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An extract from RLCM Book 21

The Need for Innovators & Creativity in Rugby League

Written by Robert Rachow

With Dennis Ward & Don Oxenham

Sports coaching and freedom of thought can often appear as two mutually exclusive entities. After all, isn't coaching all about a sequential chain of popular teachings? A mentor passes on instructions to a variety of coaches, who then impart that same information on senior athletes, who in turn pass it onto the less
experienced athletes.

Continued from last week..

Such is the changing face of League in regards to onfield rules and off-field business, that the hierarchy are frequently caught clinging to outdated ideologies.

This occurs at all Levels of the game.

For the benefit of League's progression, it is encouraged that all people involved approach decisions with a clean slate as opposed to bias or popular opinion. Understandably the hardest difficulty is not so much listening to new ideas, but removing the old ones.

After 40- 50 years, perception can be so deeply ingrained that it shackles you from seeing the benefits that others might so clearly see.

Quite often there is also a deep fear of failure or perhaps even a fear of courage.

This last statement may sound particularly puzzling, for indeed 'fear of courage' is a contradictory term, at least in the literary sense.

What it purports to is a characteristic well inbred in Australian culture - the reluctance to look like a lair, a smart ass, a show pony.

Few terms in the Aussie lexicon are more derogatory, for from a young age it is melded into children's psyche that upstaging others and doing things differently is anything but a badge of honour.

BREEDING CONFIDENCE IN RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS

It is argued there are six components that can be used to breed confidence - success, experience, responsibility, recognition, autonomy and status. All of these traits have avenues of implementation in Rugby League.

With success and experience, it is a matter of achieving a delicate balance to nurture the growth of the individual. A player must feel they are competent enough at a particular level before attempting to conquer the next one. This is applicable to fitness regimes, skill drills or even moving from one grade up to the next.

At the same time though, holding players back for too long can stunt their development and give them an obscured view of what expectations have been placed upon them. Essentially the aim is to create an environment that provides a fairly constant level of success with ongoing developmental experience.

Responsibility comes in many forms. It may be as obvious as making somebody captain or it could mean emphasising the importance of a certain position to the team.

For example, the coach could stress how integral the winger's kick return is to setting up the next attacking possession. Obviously this wouldn't be enforced to the point of being a burden, but just enough to give the player a sense of importance within the team.

Recognition also lends itself to various modes of use. Quite often a heartfelt acknowledgment in front of teammates or parents can mean as much to a player as receiving a trophy at the end-of-year presentations.

Factors such as timing, sincerity and personality of the player should all be taken into consideration to give the greatest impact.

One subtle way of encouraging confidence and, in turn, innovative play, is to have an unspoken rule of autonomy.

This could apply to the whole team or just to certain individuals within the side. If there is a talented player who makes those around him/her better, than a mutual understanding of free reign can benefit the whole team.

However stating this aloud could cause a number of problems. It may make teammates either resentful or overawed and it may also trigger the player to try things which aren't within their usual character.

To be continued....