Following on from the four NSW-based coaches we covered last week in Part 1, this week I completed the set by ringing around the five remaining National Rugby Championship coaches

Brisbane City: Nick Stiles
One of only three inaugural NRC coaches to be going around again in 2015, Stiles is the only one with a title under his belt. But being in charge of the reigning NRC Premiers doesn’t make 2015 preparations any easier, with Stiles telling me this week that even with only a few weeks to go, most player squad planning sessions still end with, “and if this happens, and if this happens, if, if, if…”

But the planning goes on, because Stiles – as a Reds assistant coach – knows more than most just how important the NRC already is for the Australian rugby pathways.

“We deliberately set up the Queensland teams to be run by Reds staff and as a development tool for club coaches, managers, but the main thing is to give opportunities to players. Eleven Queensland NRC players received Reds contracts last year, and it was so important in the development of guys like Magnay, Talakai, Gunn, McIntyre, Korczyk, and so on. Samu Kerevi doesn’t go from Brisbane club rugby to the Wallabies squad inside twelve months without the NRC,” Stiles said.

Like all NRC coaches, Stiles is working towards the same August 4 deadline to finalise his squad, and there’s plenty of water to go under plenty of bridges yet. But the planning must go on. Stiles is excited about the Brisbane Premier Rugby finals starting last weekend, presenting a good test of players stepping up a level.

“In the break-up of [Queensland’s] two squads, we’ll make sure it’s a pretty even spilt of contracted players and academy guys, and I reckon around 40-50% coming into the squad [from club rugby] would be pretty fair to say.”

Stiles was really impressed with the way the set piece developed as a attacking tool last season, and expects that to be the case again in 2015. But replacing Dave McDuling, who earlier this month announced a move to the Sharks in Durban, won’t be easy.

“He’s a big loss. It was a really good tournament for him, because he’d been out of the game with a couple of serious knee injuries, and he played nearly every minute. His knowledge at set piece was excellent, and really grew into the captaincy when he took it on. It’s a shame to see him go, but that’s the nature of the beast. You want to see these guys get opportunities, and his just happens to be in South Africa.”

Stiles raised an interesting point about senior contracted players, too. There is, he rightly points out, still plenty for them to keep playing for.

“It’ll be really good for someone like James O’Connor, if he’s not in the Wallabies side. Players outside the squad like Saia Fainga’a, too. They’re only one injury or a few bad scrums away from getting called up. I reckon there could be a good dozen players playing through that World Cup period, who will be in a better position for a call-up.”

Queensland Country: Jason Gilmore
Gilmore, the Queensland Under-20s coach, takes the Country reins from Steve Meehan, and will have his coaching panel finalised in the coming week or so, once the QRU application process for club coaches and managers is completed.

“Wins and losses were a little bit disappointing for the team, in terms of where they finished on the ladder,” Gilmore said, of the major outcome of last season’s review. “Having said that the team spirit was really good, and the guys coming out of the Country Heelers program into the NRC, and some into contracts in 2015 was definitely a benefit for the Reds.”

Having built one of the better scrums in the competition in 2014, Gilmore said Country want to build on that in 2015. “We definitely want to be competitive in every game, and we want to be positive in our play. With the way the NRC is set up with the bonus points system, you definitely get rewarded if you’re positive with the ball.”

“On the flip side of that, you’re going to get stressed a fair bit with you defence, so you need plenty of blokes working hard to make sure you stop the points coming again you as well.”

Gilmore told me he’s about 90 per cent there in terms of finalising his squad, a “good blend of experience Reds guys mixed in with some club guys looking for opportunities,” and that he’ll use the remaining weeks of the Brisbane finals to fill the last few spots. Country-origin players remain a priority, too.

“We’re very conscious of representing Queensland Country, and we’re very lucky in that a lot of the guys in Premier Grade have come through the Country system as a junior. The guys are very proud of where they come from, and they want to represent the country well.”

But he’s not necessarily expecting to see a lot of last year’s skipper, Greg Holmes. “Being greedy, I hope we do, but he’s probably been among the top two or three form tightheads in Super Rugby this year. For Greg’s sake, I hope we don’t see too much of him in the NRC, but it would be massive for the group if we did get him back for a couple of games.”

Perth Spirit: Tai McIsaac
One of the main reasons I started with the NSW-based coaches last week was because Perth were yet to confirm their 2015 coach. Former Wallabies hooker and Western Force foundation player McIsaac was announced just yesterday, and has been in charge of the Future Force team in 2015. Coincidentally, he also played for the Perth Spirit back in the original Australian Rugby Championship back in 2007.

Though they were one of the big beneficiaries of late-season momentum in 2014, McIsaac told that early wins was something the Spirit would be chasing in 2015. “It was a funny sort of competition; we had few wins but lots of bonus points, and that allowed us to stay in the race for the finals. Being able to build momentum, as you say, was really important but hopefully this year we can start a bit stronger,” he said.

McIsaac also confirmed the suggestion I reported in the initial ring-around, that he won’t be adopting the same ‘home games only’ strategy Perth used last year with their senior Western Force players. “This year, we’ll have a more consistent base of those players, but we may look to rotate a few here and there [in one-off games] if workloads and injuries dictate,” McIsaac said.

He also confirmed that while they’re unlikely to have new recruit Jono Lance, they will use the NRC to look at flyhalf options for the Force in 2016. But Kyle Godwin won’t be one of them. “No, we’re still looking at him in a centre role at this stage. Injuries and that sort of thing might change that, but he won’t play at 10 at this stage.”

Robbie Abel and Kane Koteka showed in 2014 that Perth Premier Grade players don’t look out of place at this level, and McIsaac expects local players to make up “pretty close to 50%” of the Spirit squad. Though the locals will be in for a tough couple of days in the first week of the competition, where Perth play Brisbane City at Ballymore in a rematch of last year’s Final on the opening Thursday night, which will then be followed by the Premier Grade Grand Final on the Sunday.

Melbourne Rising: Zane Hilton
Another new coach for 2015, with Rebels assistant coach Zane Hilton taking the helm after Sean Hedger moved on at the end of last season.

“Probably the most important thing for us take out the 2014 review was to keep playing an exciting style,” Hilton told me this week. “It’s really important for the competition, and likewise, to broaden the players’ horizons and to do things differently from Super Rugby. Equally, it’s another step up from the Victorian Dewar Shield, and it’s important to play a different style, and an exciting style of footy.”

“At the same time, what’s important for us is to make sure we stay consistent in those later rounds if we’re lucky enough to be there. We need to be adaptive and play a style that can get results while also being exciting.”

The Rising were probably the poster-side for the NRC developing better Super Rugby players, with a guy like Jack Debreczini starting 2015 for the Rebels a much better player than the half-a-dozen or so Super games to his name by that stage. He took massive momentum out of the Rising, and Hilton confirmed that is on the Rising’ agenda for this season.

“Absolutely. The Rising program is a very important step from a Rebels perspective. We feel it’s an important piece of the puzzle to be able to gain that team cohesion for a young group of players. From a Rebels perspective, they also have to be playing rugby consistently and cohesively.

“It’s also an important step for the Dewar Shield players, and there’s no better example than Sefanaia Naivalu. Very much unknown – we knew about him down here – but goes in [to the NRC], plays very well, then gets a Rebels contract, and to be fair, up until he has his injury over in Africa, was probably one of most consistent, one of the most dynamic players in Super Rugby this year.”

Hilton is really focussed on providing opportunities for the best of the Dewar Shield guys in Melbourne, to the point that he’s had a squad of 35 local players together in an extended training squad for some time now. He expects anywhere up to 15 or 16 locals in a Rising squad that “will represent Melbourne, and will represent all of Victoria.”

The Rebels have been on something of an announcement spree this week, but Hilton confirmed that we won’t see former All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson in the NRC. Thomson is already back in Japan playing with the Canon Eagles, which coincidentally is where Hilton was coaching in 2014. Similarly, ex-Blues lock Culum Retallick will fulfil the new Bay of Plenty deal in the ITM Cup that he announced in May, while London Irish prop, Jamie Hagan, is already back with Irish club Leinster on short-term loan.

University of Canberra Vikings: Brad Harris
The final coach in 2015 is another new face, with Brad Harris taking over the Vikings from Brumbies’ Forwards Coach, Dan McKellar. McKellar will take a Director of Rugby role in the absence of World Cup-bound Wallabies Attack Coach Stephen Larkham. McKellar will provide additional support for Harris and oversee the UC Vikings program, while also managing the off-season program for the Brumbies.

“We learned a fair bit, as I’m sure most teams did, about our physical scheduling and our programs,” Harris told me this week. “We’ve made some adjustments based on what we learned last year, and we think that’ll have our players a lot fresher and lot better prepared to hopefully perform a lot better than we did last year.”

Harris doesn’t shy away from the Vikings’ sixth place finish last season, a similar letdown to the fancied Canberra Vikings in the 2007 ARC. “Considering the roster we had, and considering the goals that we set at the start of the competition with the group, we certainly didn’t achieve them,” he said.

“And there are a number of factors in that. But we also lost a number of games by a kick at the death, or things like that, so whilst we were disappointed, we really weren’t far off. We feel like if we can make some small changes and some small improvements, we should be giving ourselves a chance.”

And it’s a fair point on just missing out in 2014. Only three bonus points separated the Vikings in sixth from Perth in fourth place and the last playoff spot.

Harris told me the Vikings will essentially carry on with the Brumbies’ methods, initially at least, which makes sense with so many players coming from the Super Rugby program.

But that shouldn’t be interpreted too literally; the NRC is not a competition to be kicking for territory, realistically. “We learned that last year, with the massive emphasis on the set piece. With the scoring system as it is, we’ve just got to be clinical in the attacking zone, and that something that let us down at time last year,” Harris said.

The John I Dent Cup finals start in Canberra this weekend, and that represents a chance for local players to put their hands up. In terms of Super Rugby-contracted players, my mail is telling me that while the Vikings might be without Sam Carter when he returns from injury, they’re a decent chance of picking up Ben Alexander. Wallabies prop Scott Sio has already been announced as a North Harbour Ray, too.

Harris didn’t exactly confirm my mail on Alexander, but neither did he knock it on the head. “I think that’s a real positive, and will bring a focus on the NRC. The World Cup will be running at the same time, and looking at the Wallabies squad, there’s a significant amount of depth there at the moment. So those guys that are unlucky and do miss out, they’re going to have to keep themselves in condition and be performing well, so that if there are injuries during the RWC, the guys are ready to take the opportunity.”