Coaching in Australia and forming good player relationships
Andrew Brownhill is a very good friend of mine. I was keen to share his experiences of coaching in Australia, sessions with men's and women's team together and good player relationships.
I’m currently Head Coach at Churchie (Queensland, Australia).
I coached rugby back in the UK working in the academy space. Covid hit and I was furloughed. I took the opportunity to move my life out here and roll the dice to broaden my life and coaching experiences.
It’s been great. Australians are lovely and are mad for sport and have been very welcoming
Working with different cultures has been a huge learning for me. The coaching and style of rugby is completely different here. Learning about new cultures has been a fantastic experience.
I was lucky enough to know Walshy (Aus womens 7s head coach) when I was living in Sydney. The team I coached would regularly train with them to help them prepare between competitions.
The lads learned lots in terms of what high performance environments look and feel like. It was the same for me as a coach getting to see coaches like Walshy at work was absolute gold.
A good coach player relationship is when players feel comfortable enough to talk to you and open up. That can be on a personal level or even a rugby level. If players feel comfortable enough to challenge or hold you accountable as a coach you’re on to something.
You maintain it by being genuine and showing actual interest and care to the players you work with. Ask them how they are? Tell them they done well… find out about family and friends.
The best thing I learned from Anthony Seibold (Manly SeaEagles head coach) was the triple HHH approach. Getting players to talk about their Highlight, Hero and Hardship. Some pretty powerful conversations start from that.
I’ve had a couple of players recently reach out that have signed first year professional contracts that have reached out to me to say thank you. It was from a mentorship point of view, helping guide them through some hard moments.
Coaching Philosophy: ‘Help get the best out of people’ early on in my coaching Peter Walton said this to me and it’s stuck with me ever since. I absolutely live by it.