Coliseum. There is something about it, like the cortisol or something that comes into your body, and that makes it addictive.
‘‘You get that feeling as a player, and then you get it as a coach. It’s pretty unique.’’
In 2000 Deans replaced Wayne Smith, who had been the Crusaders coach for the 1997-1999 seasons. Between late 2001 and 2003 Deans also assisted John Mitchell with the All Blacks, and signed off five years later to take on the Wallabies job.
Like Robertson, Deans says the job creates a terrific buzz.
‘‘Yeah, it is addictive. You line up each week. Even when you have been smacked you line up the next for the prospect of turning that around. But most importantly you have got to love the challenge, you have got to love the uncertainty or you are probably in the wrong industry.
‘‘You are doing something that you love, you know. It is not easy, you certainly don’t choose it for the ease. In many ways you choose it for the lack of ease, you choose it for the challenge that is shared with a group of people that are of like mind.’’
Robertson, a Crusaders foundation player, discovered he had a hankering to coach soon after joining the team. During his seven years with the Crusaders, he played under Steve Hansen, who assisted Deans and is now in charge of the All Blacks, Smith and Deans.
‘‘Absolutely, 100 percent. That’s what guys like Robbie Deans, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen have done for us. They inspired us to coach, all had their own personal – and different – ways of delivering messages and coaching teams. They helped shape us because they were bloody great coaches.’’
Deans has a simple message to young men who want to coach after they have retired from playing: Don’t waste time.
‘‘My advice would be to start now. To coach while you are playing, and I actively encourage players to coach while they are playing – at any level. It doesn’t matter if it is a young schoolboy team, or whatever.
‘‘Because it is the fastest way to learn. It helps you while you are playing. If someone asked ‘should I?’ I would say absolutely. Because it is an experience that involves so many people and elements beyond yourself, it is very enriching. It is very rewarding.’’
Robertson and Mauger both adhered to the principle that it is never too early to start.
‘‘It was probably in my first year or two in the Crusaders that I started,’’ Robertson reflects. ‘‘I started coaching the Christ’s College under-16 B side. I think I was naturally drawn to it. I enjoyed the teaching side of it, and the people side.’’
In 2006, when he was still playing for the Crusaders, Mauger and a few mates banded together to assist at the Lyttelton club.
‘‘I was an assistant coach, I’d go over there and get amongst it,’’ Mauger said. ‘‘It was a good project we had on the go there and it’s something we were really proud of. It’s our home club, we managed to get them back up through the divisions to the point where they’re still in div two now, but they still complete really well. That’s home for us, always will be.’’
Later, when Mauger was playing for the Leicester Tigers in the 2007-08 northern season, Nottingham director of rugby Glenn Delaney asked whether he could spare some time to assist with his championship team. Later they were to renew their partnership when Delaney agreed to work under Mauger at the Highlanders.
Former mentors from the Crusaders and All Blacks had stirred-up the passion to coach, and when Mauger returned to Christchurch he got involved with the High School Old Boys club, Canterbury and the Crusaders.
‘‘I think guys like Wayne Smith, who was coaching the Crusaders, and obviously Robbie Deans had a massive influence on that. Steve Hansen was another coach that I had through my time in Canterbury and the All Blacks. You look at the quality of those gentlemen and Graham Henry later on in my All Black career, I was very fortunate to be coached by some of the best in the game.
‘‘It probably wasn’t until I was about to finish up that I realised it was the path I wanted to go down. Then I realised that I was probably coaching before I actually became a coach through the quality of their coaching and parrying players to drive the team around.’’
Unlike many incumbent coaches, who have made the transition from playing, Deans did a variety of jobs until he landed the Canterbury job in 1997.
A qualified economics and maths teacher, Deans never practised in the classroom. He ran a distribution business, worked as a nation-wide consultant and managed a farm prior to being a coach.
‘‘And to be honest I thought the professional leg of my coaching would have been quite brief,’’ Deans noted. ‘‘I genuinely thought it would be a year, so I need to maximise that involvement and make sure it as good as it possibly can be for me and all parties involved.
‘‘In terms of this generation I suspect it is very similar to the same reason that I entered it in the first instance. And that is because I loved the game, loved everything that the game encapsulated; the camaraderie, the team-work, the adversity, the challenge and obviously the ups and downs that come with that. But it is such an engaging experience, and I know in my generation there was a number of us who were inspired by the people we had.’’
Deans said he was influenced by Alex Wyllie, Doug Bruce, Tiny Hill and Sir Brian Lochore. They shared their passion for the game, and Deans couldn’t resist the urge to stay connected to the sport.
‘‘I don’t think it was so much the allure of being a professional rugby coach, and I can only speak from my own perspective here, I went into it basically because it was a passion.
‘‘I suspect – I hope – that is a big part of the motivation now (for other coaches). Because if it is not, because if it is purely the pecuniary gain aspect of coaching then it would be tough to sustain. You need a reason that is deeper than that, just like players do.’’
The life of a head coach can be a lonely one. Ultimately they are measured, first and foremost, on wins and losses. That’s all that matters to one of the most important sections of the professional rugby circuit – the fans. Deans admits it can take its toll, but experience has taught him that the longer you are in this business the more you learn how to deflect the barbs. ‘‘It can do, absolutely. And I think you get better at that, over time. In the early days your emotions are never far from the surface. I think, over time, as you experience more you maybe get better equipped. You develop tools that help you to cope with those vagaries of performance and outcome.
‘‘And the vagaries of the factors of the game that you can’t control. Because they do impact on your reality, whether they be injuries or adjudication. Who knows? They are numerous and many.’’
Robertson remains in close contact with Deans. Late last year the latter asked the Crusaders coach to be his assistant with the Barbarians team which played several games in the northern hemisphere, including a fixture against the All Blacks in London.
There are less stressful ways to earn a living, and many ex-players can clearly think of much better ways to spend their retirement from game.
Robertson, though, says nothing beats going to work every day to chat, discuss and teach rugby with a like-minded bunch of people.
‘‘Being connected as a group, creating a bond and driving a common purpose; those behaviours. It is about pitching in for the love of the game and how you are going to play, to evolve and to stay ahead with the structures of the game.’’
It’s a sentiment shared by Mauger.
‘‘I love the game. It’s an opportunity to stay involved. When I look at the influence that guys like Smithy and Robbie and Steve had over my life and some mates of mine, it’s a pretty special privilege. It’s a great responsibility to have that influence, not just in growing players, but also developing young men and helping them be the best they can be.’’
My advice would be to start now. To coach while you are playing, and I actively encourage players to coach while they are playing – at any level. It doesn’t matter if it is a young schoolboy team, or whatever. Robbie Deans