The Brumbies have held a members forum to give a chance for the coaching staff to present their plans for the upcoming season and to also let members ask some questions about the direction the team is taking both on and off the field.
Head coach Jake White was joined by CEO Andrew Fagan, assistant coach Laurie Fisher, athletic performance director Dean Benton, performance analyst Warrick Harrington and players Ben Mowen and Christian Lealiifano to share their vision for the future and give members an update of how pre-season training was progressing.
White spoke about his overall plan to give his young squad the best chance of one day playing for the Wallabies, which was once the norm at the Brumbies. He added that he feels the coaching staff he has assembled are the best candidates to pass on knowledge from past Brumbies successes to the new generation at the club.
The issue of getting members of the squad back playing locally in the John I Dent Cup was a key point as White said it was a chance to connect with the community once again. A question was raised about whether this plan would include the inbound test window and White said the benefits of playing during this time would help in the long run.
White emphasised the importance of physical development with such a new squad and went on to discuss the issue of player management in terms of the realistic expectations of such a physically demanding tournament that is Super Rugby and that rotation of players is something fans may see in order to keep the squad in the best shape.
Forwards coach Laurie Fisher drew on some of his time as forwards coach with Irish side Munster and would endeavor to implement some of the new things he picked up in his 3 years away. Fisher said he admired the way the Irish players went about their physicality at training and would expect to see the same from the Brumbies forwards. He also plans to ensure his players know what to do and when to do it and eliminate the need for any complex game plan. Of training so far he says he has been impressed by the performances of Dan Palmer and Ben Mowen and sees them as key members of the set piece.
White has brought in Dean Benton whose credentials are well respected within the industry with the Brisbane Broncos and the Wallabies his former places of work. Benton has been instrumental in upgrading the facilities for players at Brumbies HQ with initiatives such as the introduction of a recovery centre and players canteen and positive results are already showing. The nutritional element for players has been provided and with such a young squad with many living away from home for the first time, the temptation of fast food and skinfold increases has been eliminated. Team bonding has also been a winner with the players spending more time with each other and getting to know each other as pre-season progresses.
Next up performance analyst Warrick Harrington provided some examples of how data from training and matches is collated. For those not in the know, it looks like a simple job of recording games and entering a few bits of data and that is the end of his day. This is not the the case as it was revealed that he gets to work immediately after a match and the morning after he can be found at the office finalising data reports for the coaches as they walk in. The data collated is not only useful for training tools but also for medical purposes with GPS tracking a big tool for managing player workload.
The players in attendance were glowing in their endorsement of what the programs in place so far and the execution to date. Lealiifano was still in doubt about Dean Benton’s thought process when coming up with new drills to try out on the team after one tough session left him physically drained. New recruit Mowen said he was getting the most out of the training and there wasn’t a minute wasted during the day.
The floor was opened up for questions from members which ranged from:
- will the board and CEO support the coaching staff
- who will take on the defense job
- how the search for a new sponsor was going.
White revealed that he will be responsible for the defense work, a role that he undertook whilst in charge of the Springboks and had brought in a consultant from the Stormers in South Africa to help him during pre-season. Fagan revealed the good news on the last topic that the Brumbies are very close to announcing a new sponsor after the global arm of CA were unable to continue their support after 13 years due to the current economic climate.
All in all, I say the night was a success as the past season is brushed aside and the team looks forward to the 2012 season, or as Jake White called it ‘Back To The Future‘.
