I can make Warriors great says Diamond
Steve Diamond holds court after being appointed boss at Worcester Warriors. Jon Newcombe listened in
AFTER a twomonth consultancy period at Sixways, Steve Diamond was this week announced as Worcester Warriors’ new director of rugby.
Diamond believes his blend of ‘tough-love’, honesty and graft – and smart recruitment – can turn the struggling club’s fortunes around within a year.
As always, the former Sale boss was forthright in his opinions. Here’s what he had to say on …
His consultancy period and what he found
There are a lot of good people and players here, and I didn’t realise how good the facilities were until I came to the club. You train on the first team pitch every day, the gym is next door and they’ve got huge screens to watch replays on.
The previous people did a pretty good job, but I have a different outlook in how we should play and we have the resources to do that. I bring a different edge to what they had if I am honest, I’m a bit more abrasive in my approach.
I spent two months helping, watching, advising and listening, and made some recommendations and they have been implemented. I haven’t coached per se but every game we have competed in, in the last two months we have got something out of the game whether it is a losing bonus point or a win or a draw.
I just caveated the impact that Alan (Solomons, the former DoR) and JT (former head coach Jonathan Thomas) had with a little bit of ‘this is the way we can go’. They have the basics of a really competitive side that will be highly respected in the league.
Becoming a top side
Alan and JT had put the train back on the tracks to a certain extent in terms of getting systems and processes in place and there was a frustration that things haven’t come more quickly.
Alan has been around a long time; he has steadied many ships and he came here when the club was in a position of distress. Alan has put in place a coaching team and a recruitment policy that saw some fairly big names join us.
What Alan and JT did is very similar to what I did in the north west in terms of putting together an academy that breeds players that want to play for their hometown club. There’s no better example of that than Ted Hill, the skipper (below).
JT is a very good, technical coach. He has vast experience as a world-class player and no doubt he will get a job very soon and be a successful coach.
Changing Worcester’s fortunes
We have got to train at an intense level that I don’t think we have trained at, we have lacked a bit of oomph. We have certainly got the talent and the wherewithal and expertise, it is just putting all the ingredients into the saucepan and getting the right pie out of it. I think the ingredients are here, they have just not been utilised as well as they could have been.
Salary cap
We have the full salary cap available to us but the cap has come down significantly.
I think the difference between teams over the next three to four years will be those who have the smartest recruitment, those who have the best academy and those who can find the odd gem. I operated for a long time on maybe 50-60 per cent of everyone else’s salary cap in Manchester, so I know how to do it and I am confident I’ll be able to put together a highly competitive squad.
Now nobody can cheat the salary cap, it is he who is the best recruiter and who has the best coaching who has the best team.
Recruitment
Rugby has moved on but no taking away from it, you need ball carriers, you need bump, you need people who can get over the gain line. I don’t think there is enough bump in the pack.
We have a backline that has scored a lot of tries. Can you imagine if they had a forward pack that could deliver more ball, quicker ball. I’m busy over the next week or so talking to players who are available and who will fit in. Most of them are English.
We will see over the next month to six weeks what we have got – everybody is going to have a fair crack of the whip. There’s 12 or 13 lads out of contract but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to get one.
Leadership
We need three to four more leaders to come in and for the current group of leaders to extend their power in the group and not be frightened to have an opinion.
We have to get players in who can make decisions on the pitch, the sooner we get rid of water carriers and messages being carried onto the pitch the better the game will be. Empowering players is the way forward.
Style of management
What rugby players generally like is clarity, a basic platform and then let their skills and enthusiasm take us to the next step.
The project is simple – how do you get a group of 25 blokes to give a sh*t about playing for their club? That’s what I can create. Every dog has a bite, and that’s what Worcester will have over the next six months.
Appetite for the game
I have really enjoyed the time off, it gives you the opportunity to evaluate what you do. I looked at going abroad a couple of times, I had a nice offer in America which I will do in another 10-15 years’ time, I had a nice offer in Italy, but apart from the BBC saying I am 60 (he’s 53), I am still young to do that. I have ambitions in the league and want to have an opportunity of creating another great club that is highly competitive and maybe hand that over in five to six years.
Coaching team
I’m hands on, I have dug out my 1985 trainers and I’ve got a whistle. On a serious note, we won’t be looking at coaches just yet. Mark Jones, Mark Irish and Johnny Bell, these lads know what they are doing, and hopefully we can complement each other.
Retaining star players
The thing is to take the stepping stone ethos away. Sale was a stepping stone club, it no longer is. Kids used to leave Sale because they thought they could get riches and grandeur somewhere else and it ultimately never happened. What I have is a wealth of experience where I can explain where we
“How Eddie Jones has not looked at Fin is beyond me”
are going.
Young lads are what the game is about. You build your team around people like Fin Smith and Ted Hill. We’ve got a back rower (Hill) who is a machine and we’ve got a kid (Smith) who is so talented, he really excites.
How Eddie Jones has not looked at Fin is beyond me. What’s the kid called with a fancy name from Bath (Orlando Bailey)? He’s got a shout and Fin Smith is way ahead of him.
Acceptance of failure
I am not going to go down the route that other clubs have done, with their holistic approach. I deliver a fair, direct and honest environment which for the last 15 years of my coaching life, everyone has enjoyed working in.
There’s an ‘oh well, that’s the way it goes’ mentality (here). That isn’t from the owners, the owners are very ambitious and I am very ambitious so I think if there was any of that with the playing squad, after our meeting this morning, that has been eradicated.
Timeframe for success
We are just going to get highly competitive and, over the next year or two, it will have to be a good side that beats us. We might have to start off with some basics about winning the majority of our home games.
I’ve got five months now and a good pre-season. With the personnel we have at the minute and the three or four I’ll be eyeing up, we can be really competitive.