Enoka earns reward for efforts

"It taught me that I have the ability, I can achieve and anything is possible if you work hard, dream big." - Gilbert Enoka. File Photo / Getty Images

Enoka earns reward for efforts in ugly duckling of sports sciences

Gilbert Enoka
Officer of NZ Order of Merit for services to rugby and sports psychology.

It has been a fascinating winding road for Gilbert Enoka since he was placed in a Marton orphanage as an 18-month-old child.

He played international volleyball and coached at that level, then worked with netball, Wayne Smith and the Crusaders before a stint with the Black Caps.

The high point of his work has been the past 15 years working with rugby and the All Blacks.

"I crafted a skill set from a range of different areas," Enoka said. "Sports psych has been the ugly duckling of all sports sciences really but the way we do it is very different from the traditional model.

"What I have learned is that nailing sport is all about performing under pressure, when there are critical moments and you have to deliver. More often than not they are mental rather than physical," he said.

Enoka's job is to give the players skills to cope with those moments when they might buckle or bend but not break.

"Smithy allowed the evolution of the idea, he trusted me and learned from it and Ted [Graham Henry] allowed the acceleration of it.

"Steve [Hansen] created the revolution because he allowed me to integrate my skills into the heart of the performance equation.

"He allowed me to make enormous gains about performance under pressure.

"We made massive gains in the last four years in those critical moments."

That sequence and his lengthy connection to sports psychology provoked a lot of introspection from Enoka when he received a letter from the Governor-General.

"It taught me that I have the ability, I can achieve and anything is possible if you work hard, dream big and sometimes, when you think something's not possible and you are conditioned that way, you can do it with a lot of help along the way."