Exciting to see how far George can go in a year
Kyran Bracken unveils his big challenge for 2021 – to turn Wanstead scrum-half George Hardy, 28, into a professional in 12 months
For me there is every reason to look forward to 2021 and it starts with the huge challenge of trying to help an amateur player, George Hardy, make the leap to the professional game within 12 months.
George has made an impression on me at Wanstead RFC that few in the game I have worked with or watched have. You would have to go back more than 20 years to the last time I recommended a player to a club for them to take a serious look at.
Only twice have I tipped a club about a player. On those occasions they were Rob Thirlby and Danny Grewcock to Saracens, so hopefully George can make it three out of three.
The fact he spent six years out of the game is one of the reasons I think he can make it; from the first two training sessions at Wanstead I attended I could identity the ability he had and the potential he has.
Wanstead were in London 2 North East last season but he can play at a far higher level and who knows where he could be in 12 months’ time?
I was brought down to Wanstead by my co-coach at St Albans School, Jeremy Walmsley – a New Zealander who loves his rugby – whom I have worked with for three or four years. Jeremy has been at Wanstead since May. He brought me in soon after and we started doing some sociallydistanced coaching in the summer. There is a nice, tightknit feeling among the squad.
When we started to open the training up more among the squad earlier this year, that is when George turned up. I wasn’t there on that occasion but Jeremy called me and said ‘listen, I have got a really good No.9 join us – wait until you see him’.
I came down the following week and was impressed by his core skills as a scrum-half. My presumption was that he was playing at a very high level and was just winding down, looking to have some craic somewhere.
The more I watched George, the more I thought ‘why isn’t this kid playing in the Premiership?’ I talked to him and he said he had fallen out of love with the game; he had focussed on other things and had now decided to come back to the sport in his late 20s.
What stood out was that he was the fastest in the team – he was skinning people. In the context of today’s game, rather than in my own time playing, 9s now tend to be the gain-line breakers and the skill level is maybe not what it used to be.
I did a couple of one-on-one sessions with George and told him in no uncertain terms he could play at a really, really high standard. I don’t know whether George thought he could or not, but he’s willing to give it a try.
My job has been to plan the 12-month long transformation and to not focus only on the next few weeks, because we have to set goals in line with the progress we see. Down the road, we’ll maybe look to get some strength and conditioning guys involved with George’s fitness work to get him to optimum levels ready for the professional game.
I would not be doing this if I didn’t believe he could make it. It would never be a case of me being able to turn any amateur I found into a professional, that is not possible. I am doing this because I believe George can make it.
That is why I have put my name to it because I am confident in his abilities and what could be accomplished in a year of working together. He would be a great asset to any professional team and the proof will be in the pudding.
After my retirement, I flitted between professional clubs and worked with Danny Care, Ben Youngs, Joe Simpson and Neil de Kock. But I didn’t find it hugely rewarding.
There is something that is fun in developing a player, that is why I love the work I do at St Albans School and working now with Wanstead has given me exactly what I was searching for.
Wanstead have been so welcoming and accommodating. It was only supposed to be a ‘few’ sessions but now I am doing a lot more and that is partly because there are good people at the club and the standard is pretty good.
I am not doing it for money or anything, I am doing it for the fun and the challenge that George has brought to me as an individual. A lot of it is on him to work hard every single week, but can I also turn a raw player into a professional? That is something that excites me and adds to the fun of coaching.
He won’t be training to be an amateur, he will be training to be a professional rugby player.
All the work he will do outside of what he does for Wanstead, I hope will get him to a point next year that he can go on trial. In a way, we aren’t even looking at getting him signed as the main goal. To be signed, you first have to be invited for a trial and that is a crucial first step. I’ll be reporting back with George’s progress each month...
“I would not be doing this if I didn’t believe he could make it”