He taught a young Hawk called Lance Franklin how to kick, helped create revolutionary tactics in a four-flag Hawthorn dynasty, and is often labelled a coaching “guru”, a “genius” or even a “mad scientist in running shorts”.
But highly respected AFL coaching figure David Rath is now on board with the Wallabies, and Eddie Jones is hoping the “guru” can transfer his magic touch to the complex world of Test rugby.
Rath’s title is “learning co-ordinator” – effectively a bridge between analysts, coaches and players.
However, that’s likely to be only a fraction of Rath’s work with the Wallabies, the former AIS biomechanist also acknowledged in the AFL world for helping turn Hawthorn into the competition’s best kickers during their premiership run from 2013 to 2015. And, among many other things, Rath is also widely respected as an insightful trend analyst.
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“But at the starting point it was around being a port of call for the coaches and bridging the gap between them and the analysts, in terms of the information that’s being presented to the players, and making sure it’s landing, in a coherent and effective manner,” Rath said.
”So the messaging from the coaches to players is being promoted in an effective way, in the way they conduct their reviews and previews and walk-throughs. Pretty much all the learning content, getting across to the players in a planned and effective and strategic way. That was the starting point and from there it will evolve as we start to hit the track.“
Helping to build coaching programs involving “tactical periodisation” is also on the agenda, which in layman’s terms is training players with game scenarios at the core, as opposed to doing physical, strategic and psychological training separately.