Coach’s Corner | Shortened build-up to Belgium tests will have players ‘fizzing’
Quality of coaching and performances in domestic game bodes well for Hong Kong’s international future
As we approach the midway point of the domestic season I can only be impressed by the year-on-year development of club rugby in Hong Kong and by the level of competition in both the men’s and women’s game.
Of course, my capacity as coach for the Hong Kong men’s 15 focuses my attention towards the performance end of the competition and during this, my fourth season in town, I continue to witness a positive and somewhat remarkable transition in the approach and attitude of players, administrators and coaches in keeping abreast of the professional game beyond our borders.
On reflection, my time in Hong Kong has proved something of a déjà vu experience in invoking similar memories of my time in Wales, particularly the transitional phase of the game from “shamateurism” to open professionalism in 1995.
Games to date have produced good levels of intensity with no shortage of skill, but what has impressed me more than anything this season is the individual “footprint” each coach and team are attempting to make on the game. By this I mean the adopted tactics and style the teams are attempting to master so as to bring their own level of individuality to the game, while maximising the playing resources they have at their disposal.
For some players, and indeed clubs as a whole, this means quite a radical shift in mindset and approach towards embracing modern professional concepts and strategies. Also a “changing of habits” for the players themselves in further embracing the professional concepts of conditioning, nutrition and other modes of good practice to ensure they keep on the pace of the game.
For those teams and clubs who are caught up in the transitional phase of this process and who are perhaps having doubts about the practicality of such concepts, my advice and experience would suggest they should stick with it – it will all be worth it in the end. Honest!
And, if not as fruitful as you would have wished, it will no doubt have made you a more knowledgeable and rounded coach/player/administrator. After all, a very wise man once told me that if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got! So it’s important that we all embrace change to continue our personal quest for knowledge and self-improvement.
