Should the Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby team improve their away record this year a thank you email to Aussie league guru Wayne Bennett will be a must for head coach Craig Philpott.
Last year the Magpies won just one of their six away games, the August 30 Ranfurly Shield challenge against Counties-Manukau. The treatment of home and away games was one of the major focus points for Philpott when he joined fellow ITM Cup coaches Scott Robertson of Canterbury and Brad Mooar of Southland for a week-long visit to Bennett and his Broncos club in Brisbane.
"Wayne knew about the history of the Ranfurly Shield and agreed we had a challenge when it came to looking after it as well as trying to win away games. We'll see if his suggestions work," Philpott said on his return home yesterday.
New Zealand Rugby Union's high performance director, former international cricketer Bruce Blair, organised the visit which was a first for ITM Cup coaches. Other topics included review and preview processes and the degree of player and coach direction with these, the developing of on and off field leadership by playmakers during the week leading up to a game and training structures including the extent of full contact sessions and what stage of the week these are used.
Bennett, 65, has coached teams in more than 700 NRL games. In addition to the Broncos, he has coached St George Illawara and Newcastle.
