Strong Leadership Required

One of the key messages that I took from my recent meeting with some of the senior players was the importance of having a full squad at training. This is also true for club rugby but often teams do not have sufficient players available.

Whatever we do we must try our best to engage with our young men in our communities and give them an opportunity to be a part of our rugby teams. I know with some teams they engage the whole whanau and make it a whanau affair. From the kids as ball boys, wives as managers, Secretaries, Treasurers, throw Koro and Nan in there and everyone is covered.

In terms of the actual coaching of the sides it is important for us to create an environment where our young men have opportunities to learn and grow. Some of our leaders (Older guys – You know who you are.) in our teams need to consider how they can best achieve this? Certainly in my view our young players in our teams need nurturing and looking after while they are playing. Deliberate targeting of our up and coming players should not be a part of our strategies to win a game of rugby.

Lets look after our young players in our teams and the opposition teams and give them the best start possible to their respective rugby careers.

All the best for the weekends games.