Psychologists have argued for decades about the relative weight of hereditary and environment in the creation of a person’s character and personality.
In the case of Robbie Deans, the discussion is pointless. He is a man and coach made by rugby.
Rugby genius and nous are in his genes. He was brought up in a nation that prides itself on being a ‘rugby country’ and in the back country areas of the Canterbury plains where ‘cranky South Island farmers’ have provided the heart and soul of All Blacks sides since the first Test in 1903.
Robbie Dean’s home club is Ellesmere, a farming district about an hour’s drive out of Christchurch. The club house is large and comfortable, built by the locals. On the board of honour are the names of the All Blacks the club has produced: Alex Wyllie, Bruce and Robbie Deans, Todd Blackadder and Scott Hamilton.
Robbie Deans has played and coached at Ellesmere and sometimes, when he has time, pops down to watch the local side playing at the ground. I went there a couple of years ago to get an insight into the Deans mindset.
An extremely competitive and high standard game was played. And you can see where Deans gets his obsession with creating a team that plays as a team rather than getting stars to lead the team to victory.
You don’t tend to get stars playing in country rugby. The country stars are quickly grabbed by the city schools, clubs and provinces. Those who play in clubs like Ellesmere tend to be tough, hard grafting players who provide the heart and guts to the teams they play for, at the local, provincial and national level.
So it was no surprise to me that Deans concentrated in his first week as the coach of the Wallabies on creating a team environment that reflected his Ellesmere experience.
There is no ‘leadership group.’ Everyone is expected to contribute leadership at the appropriate time, on and off the field.
The Wallabies have been mixed up in the training drills so that players form a new community, the 2008 Wallabies, rather like a country club community where everyone is expected to contribute and where the team is stronger than its component parts.
The Deans family was on the first fleet to Christchurch when the city was founded in 1850. The intention was to create a typical English cathedral city on the plains of Canterbury, so the main river running through the town was called the Avon.
A spacious square was created, with a magnificent cathedral dominating the town environment. A splendid university was built where a young scientist and avid rugby player, Earnest Rutherford, the first scientist to split the atom, learnt his physics. Early on, too, the city fathers established a fine sports ground, Lancaster Park, which was within an easy walking distance from the square.
Work hard and play your games hard could be the motto for Christchurch from its earliest days.
To this could be added an intense local loyalty.
Canterbury supporters are famous (infamous?) in New Zealand for their one-eyed dedication to their team. When the Indian cricketer, the Nawab of Pataudi, lost an eye in an accident, I wrote a piece saying that he had automatically become a Canterbury supporter.
When the Deans family started to put up its pre-fabricated house in the new city of Christchurch in 1850, they found that someone had forgotten to pack any nails. No worries. They made wooden nails and built the house with them. This is a typical example of the New Zealand tendency towards pragmatism.
This pragmatism is a feature of the kiwi culture. It permeates politics (the development of the welfare state) and the way rugby is played there. So when Robbie Deans wandered around the training field at Manly for the first Wallaby practice session and put down some of the cones marking training zones himself, he was following the pragmatic tradition of his ancestors: if something needs to be done, do it yourself.
If you drive around Christchurch’s magnificent Hagley Park, where rugby field after rugby field is passed, you’ll be using the Deans Drive. The naming of the drive is a tribute to the first All Blacks’ Deans, R.G.Deans, a burly, fast center who was a star of the 1905 All Blacks and the scorer of “Deans’ try”, the most famous incident in New Zealand rugby.
The 1905 All Blacks were unbeaten on their historic tour of the UK and France until late in the tour when they played Wales. Wales won. This was the first defeat the All Blacks had suffered.
But the All Blacks always maintained that they’d been robbed of a try scored by Bob Deans.
The cunning Welsh players had pulled Deans back into the field of play before the referee arrived to decide whether a try had been scored. That’s the New Zealand story and it’s been celebrated in one of the best novels with a rugby theme, Lloyd Jones’ The Book of Fame.
Bob Deans, as a man of some means, quietly and without any publicity, gave money to some of the battlers on the team throughout the tour so they could buy additional food, go to shows, and so on with the rest of the team.
There are clues here, in the quiet generosity of Bob Deans, of a similar concern for the welfare of his players that Robbie Deans has shown.
I remember talking with Robbie Deans about the views of Cecilia Lashley, a New Zealand social worker who has written some interesting books on how young men can be aggressive on the field of play and non-violent off it.
Deans has tried to implement her methods with the Crusaders, and will certainly do the same with the Wallabies. In a sense, this interest is a modern take on the Bob Deans mentorship role.
In this way, Robbie Deans has many of the attributes of coaches like Jack Gibson and Wayne Bennett. There is a laconic speech pattern. The words are few but they weigh a lot.
There is the concern about the total player, with improvements on and off the field, being the goal. The improvements are all about the issue of responsibility. Players are expected to be responsible for what they do and are given skills to achieve good outcomes, on and off the field.
Discipline and the desire to constantly improve are internalised. So you won’t get Deans imposing curfews and so on. The players are expected to do the right thing because they want to, not because they are forced to.
There is nothing soft about this approach. Players are treated with respect. They are given the chance to improve. But if they don’t rate, they don’t get selected.
Stephen Brett was dropped from the Crusaders for the finals, even though this cruelled his All Blacks chances in 2008, because he hadn’t delivered at inside centre.
Dan Carter tells the story of being called into Deans’ office as a youngster and asked what his ambitions were with the Crusaders: “To take Merhts’ position,” Carter replied. “Correct answer,” the coach replied.
There are people in Australia who queried the selection of Deans as the Wallaby coach on the grounds that a former All Black wouldn’t have his heart in coaching against New Zealand.
This argument has already been disproved with the way Deans has behaved with the Wallabies so far. It also fails to comprehend Deans’ passion for rugby, and especially for coaching it.
He loves the game. He loves coaching players to play it better than they have in the past. He loves coaching players who grow their game and their characters. This is why he was attracted to Brad Thorn as player and a person.
I got an insight into the Deans passion for coaching rugby at the beginning of the season when the Super 14 coaches and referees were going through a coaching session on the ELVs run by the IRB’s Paddy O’Brien at Coogee Oval.
It was clear from the session that Deans had done more homework on the ELVs and understood them better than all the other coaches and referees, including O’Brien.
From time to time he’d stop a presentation and point out, quietly but assertively, that the explanation was wrong. He’d come back to a point of contention until it was resolved to the satisfaction of everyone. “Are all the coaches agreed?”, he’d ask after some dispute.
After the session I wandered across to him and asked him how his interview had gone for the All Blacks job the day before. He shook his head and murmured that he’d tell me all about it at a later date.
It was clear he wasn’t going to get the job.
This was when I knew that Australian rugby had got the only coach in world rugby who has a chance of taking the Wallabies back to the heights that Rod Macqueen took the side to in the glory days of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Axelcain
Guest
I thought I recalled this article following the current prominence the league sex story is commanding. i think it sums up some of the issues the league hierarchy should be confronting - unfortunately I am sure that it also happens in rugby , AFL and football. I just heard that a 20 yr old Aus soccer player is being or has been charged with having sex with a 13 yr old. I suspect there is a lot of 'outing' to come Juen 11 2008 Spiro Zavos "I remember talking with Robbie Deans about the views of Cecilia Lashley, a New Zealand social worker who has written some interesting books on how young men can be aggressive on the field of play and non-violent off it. Deans has tried to implement her methods with the Crusaders, and will certainly do the same with the Wallabies. In a sense, this interest is a modern take on the Bob Deans mentorship role. In this way, Robbie Deans has many of the attributes of coaches like Jack Gibson and Wayne Bennett. There is a laconic speech pattern. The words are few but they weigh a lot. There is the concern about the total player, with improvements on and off the field, being the goal. The improvements are all about the issue of responsibility. Players are expected to be responsible for what they do and are given skills to achieve good outcomes, on and off the field. Discipline and the desire to constantly improve are internalised. So you won’t get Deans imposing curfews and so on. The players are expected to do the right thing because they want to, not because they are forced to. There is nothing soft about this approach. Players are treated with respect. They are given the chance to improve. But if they don’t rate, they don’t get selected. "
Brendan
Guest
Chas Get a life mate most people accept that apartheid was wrong and have moved except people with an axe to grind like yourself, presumably. Maybe you are bitter about SA winning the world cup last year while your chokers blew it once again? Regards,
erina loo
Guest
from New Cantab... Robbie's ancesters were Scottish , not English. Deans Cottage near Riccarton Bush is the eldest building left on the Canterbury Plains. It was built by the first two Deans Brothers. The brother from whom Robbie is descended came here , bought land , then returned to Scotland to bring his wife over. She had one son then her husband died . This son had twelve children hence the prevalence of Deans family name in the Canterbury area . Riccarton House in the same area , is a former Deans family home which visitors can tour. There is also another former Deans family home in another suburb which welcomes visitors. To many visitors , Christchurch has a very'' English feel'' but there were in fact some very successful Scottish settlers. They were known for their philantrophy and several family Trusts still keep giving to the local community years after their founders have passed on..eg the McKenzie Trust. Anyone with more interest in the family could do more research..A visit to Deans Cottage , Riccarton House and Riccarton Bush is well worth it especially on a fine Christchurch day. Riccarton House includes a cafe. Robbie exhibits the values of his ancestors. If these inpire Aussies , all well and good. Robbie fan and New Cantab
stillmissit
Guest
Well Guys it's Saturday morning before the Ireland game and I am a bit worried. There appears to be nothing in the press about the forthcoming game apart from Giteau kicking and the requirement for the new recruits to stand up and be tested. I think that we have all used up our allotment of emotion on Robbie Deans and have almost run out for the test match. Snap out of it - All of us, the day of rekoning is upon us!
stuff happens
Guest
This blog has been about Robbie Deans, the fascinating history of his family and the excitement that his appointment has generated in Australia.I thought some of you might be interested in an excellent article by Frank Keating in the Guardian on the 25th anniversary of the death of another coach - Carwyn James.In the same way as Robbie is a hero in Canterbury, Carwyn is in Wales.I hope you enjoy this beautifully written piece article. True believers still worship with King James version Frank Keating Tuesday January 8 2008 The Guardian Thursday marks, unbelievably, a quarter of a century since Carwyn James died of a heart-attack aged 54. Rugby football was his game, but his legacy survives as the philosopher-king of all sports' team coaches. You can come across inscrutable Chinese rowing coaches or earnest American basketball bods and they recognise any mention of him with solemn reverence and awestruck smile. James was an unlikely one-off all right. A West Walian miner's son with a passion for cricket and snooker; a scholar who could translate Chekhov and Turgenev into Welsh, the Mabinogion into Russian and Dylan into Italian; a Plaid Cymru evangelist and Gorsedd of Bards member, who chain-smoked and drank gin and tonic; he played fly-half for Wales, coached Llanelli to four successive Welsh cups, and, epically, the 1971 British Lions to their (still) solitary series victory against New Zealand. He also wrote a Guardian column. I spent the weekend fondly tweezering out a few aperçus from those now parchmenty, print-faded pieces. Rugby has seismically changed since his death, but his remarkable percipience still shines. Here's a delectable dozen: · If I had my time again I'd be a soccer manager, not coach of a rugby club where half a dozen or more committeemen interfere with selection. As well, money now permeates rugby's administration. Rugby must always be our aristocratic heritage, never a trade. · The boring, unthinking coach continually preaches about mistakes. The creative coach invites his players to make mistakes. Adventure and error go together. I loved Lewis Jones's way - "I may concede two, but I'll score four!" · I have relished studying coaching methods at Manchester United - heresy in rugby union - and also rugby league at Wigan - even more heinous heresy. The transfer of skills from one ball game to another should forever occupy the mind of a responsible coach. · Mini-rugby too often substitutes fun for fear-of-error. It was created for youngsters with the best of intentions, but screaming mums, doting dads, and competitive coaches give it the image of a monster. · Most memorable tries are launched from deep positions; great counter-attack always has an element of the adventurer's daredevil desperation. · Successful man-management is no more than demanding your team's "cocky blighter" remains outrageously full of himself, and ensuring your morose grumbler can moan as much as he wants. Express yourselves, I tell my teams, not as you would at the office, but as you would at home. · However "brilliant", a young player must think and rethink his game many times over if he wants to graduate to a brilliant career. If he does not, it will be all too short, sharp and painful and (to round up Dylan) "we shall see the boy of summer in his ruin". · The most telling of any pre-match team-talk consists of just three words: "Think! Think! Think!" · This new midfield "crash-ball" is disaster - hunks of manhood with madness in their eyes, battering-ram bulldozers happy to be picked off on the gain-line by just-as-large hunks from the opposing side. For what? Just to do it all over again. · The laws need simplifying. The minor offence is, incredibly, still equal to the major. Referees strut and talk far too much; they must become less and less important. · Back play at speed is becoming a pathetic apology, an insult to those who have graced it for a century. Flat-footed forwards now stand at centre: I ask you! And crowds clap aimless kicks-ahead - and pay £12 for the privilege. · We are breeding robots. Is it the drudge and monotony of training sessions where everything's done by numbers? Fly-halves even call moves before the scrummage forms - "miss one", "dummy scissors", "high up-and-under" and so on - regardless of the quality of the emerging ball. Coaches treat players like puppets on a string. I was reminded of Carwyn at the extraordinary gathering at Stradey Park for the funeral this winter of his beloved protégé Ray Gravell. Both would have laughed at my memory of Carwyn's memorial service, higher up the steep sheep-speckled mountainside above Llanelli in Cefneithin's whitewashed little Tabernacle. Late, I'd driven at full-pelt from London, only to find a huge throng of mourners around the already burstingly cram-full chapel. Desperate, I implored a kindly steward: "I've come all the way from the Guardian to report the service." Valiantly, he muscled me through the complaining multitude to the chapel elders' jam-packed front pew, insisting: "Make room for this man, he's very important - he's from the Ammanford Guardian!" · This article was amended on Monday January 21 2008. Carwyn James, the Welsh rugby union international and coach, was not an Eisteddfod arch-druid, as we said in the article above. This has been corrected. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008
stillmissit
Guest
Chas - Ah! humilty the lost art of the talented. Maybe it should also be the semi talented and sometimes the totally lacking in talent but have a big pile of ego.
Mike C
Guest
Just happened upon your article, Spiro and hasten to add my thanks for a splendid read. Thanks also to Bruce Rankin for bringing back a host of memories to an old former Cantabrian and fellow Old Boy of Christchurch Boys' High School. Well after Bob Deans and a little before Graham Henry!
stuff happens
Guest
Although I'm delighted that Robbie Deans is coaching the Wallabies, this is just another chapter in his career. He'll coach the All Blacks one day and will be all the better for having coached Australia to its third World Cup win and in NZ too. Sorry Kiwis, couldn't resist!!
chas
Guest
Andrew: "Twas not venting anger at Spiro. I was merely seeking the truth... something that Spiro was not providing.
Andrew Marks
Guest
Thanks Chas. You have been described as a bitter man - I now know why. I would be bitter too if I was a Kiwi. Losing an outstanding coach and an outstanding human being and being left with the Tew/Henry combo would drive me to apoplexy as well! I guess your earlier venting on Spiro was a release of that anger. It is interesting that Robbie was quoted yesterday as saying "missing out on the All Blacks coaching position had been a blessing". It would seem that the NSWRU and NZRU have much in common.
chas
Guest
Thank you, Bruce Rankin, for getting a few facts correct. I must add more to your stories about the Deans Family and provide Cutter with a few home truths. Yes, Cutter, Robbie has done an "enormous amount " of social work in educating his Crusaders. Not many people would know how he has followed his father's example in providing for the poor of Christchurch. "Legend hath it" that his father would go out on a winter's night to the centre of Christchurch and distribute food and money to the poor. Few folk knew about this but Robbie certainly did. In recent years he has invited his Crusader team to follow him as he makes his way to Deans' Avenue (NOT Drive, Spiro) and takes residence for a few hoiurs underneath what has come to be known as Deans' Oak. Here he holds court with many of the citiy's poorer people giving advice and money to these undesprivileged beings. He has attempted to keep this "story' quiet and has sworn his Crusader players to do the same. For example, team members are requested not to wear any team gear. Such is his humility . Obviously, this has rubbed off on his players. It would be difficult to find a more humble group of sportsmen than the Crusaders. The amount of 'good works" that they do in the community could not easily be measured. In one sense, i should never have written this article but in doing so it may provide yet another reason why Robbie's boys are so successful. Australia is fortunate to have acquired him. Many more than you might think will mourn his passing!
stillmissit
Guest
Bruce thanks for the background made interesting reading. Westy - We have to have both. The short term goals are to get on the front foot and win, thus ensuring the media aren't on his back and also build a squad that is capable of beating anyone in the world and on a regular basis. These are not insigniificant goals. His other challenge is to find or build the talent, particularly in the front row that is not obvious at the moment, as we all know. Let's hope he is successful and after he has gone on, hopefully for him to coach the All Blacks, then we don't appoint another highly conservative, political muppet like E.Jones.
Cutter
Guest
Thanks very much for the article Spiro. I read somewhere that Deans used take his (Crusaders?) players out at night and take homeless people to shelters. Has anyone else heard/read this? Can anyone provide insight?
Bruce Rankin
Guest
Another great article Spiro - as evidenced by so many comments from the Crowd. While Geoff, Chas, Dublin Dave and Jerry did pick up some minor factual inaccuracies, it in no way detratcted from your excellent general theme on Deans the man. In fact the Deans family had an enormous impact in pioneering farming on the Canterbury Plains. I thought some history and a few facts may be useful In case you one day decide to write a book on Deans - and also may be of interest to readers here. Just to complete the Ellesmere/Glenmark matter first though - the Ellesmere district is south of Christchurch and is the home of one Dan Carter. Glenmark is some 40 miles north of Christchurch, over the Waipara River at the start of the Omihi valley. It's beautiful country - I drove through it the day after watching the Crusaders / Hurricanes semi-final. The 2 pioneer Deans brothers William and John came from Ayrshire(?) in Scotland in their early 20's I think. As Chas said they arrived in Canterbury in 1843 and established their substantial farm at Riccarton on the banks of the Avon River (which they named from the Avon in Scotland - NOT Stratford-on- Avon in England) - well before the First Four Ships arrived from England in 1850. The ships being the Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, Randolph and Cressy. Thus the Deans were were the first settlers on the Canterbury Plains. The site of the(ir) "First House on the Canterbury Plains in 1843" is marked by a plaque and oak tree planted by John's wife Jane Deans about 1884 on Kahu Road about 100 yards from the Avon River bridge opposite the current Christchurch Boys High School (CBHS). I believe William was drowned relatively early in a river crossing. John and Jane Deans had one son John, who in turn had about 9-10 sons and daughters - one of whom was the great Bob Deans and another the great(?)-grandfather of Bruce & Robbie Deans. The substantial farm at Riccarton was developed and they had further extensive farm holdings at Homebush, towards the foothills of the Southern Alps...not sure of exact location or history of Homebush property. Thus the Deans were THE major pioneering family in Canterbury, followed by many others. Bob Deans was known for his generosity to many of the touring 1905 All Blacks side. Christchurch was laid out (to a design by the Adelaide architect) by leading 1850 settlers in a one mile square bounded by Bealey, Rolleston, Moorhouse and Fitzgerald Avenues, with the magnificent 600 odd acre Hagley Park adjacent to the west. Deans Avenue on the western side of Hagley park also formed the boundary of the Deans farm at Riccarton. It was almost certainly named in the 1850's - years before Bob Deans was born in 1884! The magnificent Deans home - Riccarton House was developed in stages from 1856 through to 1900. Bob Deans and I believe most of his brothers attended Christchurch Boys High School - then in the city on the same block as the then Canterbury University College. The Deans Scholarship in memory of Bob Deans is the most prestigious award at CBHS. As Christchurch expanded west the Deans farm at Riccarton was gradually subdivided and sold. In the 1920's the Government compulsorily acquired some 28 acres for the new Christchurch Boys High School which was transferred from the city site and opened in 1926. It included the Deans weir over the Avon River and many of the Deans farm buildings used as bike sheds, phys ed room and the radio room. Unfortunately and probably inevitably the Deans family were not happy with this and I believe all subsequent Deans family members have attended the private Christs College! Including Bruce, Robbie and the noted artist Austen Deans. Eventually all that remained at Riccarton was Deans Bush, Riccarton House and the lovely grounds on the banks of the Avon. These ended up around 1950 in the Riccarton House Trust and are open to the public, Riccarton House being used for functions, wedding receptions etc. I recall at the Canterbury Centennial in 1950 the Deans second house - a small 2 room cottage on the Avon next to the Kahu Road bridge - being moved in a special ceremony to a site just west of the main Riccarton House. One of Bob Deans brothers - John Deans (the third) and his wife - continued to live in a lovely section of the estate where the second house had been, until the 1960's when he was in his nineties. As an aside, from 1946 our family lived on the Avon River immediately opposite Riccarton House and Mr John Deans house, so as young boys we had great times playing in Deans Bush and the grounds opposite. Many neighbourhood boys played there too, including Graham and Brian Henry who lived nearby! Graham was in the same class as my brother Alastair (Bob) at both Ilam Primary School and CBHS for some 5 years and I think they played in the same Christchurch HSOB rugby teams. Bob later moved to Melbourne and played for Victoria against the 1971 Springboks. Graham Henry attained more illustrious heights! Tis a small world. Unfortunately all the above is from memory as my books are in storage. Readers are welcome to point out my inaccuracies and fill in gaps! However I thought it might be of interest to illustrate that Robbie Deans the man comes from the very highest pedigree of Canterbury pioneers.
westy
Guest
I have read about Deans , heard him interviewed and seen his Crusaders play. That New Zealand let him go was foolhardy . However as to whether he has the troops or not at his disposal is the real question. In some positions depth has improved and we are in a better position to experiment at half, fly half and inside centre. However I saw Mortlock breakdown with his last injury and I have real doubts about his fitness. His style is direct and confrontational and invites injury especially as he gets older. and his passing game was always relative to say other world class centres ( of which he is one) is limited. If he goes there is a hole to fill. The front row still has question marks over it. My doubts are not over Deans and will not be irrespective of results. I think we are on the verge of developing some very good young players . My problem is whether we will have the patience to build a new team or be distracted by pursuing short term results.
Jason Cave
Guest
Great article Spiro. I reckon not having one of their own (Robbie Deans) coaching the All Blacks will come back to haunt New Zealand Rugby. The NZRU have made some pretty weird decisions over the years, and this could be another example of New Zealand Rugby stuffing it up big time. How could they overlook a guy that has done more for Canterbury-and NZ rugby in general-and not make him All Black coach still has me amazed.
stuff happens
Guest
Nice one Glenn, unfortunately she'd be red carded in the first half hour of her first match; otherwise great potential.On the other hand perhaps Test match rugby is the anger management course she needs. Just think - a night on the town afterwards with Neal & Dunning. Stop now....!!
Glenn Condell
Guest
'‘who will he get for the scrum’ In my view this is the right question.' I have seen the future of Australian scrummaging. It is big, it is mean, it is as stubborn as a pack of mules. Come on down, Belinda Neal!
stuff happens
Guest
Mark 'who will he get for the scrum' In my view this is the right question.I think we have to leave it to Dingo Deans .We endlessly blame the front row in Aust but there is something(s) else missing as well. Until Australia fix this they will struggle against the best. I'm looking forward to this weekend and see how the English scrum performs against the AB's.I suspect Stevens, Mears & Sheridan will be their first choice front row by RWC 2011.
stillmissit
Guest
The Link - I am very grateful and have book marked it. Didn't realise that the Australian had much of a rugby interest. As much as we like Spiro his alter ego GGrowden just doesn't do it. There he is going on about Hynes selection as the weakness in the team when anyone with eyes would know he has had a great season. The other thing that pisses me is that whenever you see Hynes interviewed it is obvious that he is a bit shy and retireing. An article like that can affect a person like Hynes and I believe that Phil Mooney has managed to bring the best out in him by showing faith in what he can do. GG is again dropping depth charges into the Australian teams ego, we can live without him. I hope Deans has a quiet word with Hynes before the game.