WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:12.080 How are you doing? Welcome to the Rugby League Coach Podcast, 2 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:15.599 Episode two hundred and fifty. How good a number does 3 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:19.120 that sound? A quarter of one thousand? And we're in 4 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:22.000 season four of it too. I am Lee Addison. I 5 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:25.320 am the owner of Rugby League Coach dot com au. 6 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:29.160 I'm a coach mentor, I'm a coach educator, a coach 7 00:00:29.239 --> 00:00:32.640 consultant a few other things. I'm also one author of 8 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:37.880 Rugby League Coach thirteen game Changing Conversations to Transform your coaching. 9 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:42.159 And I consume a lot of water, and as I 10 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:45.119 tell you every week, my water is sponsored by the 11 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:48.960 Global League Network that you can find at Global League 12 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:56.759 Dot Network. Aard of me. There's a word of one 13 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:05.959 to get into every coach's head today. Deliberate, Be deliberate. 14 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:14.000 What does that mean when I watch so many of 15 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:19.359 the coaches that I'm mentor and many coaches that I 16 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:24.599 have mentored and do mentor and no doubt will mentor 17 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:29.040 when I talk to them in a seminar or in 18 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:35.760 a meeting that we have and I say, this is 19 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.200 the type of coaching I would do, this is what 20 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.280 I think is best, and then I explain why I 21 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:45.560 think it's best the majority sit there and say back, yes, 22 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.799 that's what I'm doing or Okay, that's what we'll do. 23 00:01:53.719 --> 00:02:00.840 And anybody who's listened to me for significant enough amount 24 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:02.799 of time will know I'm a fan of games based 25 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:08.639 training and drills that absolutely relate to the game. I 26 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.560 guess the biggest disconnector find Number one, it's the perception 27 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.800 of how specific those things need to be to the game. 28 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:23.240 But number two, it's the actual level of being deliberate 29 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:30.439 as a coach. And I think I'm going to work 30 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:37.120 around this phrase a little bit so, particularly when I 31 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:41.280 came to Australia, I realized, after coaching in England for 32 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:45.039 so long, and obviously born and raised in England, that 33 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.919 in England your average male or female tends to be 34 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:52.280 a little bit more intense. They'll hit you straight in 35 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.280 the eyes with whatever it is that needs to happen, 36 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:04.639 particularly us from up north. For example, if you're starting 37 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:10.599 the session at six pm and some of your players 38 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:16.319 are dragging their heels at two minutes past six, I 39 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:19.080 guess a Northern english person is more allowed to say 40 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:24.240 hurry your ass up and get over here now. As 41 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.759 a rule, I find and aussy coaches a lot more 42 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.039 relaxed with that kind of thing, and they're a bit 43 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:37.319 less deliberate when they start their training and they say 44 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.719 things like, right, we're just going to do this, let's go, 45 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:45.439 rather than starting with a deliberate start to the session 46 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.120 and a description of what they're going to do in 47 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:56.240 this session, a pep talk about the quality of what 48 00:03:56.280 --> 00:04:02.280 you want to see, and then a clear description of 49 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:05.039 the first session of the first part of the session 50 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.759 that you're going to do, and clear instructions or as 51 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.960 clear as you can make them. So if you picture 52 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.840 the scene I'm trying to create at the start of 53 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:17.279 training at six o'clock, the coach has got his team 54 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.920 or her team hopefully in a circle or a semi 55 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.480 circle rather than just milling around, and anybody who's late 56 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.879 to that semi circle or circle a hurrying. The lake 57 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:34.519 comes on. So there's a clear definition and a deliberate 58 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:39.399 definition between non training time and training time. That's why 59 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.720 I will continue to argue with everybody on social media 60 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.040 who will say to me, we do a lap to socialize. 61 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:47.839 We do a lap of the field at the start 62 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:53.319 for the players to socialize. No training starts. When training starts, 63 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:58.040 there needs to be a clear difference between pre training 64 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.560 and genuine training. Otherwise you get the concentration levels that 65 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.439 you desire. So a lot of it comes down to 66 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.279 how deliberate you are as a coach. Okay, this is 67 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:12.160 now the start of the session. I need you to concentrate. 68 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.040 I constantly bang on on this podcast about doing pulse 69 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.959 raisers before dynamics. Pulse raisers such as a drill with 70 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.639 the ball in the hand, a game of some kind. 71 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.240 All those joggers around the field were saying, well, look's 72 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.319 where we do. The jogger roam the field. But I've 73 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.199 told you why why not? You shouldn't bother with that 74 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.720 A thousand times too. Apart from the fact that you're 75 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.639 not preparing anyone for a marathon, you're preparing them for 76 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.199 rugby league and you need to develop the skills. But 77 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.319 then the next thing I want to talk about today 78 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.079 is the quality of those stretches that you do. And 79 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.199 again it comes down to being deliberate. Let's say you've 80 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:57.800 got a team doing high knees bum flicks. For example, 81 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:02.920 Karry oaks three things, three dynamic exercises. Google them if 82 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:09.079 you don't know what they are, and you just get 83 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:12.759 them done and you don't correct the poor technique. Particularly 84 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:15.560 with younger players, the techniques are going to be quite poor. 85 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.360 You've got to be deliberate about fixing that. You've got 86 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.240 to We are doing dynamics, and we're going to do 87 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.800 them properly. We are going to be more deliberate about 88 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:29.439 how we do dynamics. So if you don't do them properly, 89 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.040 we're going to do them again, and we're going to 90 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.360 do them again. I want you to do this now. Players, 91 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.839 you will do it how I want until we get 92 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:44.519 it right. So if again, if you go back to 93 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.639 picture the scene, your typical coach I see at the moment, 94 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:52.879 and this is probably because they haven't had this level 95 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.240 of training. Quite frankly, it's not a criticism. Players will 96 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.720 just drift into into the session whenever they like it. 97 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:07.040 They'll invariably do dynamics first. The dynamics will be of 98 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:13.160 poor quality, poor repetitions of each. A lot of the 99 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:15.959 people who are doing these dynamic stretches don't know how 100 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:20.439 many they should do, how many sets of each And 101 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:22.839 also they move up and down in a or they're 102 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:25.279 meant to move up and down in a line. Well, 103 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:30.040 that's a perfect time to develop your line discipline even 104 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.079 while they're doing dynamics. So if you imagine now, and 105 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:38.360 I'm talking again about the word deliberate, what you are 106 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.639 now perceiving as the start of your session that you 107 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:43.680 just need to get through. We start the session and 108 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:48.600 then we get to the nice stuff for the drills. Okay, 109 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:51.319 what it is now is you have a clear start 110 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:57.759 time and anybody whose late knows about it. Now, if 111 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.399 nothing else, just hurry your backside here and get in 112 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.240 the session. I'm not saying necessarily punish them for being late. 113 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:07.160 It's probably their parents, if the kids or somebody might 114 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.879 have let you know. If they're older. You just get 115 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.639 them quickly into the session though, because every second they're 116 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:16.639 missing they're not developing. And then you do something game 117 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:22.560 related to raise the pulse a drill or again. And 118 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:29.000 then after that, sorry, I've missed something out myself. Before 119 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.080 you get to that pulse raiser, you've had them in 120 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.519 a circle or a semicircle, and you've clearly outlined what's 121 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:43.080 in the session today, and you've clearly outlined your expectations, 122 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:47.879 and you've clearly described what's coming. First, you then get 123 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.320 the players to shake hands or high five each other 124 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:54.440 before they start, and then you do that pulse raiser. 125 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.480 So sorry I missed that out. I trust me, if 126 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.320 I was on the training field, I wouldn't miss that out. 127 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.039 And then you've done your pulse rader, and depending if 128 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.279 it's a drill, you might do two minutes each side. 129 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.279 If it's a game of some kind, you might play 130 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:11.720 for four to five minutes. Then you put them in 131 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:19.759 dynamic stretches. And in those dynamic stretches you have focused 132 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.440 heavily on how many repetitions they need to do to 133 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.720 make sure they are stretched properly, and you also focus 134 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:31.360 on how to deliver the dynamics. I e. If we're 135 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.200 doing high knees, the technique needs to be perfect. If 136 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.759 we're doing bum flicks, the techniques need to be perfect. 137 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.960 If we are doing karaoke, whatever the exercise may be, 138 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:43.440 it needs to be done well and as close to 139 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:47.440 perfection as possible. And also when your players are moving 140 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.559 up and down doing their dynamics, they can work in 141 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.440 a line, which helps them practice line discipline, which helps 142 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:58.440 them in defense. That session, that start to the session 143 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:03.720 I've just described, it's very deliberate and it makes you 144 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:09.080 players realize that it's alike Donkey Kong today, coach isn't 145 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:13.279 messing about, and it sets your tongue for the session. 146 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.120 Remember how you start your session. If you don't start 147 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:21.200 it being deliberate in your coaching, your rest of your 148 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:26.120 session will suffer. If you're starting a session at six, 149 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.279 it's an affront that people don't turn up well in 150 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:31.799 advance of six to start the session. You should be 151 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.000 ready as a coach. Everything should be prepared. You should 152 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.360 be waiting for your players to arrive. You're listening to 153 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:45.720 the Rugby League Coach podcast with Lee Addison. In a 154 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:51.960 recent coach mentoring session, myself and the coach reviewed a 155 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:57.919 close loss and the coach immediately pointed to the lack 156 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.759 of fresh substitutes that he had. He's limited bench options, 157 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.720 he had players backing up from reserve grade. It was 158 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:06.919 an A grade coach. He still is an A grade coach. 159 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.159 He's not been zacked. And he also talked about injuries 160 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:16.240 in his team, so all legitimate issues. My first question 161 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:22.279 to him was can you control any of those? His 162 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.279 answer is basically no. Now, of course, a lot of 163 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:30.039 how you prepare, etc. And everything else, Yes, you can 164 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.320 control if you're at a certain level, but at a grade, 165 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:37.240 you probably can't control those things, and you certainly can't 166 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:41.440 control them on game day. And if you can't control them, 167 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.120 they shouldn't dominate your coaching detention. Too many coaches, as 168 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.120 this coach did until he had a chat with him, 169 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:55.360 worry about circumstances instead of behaviors. The focus should always 170 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.360 come back to what can we improve between now and 171 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:05.120 next weekend. In the same meeting, one of the biggest 172 00:12:05.159 --> 00:12:08.519 chats I had with the coach was about interchange management, 173 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:15.080 and my philosophy is simple on that the only players 174 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:17.440 who should really get tired are your middles. Your props 175 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:19.639 may be a lock depending on how you want them 176 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.320 to play loose forward if you're in England or New Zealand. 177 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.919 But your spine players, you strike players, your decision makers. 178 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:28.759 They're the ones you want on the field all the time, 179 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.200 aren't they? So your interchange should have cover for them. 180 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:36.879 But when it comes to front rowers, coaches make the 181 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:40.200 mistake of pulling them off the field and hopes they 182 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:46.480 pulling them off, pulling them off the field the moment 183 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:54.000 they look tired for a millisecond. But I played prop 184 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:58.720 and most props know this. We often get a second win. 185 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.480 Props spend the first ten or fifteen minutes of any 186 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.840 game trying to physically dominate their opponent. Whatever your game 187 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:12.960 plan is. Even if your game plan is kick on 188 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.759 the first tackle and chase, your props will be thinking 189 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.720 about dominating their opposite numbers, dominating the opposite middle, and 190 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:26.440 so many coaches, just as they're starting to win that battle, 191 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.840 which is a massive battle to win in the in 192 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.720 the in the prop's head, coaches take them off. So 193 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.960 here's a general rule of thumb to work to. If 194 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.120 your prop looks tired but he's still getting back into 195 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:49.759 the line and competing on everything, give him or her 196 00:13:49.799 --> 00:14:00.279 another set, maybe even too. Don't rush the interchange. There's 197 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:04.320 a difference between being tired and being beaten. The worst 198 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:06.519 thing you can do to a proper who's gone really well, 199 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:09.960 who's had a great run, is take them off straight 200 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:13.120 after that, because a lot of the game in the 201 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.480 middle is about confidence and it's about getting one up 202 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.919 over your opponent. And remember, if you can see a 203 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:22.840 try or score a try, you also get a four 204 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:26.720 minute break on average, lots of time to get energy back. 205 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.840 A very big mistake coaches make is studying losses significantly 206 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.759 and wins just going oh yeah, we won and moving on. 207 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.679 I got this tip when I read a book about 208 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.679 Clive Woodward, the old England rugby coach in two thousand 209 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.840 and three World Cup winning and he released a book 210 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:56.960 in two thousand and four, so I was then a 211 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.840 very young coach, a pup, and he basically said in 212 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:06.279 that book that in the workplace that he worked at, 213 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:11.960 if they did a great deal or had a great week, 214 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.200 the bossy said, let's drink and let's celebrate that week. 215 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:27.480 If something failed or markers weren't realized and outcomes weren't achieved, 216 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:31.279 there was a big debrief, a big pow wow, and 217 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:39.120 a big inquest, and Clive wood would have argued it 218 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.720 should be the exact opposite, and in some of that 219 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:52.320 water thank you Globally network, he argued that when you win, 220 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.799 you need to analyze that as much as you can, 221 00:15:56.039 --> 00:16:00.559 and when you lose, you need to take what you 222 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:02.960 can from it, but not worry too much, because if 223 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:05.360 you're doing well and your systems are in place, then 224 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:12.480 it's just a blip in the system. If you're going 225 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:15.919 to lose games as a coach, and this goes to 226 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:19.480 every coach out there who's winning right now. Your signs 227 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:23.799 usually appear that you're going to lose in your wins. 228 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:29.440 Most coaches obsess over losses. They watch them repeatedly, analyze 229 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.159 every mistake, tear them apart. But often the exact same 230 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.720 errors existed in the previous week's forty point victory or 231 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:44.039 two weeks before, three weeks before, the amount of times 232 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.600 I speak to coaches whose teams are going well and 233 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:48.600 tell them the warning signs are there. You need to 234 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.879 fix this, you need to fix that, And the only 235 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.559 reason it's not coming up on the scoreboard in the 236 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.240 previous weeks is the opposition wasn't good enough to punish it. 237 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.639 Good teams that you play against exposed problems, but poor 238 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:07.480 teams allow you to get away with them. And that's 239 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:12.559 why the focus on your wins is often just as valuable, 240 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:16.559 in fact more valuable, I'll be honest, than reviewing losses 241 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:24.119 sometimes because your errors will be in that winning game too. If, 242 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.559 for example, in a loss, you had a right edge 243 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:33.720 defender inside inside the wing, so a center who kept 244 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.119 jumping out the line and getting his or her read wrong, 245 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:44.160 I can promise you that in those wins, he would 246 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:46.759 have started looking or she would have started looking to 247 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.079 do that anyway, and you'd tell by their hips even 248 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:54.039 though the ball never got there, if your completion rate 249 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:58.519 was low, even though you won some easier games, I 250 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:01.119 can promise you if you're dropping the ball against those teams, 251 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.640 you're very likely to drop the ball against better teams, 252 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:09.000 particularly if it's collision related. And one of the dangers 253 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:13.640 about winning games of football and not analyzing them is 254 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.160 one of the biggest indicators of how you're going to 255 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.359 win a game is go forward. And in a tough game, 256 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.000 if there's no go forward or the goal, the go 257 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.960 forward and the and the contact line is equal, i e. 258 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.119 The defense and the and the attack is still really 259 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.559 competing for it. The whole dynamics of the game. For 260 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:37.039 the attack change, the space isn't as easy to see, 261 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:42.039 whereas if you're going forward, the space is obvious to 262 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:47.799 see because the defense is going backwards. So that's why 263 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:50.000 you've got to really drill down into your into your 264 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:56.000 wins before the loss has come. And I'll give you 265 00:18:56.039 --> 00:19:00.680 a little model now for reviewing your games. How many 266 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.920 players do you think, sorry, how many players. Do you 267 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.680 think can remember everything that's in your head right now 268 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:13.839 about your team? Bear in mind they've got the wrong 269 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:18.200 game to think about too. So I say to coaches, 270 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.359 and this is how I work in my own coaching. 271 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:25.920 If you can only change three things, what would there be? 272 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:33.599 And quite often, more often than not, it comes down 273 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:39.000 to holding the ball, It comes down to giving away 274 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:49.000 penalties and rock discipline. If you can get those three 275 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:53.359 things right, you go a very long way to winning 276 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:57.359 most games of football. And that's it, three things, not 277 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:04.079 twenty forty three. That's because winning games of football is 278 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:08.799 about subtraction, not addition. Quite frankly, you need to get 279 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:12.000 rid of the things that are going wrong before you 280 00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:18.839 add another play or another shape, or another call or 281 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.160 another tactic. Great coaching is about identifying a few things 282 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:29.160 that matter most and relentlessly reinforcing them. And when you're 283 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:33.039 looking at your penalties, they're often a symptom of the 284 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.279 way you're tackling. They're often a symptom of the way 285 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:41.400 you defense retreats and gets up again, and they're often 286 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.400 a symptom of how you're trying to control the resultant rook. 287 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:49.240 After you've done all those things, So if penalties are 288 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:51.799 a key issue, that's fair enough. But when you dig deeper, 289 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:55.119 is it the penalties or is it the way you're tackling, 290 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.359 the way you're losing the rock? Are the penalty is 291 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:03.599 the consequence? So when you're looking at your tapes and 292 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.079 when you're analyzing your team, don't just look at the symptoms. 293 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:09.240 I mean, it's very easy for us to go, oh, no, 294 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:12.440 we've conceded that try on the right. Our defense read 295 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:18.200 it wrong. Let's sack the center and the wing. That's 296 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:23.519 the symptom, that's the outcome. But if you look at 297 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:25.200 your rock, if you look at your tackle technique, if 298 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:27.319 you look at your defensive split, if you look at 299 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.599 the way the players were retreating in the defensive line, 300 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:33.960 if you look at your line speed. Only if all 301 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.400 those things are right, including the fact that you might 302 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:39.599 be on your eighteenth tackle because you're giving away six 303 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:43.640 agains or penalties, if all those things are where you 304 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:48.279 want them to be, then yes, your right edge is 305 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:55.880 a problem. And that's the difference. In good coaching, look 306 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.480 for the causes of your problems. Quite often a try 307 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:02.359 can become seeded because of what's happened in the previous 308 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.519 three or full sets, or earlier in that same set, 309 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:13.160 not just on that play. Drop Balls may be caused 310 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:17.119 by poor fatigue management. Penalties might be caused because you're 311 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.839 losing the rook or you're tackling poor in Mistackles might 312 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:24.359 be caused by poor spacing, or penalties could be because 313 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.680 of poor technique, tackling too high, poor footwork, et cetera. 314 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:30.559 Poor attack could be caused by your poor set structure. 315 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:35.119 So I talked about earlier about not adding plays and shapes, Well, 316 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:38.359 you should only add plays and shapes when you know 317 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:42.759 that the way you're constructing your set gives the players 318 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:48.680 the optimum position to exploit any space that they've got. 319 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:51.799 If the way you structured your set hasn't created the 320 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:54.880 space in the defensive line or outside the defensive line, 321 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:57.839 I suggest you need to structure your sets better. And 322 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:03.000 this is what I help coaches do because the amount 323 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:07.000 of times I watch footage with coaches and there's moments 324 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.519 where players are looking to do any tunnel ball or 325 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:15.279 a special shape and clever solutions, and quite frankly, sometimes 326 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:17.039 they just need to shift the ball on a play 327 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:23.319 earlier or two plays earlier. And what's happening is players 328 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:28.160 are creating spaces without even knowing they are, but not 329 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:31.559 looking for them, not recognizing them. They'll be overlaps, they'll 330 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:36.039 be numbers, they'll be space, but players aren't scanning looking 331 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:39.359 for them. And if players simply looked up and identified 332 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:43.799 where the defense was vulnerable and had the ability to 333 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:49.559 get the ball there quickly, then the game would be 334 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:55.319 a hell of a lot easier. Most teams rely entirely 335 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.680 on halves, don't they to identify space? But why? Centers 336 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.920 can see back, rollers can see space, Wingers can see space. 337 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:06.200 You fall back and see space. Everybody watching the game 338 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:10.960 can see space. Everybody should be scanning and looking for 339 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.720 that space. One of the best ways to coach it 340 00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:20.039 in any oppose that you're doing any thirteen versus thirteen, 341 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:23.680 even a small sided game, even a drill that's a 342 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:27.960 decision making drill, freeze it, stop it, and ask every 343 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:31.759 player wears the space. Every player, not just the halfback, 344 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:37.480 everybody the war. Players look up and only recognize opportunities, 345 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:42.279 the better their communication about those opportunities becomes, and the 346 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:47.279 less they will rely on structure. Players love playing football. 347 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:50.839 You've heard it called eyes up football. I'm not a 348 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:55.440 particular fan of that, but players love looking up and playing. 349 00:24:56.599 --> 00:25:00.559 It's enjoyable, it's creative, and it's the actual game. Frankly, 350 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.319 if I was coaching your team, I can promise you, 351 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.480 if I was coaching your team for the next three 352 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.400 four weeks, my entire message would fit on one whiteboard 353 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:14.480 and it would be something like hold the ball, look up, 354 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.920 kill the roock, reduce your penalties. And I'd mentioned that 355 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:26.000 in every session, every review, every team talk every text 356 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.319 message if they were old enough for me to do that, 357 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.359 because players don't need more information, they need better habits. 358 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:35.279 And games are rarely won by the team with the 359 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:39.680 biggest playbook. They're usually won by the team that executes 360 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:44.599 the basics under pressure. And quite frankly, soon I'll be 361 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:51.839 talking about origin and I'll be mentioning those things. One 362 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:56.640 of my favorite section on this podcast is looking outside 363 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.880 rugby league to see what sports can teach us, and 364 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:05.079 probably too much. I talk about soccer football, and I 365 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:07.160 want to talk to you about a guy called Charles 366 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:13.319 Hughes because I think his story relates to everything in sport, 367 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:17.279 quite frankly, any sport. So therefore, rugby league coaches selectors 368 00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:22.039 administrators should understand this. So this was back in the well. 369 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:24.200 It started in the sixties actually, but the seventies and 370 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:30.160 eighties Charles Hughes was in England's coaching director and became 371 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:34.720 very influential. He became the director of coaching for the 372 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.880 Football Association and wrote a book called The Winning Formula. 373 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:44.160 That's quite significant title Magie Mind called thirteen Game Changing 374 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:49.799 Conversations to Transform Your Coaching. So I suppose they're both 375 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:55.799 quite bold. And the problem wasn't that Hughes didn't believe 376 00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:57.839 in the evidence that he compiled in this book. It 377 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:00.119 was the problem that he believed in the wrong interpretation 378 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:05.880 of it. The data changed the way English football moved 379 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:11.599 forward in the seventies and the eighties, and for those 380 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:13.559 who don't know, England haven't won a World Cup since 381 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:18.119 nineteen sixty six, despite having one of the biggest player 382 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:22.640 pools in the world. Hughes analyzed more than one hundred 383 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.960 football matches and noticed that a large percentage of goals 384 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:32.400 were scored following moves involving three passes or fewer. So 385 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:36.880 from that three passes or fewer he reached a conclusion. 386 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:43.359 He'd looked at the symptom, not the cause. He decided 387 00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:48.000 that if most goals come from a short number of passes, 388 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:51.920 teams should get the ball forward as quickly as possible, 389 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:54.160 and that ended up with the English game focusing on 390 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:58.319 long balls, direct play focusing on territory and getting the 391 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:04.559 ball into dangerous areas on repeat. And he also developed 392 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:09.519 the concept of POMO, which is positions of maximum opportunity, 393 00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:17.359 areas where goals were most commonly scored. And he kept 394 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.920 saying that if you keep delivering the ball into those areas, 395 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.400 eventually goals will come. And on the surface, it sounds logical, 396 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:26.160 it's evidence based, it's backed by stats, and it's measurable, 397 00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:29.240 and that's why so many brought into it. But the 398 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:35.119 problem was Hughes had confused correlation with causation. He confused 399 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:42.400 the outcome the symptom with the cause. Just because many 400 00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:45.319 goals were scored after three passes didn't mean that three 401 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.039