Smith the Super Rugby glue in Chiefs’ structure
WAYNE Smith exudes a certain timelessness.
In look and ease of movement, the former All Blacks and current Chiefs assistant coach doesn’t appear in a rush to yield to time. Moreover, with the team bus revving, he remains as engaging as he was at the start of this interview.
Smith, 56, who has a coaching career that spans half that time, has taken life, particularly the vicissitudes of the game, in his stride. He’s experienced the game’s desperate lows and most elevated peaks.
The easy-going coaching high priest doesn’t preach from a lofty position. He believes in simple values, the glue that binds men to a common cause.
It is especially so for the back-to-back defending Super Rugby champions.
“Being with the Chiefs has deep personal meaning for me. I’m back at the Chiefs essentially because I’m a Waikato boy. My mom and dad are back on the farm in my home town Putaruru.”
That sense of belonging fuels the Chiefs.
“The franchise was broke at the end of 2011. The New Zealand Rugby Union took over the debt. We had to find a new base and found an agriculture service centre which had a warehouse. Every Wednesday afternoon we took the players there and we knocked down walls, and the builders reconstructed what we wanted. We did all the painting.
“There was hardship because we’re a low-budget team, but we paid that debt back after the first year because we won,” Smith said about a team, as he explained, that is everything but low-budget in attitude.
“Previously we didn’t have a lot of success. We had to build something unique to us. It created this spirit. We call it ‘ mana’ in New Zealand. It encompasses the spirit and the soul. It’s about doing something bigger than yourself.”
Being imbued with mana helped create a team greater than the sum of its parts.
“We have to reset every week because we’re nowhere near good enough to take teams lightly or get an easy win. We’ve got to draw on everything we’ve got to win. It’s about playing for each other
I share every ounce of experience I’ve got. I love coaching, working out how to win a game and sharing it with the players
and squeezing out every last drop.”
The Chiefs buy into the truism that just because you’re a character, doesn’t mean you possess character.
“If you read Pat Riley’s book, The Disease of Me, it’s about you being the greatest threat to championship-winning teams. Once ego comes through the door, success leaves. We must just make sure we are what we set out to be.
“Young, everyday Kiwis who connect with their communities. It’s about pride and what we are about, more than the outcome.”
Staying humble is one of Smith’s most enduring traits. He lost the All Blacks job, but got involved as an assistant coach.
“It’s a totally different role,
There was hardship because we’re a low-budget team, but we paid that debt back after the first year
but I don’t see it as holding back. I share every ounce of experience I’ve got. Every team I’m with I feel I own the team. I love coaching, working out how to win a game and sharing it with the players.
“You also need a clever integration of the national ideals with that of the provincial ones. We have a very clear strategic plan which our coaches have bought into,” he said about the greater picture in which he operates.
Despite being involved with the All Blacks for around 120 tests, Smith would consider coaching another country.
“A third of my life was spent with the All Blacks. At some point I will take a year off. I’m cherishing the routines and being with Trish and family back home,” said the father of twins.
“It’s become really important to me because I’ve always been driven to be successful in rugby. Trish and I bought a motor home so we’ll travel around New Zealand and reconnect with the people. Maybe watch some rugby tests.”