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One of the factors pinpointed as a contributor to Australian rugby’s post-2003 decline is a deficit in coaching IP and depth of numbers. Many of Australia’s leading rugby coaches were drawn overseas, and a sense of complacency developed around an assumption that for every Rod Macqueen, there were another dozen clones waiting in line behind him.
As a result, there developed a lack of urgency and a lack of understanding of the need to continue to educate and nurture coaches at all levels; in all aspects of the game.
The result was a generation of professional players who conceded ground to their peers – particularly players from New Zealand – who found that they were ill-equipped in areas such as conditioning, technical skills and innate rugby understanding. This was duly reflected in Australia’s high-performance results.
At the same time, in the community game, no-one really knows how many boys and girls never made the transition to high school and adult rugby, as a result of not being sufficiently engaged and captured by inspirational and innovative coaching.
The hard work to turn that situation around has been in progress for some time, via beefed-up programs pushed out by Rugby Australia and the state unions, the franchise academy programs, and privately organised and run coaching clinics.
One such clinic is the annual Rugbypalooza, conceived in Lennox Head, northern New South Wales, by two rugby coaches, Andrew Fraser and Jeff Watt. “The idea was born out of frustration with the need to have to travel to Brisbane to attend rugby courses,” explained Fraser. “They were fine, but we saw the opportunity to do our own thing and reach more coaches from our region and beyond.”
Lennox Head also happens to be home for highly regarded recent Wallabies assistant coach Scott Wisemantel, Berrick Barnes, and ex-Waratahs coach Chris Hickey, so there was already a head start when it came to coaching IP.
The first event was held three years ago with Wisemantel bringing Dave Rennie and Wallabies scrum coach Petrus du Plessis along with him, and it drew 120 coaches from all around Australia, across two days.
Scott Wisemantel and Dave Rennie. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Last year, featured coaches included high-flying Melbourne Rebels’ Director of Rugby Nick Stiles, and successful Waratahs Super W coach Campbell Aitken, and this year, the net was cast even wider, with Rugby Australia Head of Community Coaching Michael Magripilis, ex-Wallabies assistant coach Nathan Gray, Waratahs GM Andrew Blades, ex-Rebels and Wallabies attack coach Shaun Berne, UK coach educator Rusty Earnshaw, and Wisemantel, all offering their services to the assembled coaches.
Rugbypalooza’s point of difference is two-fold; firstly to ditch the whiteboard and shift the focus outside to the pitch; “boots on the grass” as Fraser describes it. Technical sessions are practical and hands on, with instructors and visiting coaches alike, all getting their hands dirty.
But the real “secret sauce” according to Fraser, is what happens afterwards. “Our overarching theme is that all attending coaches are there to learn from each other. The environment created out on the field enhances that, but the interaction when everyone adjourns later to the local bowls club for a few beers, is next level,” he explains.
“Just to be able to sit alongside some of these top coaches, in amongst them as equals, and be able to pick their brains and share rugby experiences, is a wonderful opportunity and experience.”
“We’re not a money-making exercise,” adds Fraser. “We do have a local Dolphins academy (Eddie Jones is booked to appear at a function in late April to assist the academy), but for us, this is all about providing an education experience for community coaches to come and learn. Not just those from south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, but from all around Australia.
Those coaches are drawn from all levels of the game, from Shute Shield and Hospitals Cup first-grade clubs, to rural junior coaches looking to provide their local talent with the best possible rugby experience.
It is clear that attendees endorse the program. Brett McLaren, a far-north coast Women’s U16 coach based out of the Ballina area said of this year’s event; “Without a doubt the best $99 I’ve ever spent. So much information which you just can’t get anywhere else.”
And what about Dan Ritchie, first-grade head coach for Norths in Brisbane? “The ability to be able to listen to coaches who’ve come from the highest levels, and for them to help us improve as coaches made for a great weekend. And it’s so good to be able to interact and have a beer with them afterwards, as well.”
The benefits are obvious. Courses like this are essential because they help individual coaches enjoy a better experience in the game. Not just over this weekend, but the satisfaction that derives from being better equipped to coach and advance their own players.
With drop-out an issue in rugby as in other sports, it’s essential that everything that can be done to keep coaches in the game, is done.
All coaching courses are beneficial, but it is Wisemantel who identifies what makes Rugbypalooza special. “Let’s face it, there’s worse places in the world than Lennox Head,” he explains.
That’s a compelling reason for coaches to consider flying in to next year’s event, to be held on the January Australia Day long weekend. “It’s a terrific opportunity for coaches to bring all the family and enjoy what the region has to offer, says Fraser.
Australian rugby is obsessed with coaching. Witness the frenzied last few months as Eddie Jones has returned home, not only with ambitions of claiming a World Cup later this year, but determined to drive heightened interest in rugby, and being roundly feted for his energy in spreading the good word to all corners.
As good a job as Jones has done – and his contribution extends far beyond the remit of any other national coach – the fortunes of Australian rugby cannot be carried on the shoulders of one man.
Everyone has a role to play. Budding junior coaches must believe that by upskilling themselves at events like these, by learning the inside secrets from coaches at the top of their profession, it will be they who will pass that on to a young charge and inspire them to one day becoming a Wallaby or Wallaroo.
More power to the Rugbypalooza crew for playing their part.