Rugby: Coaching a family affair for young sportsman

Warner Dearns PHOTO/Warren Buckland

Talk about pleasing your parents these school holidays - Taradale Intermediate School's Warner Dearns has got it down to a tee.

During the first week of the holidays the 12-year-old Year 8 student will play for defending champions Napier in the 113th edition of the Ross Shield rugby tournament in Wairoa, much to the delight of his father, Magpies fitness trainer Grant Dearns, who has coached Warner from 5th grade level.

The following week he will play for Hawke's Bay at the national under-13 boys basketball tournament in Dunedin in his first serious season in the code after his mother, Hawks Basketball general manager and former Silver Ferns netballer and former Hawke's Bay basketball rep Tanya Dearns encouraged him to trial for the team earlier this year.

Warner, who has previously represented the Napier West D, C and Wakely Shield reps, has no intention of taking it easy in Wairoa with the aim of saving some petrol for Dunedin.

"Naturally I'll be hoping I don't get injured. But I will be going hard ... I want to be a starting XV player in Wairoa and a starting five player in Dunedin," Warner, one of 10 Taradale Intermediate players in the Kerry Lewis-coached Napier side, said.

He is full of praise for his coaches in both codes for allowing him to play both. Despite his Ross Shield team training up to four times a week at the peak of their schedule and the basketball side twice a week Warner only missed one of the rugby team's training sessions and on that occasion he was helping the Shane Brown-Paora Winitana basketball team win their regional tournament with an unbeaten run.

Warner, who is eyeing an engineering and graphics career when he leaves secondary school, knows the day will come when he will have to focus on just one of the two winter codes. "I'll go with rugby because I've been playing it since I was 4 but in the meantime I will keep enjoying both."

With parents like his, Warner doesn't lack advice.

"Mum always talks about having a good attitude and trying my best. Dad has been encouraging me to be more aggressive at the breakdown and telling how to change one's pace for different phases of the game," Warner said.

He regards All Black lock and former Magpie Brodie Retallick as his favourite rugby player and NBA stars Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant are the two basketballers he admires.

Two of last year's winning Napier team, halfback Anthony Johnson and centre Reece "Wheels" Akuhata will be in action again.

The Hastings West side boasts 11 players from Peterhead School, so familiarity shouldn't be a problem for the experienced coaching pair of former Magpies teammates Ross McLeod and Jeff Karika.