My life in sport: John Ackland

Coach John Ackland has a great nose for finding talent and famously discovered a young Sonny Bill Williams while working as a scout for the Canterbury Bulldogs. Photo / Getty Images

When the Junior Warriors made history last weekend by winning the first title for the club since its inception in 1995, it was just reward for coach John Ackland, a long-time Auckland league stalwart, who has been involved on and off with the Warriors programme for 15 years.

The Junior Warriors beat the Junior Rabbitohs 42-28 on Sunday in the final of the Toyota Cup, the NRL under-20 competition.

Ackland, who switched roles with Tony Iro at the start of the year after four seasons as Ivan Cleary's assistant, said the most satisfying aspect of last weekend's win was seeing an Auckland team enjoy success in league's greatest showpiece.

Auckland league is in Ackland's blood - his father Jim was a player-coach at the City Newton club and his uncle Ron was one of the Kiwis all-time greats.

Considering his bloodline, it was inevitable that Ackland, who himself represented the Kiwis in 1983, would head down the coaching track.

He has been coaching since he was 19, nurturing young careers for over three decades.

Having coached various Warriors development sides over the years, as well as the Mt Albert seniors, it is not surprising Ackland is considered one of the best talent scouts in the country. With a great nose and network for finding talent, he famously discovered a young Sonny Bill Williams while working as a scout for the Canterbury Bulldogs.

It's been a pretty exciting week for the club - are you still basking in the afterglow?

Yeah, it's been a pretty good week. What made it even more special I thought was that there are a heap of Kiwis that have gone to grand finals for years and years, and it was good to give them something to celebrate and feel like they're part of the day as opposed to just going on a trip. It was really great to hear the roar every time the boys scored - it was like a home game for us. And when we walked around the ground afterwards you could see the smiles on their faces, which was pretty special.

Where would it rate for you in terms of most satisfying moments of your career?

It's definitely up there. Being part of an NRL finals campaign [with the first-grade side] was pretty good as well - two years in a row we played in finals series up there and we beat Melbourne and beat the Roosters, that was a great experience. But what was great about the weekend was that I'm an Aucklander, and to coach a team of Aucklanders and go to Sydney and win, was probably the most pleasing thing.

Who are you tipping to be the stars of the class?

I think there's quite a few boys that could be NRL players, but there is a difference between playing NRL a while to having a long NRL career. And I wouldn't want to single out guys like that. One of our best players was Billy Tupou, and he's played 12 games of NRL already. I think there's a difference to saying someone's going to play NRL and someone's going to have an NRL career.

How many are going on to play first grade next year?

We've signed Glen Fisiiahi, Ivan Penehe, Shaun Johnson, Elijah Taylor and Matthew Robinson to join the fulltime squad. Mark Ioane has signed a contract with Canberra and he'll go fulltime with them, Elijah Niko with Melbourne, Siuatonga Likiliki with Newcastle, so that's all good for them.

Do you take pride in seeing these players step up to the next level?

Well yeah, it is great to see, but they've had lots of coaches since they were young and they've all played a part. I'll be pleased so long as I haven't made them worse off.

Does seeing great talent leave the club bug you?

No, I don't think you can get precious about that. That's just the nature of the business.

You were a top player in your day - what inspired you to go down the coaching path?

I sort of started coaching teams when I was about 19, I coached Mt Albert under 6s and I sort of coached teams all the way through really. I guess I'm naturally bossy.

Was coaching always something you felt you had an aptitude for?

I guess what probably inspires is you get coached by some pretty good coaches yourself. My father [Jim] was a pretty good football coach at City Newton - he was a player coach. Then I started playing at the Mt Albert club and I got people like Gary Dick and Mike McClennan and I guess when you're around people that are good at things, that tends to rub off and you start to think "s**t I might have a crack at it myself".

What are the challenges of coaching the Junior Warriors?

I think the challenges are the same you get coaching any team really. All the problems are the same, it's just that the stakes are a bit higher and there's a little bit more scrutiny on your decisions.

What is the most rewarding aspect of coaching Juniors?

I just like to see them enjoying themselves and see them improving and to see all the smiles on their faces and the parents' faces and all our supporters' faces, that was extremely rewarding for me.

Do you have aspirations to move to a head coaching role in the NRL?

Not at the moment. Maybe one day, who knows?

Who was the coach that inspired you as a youngster playing the game?

I got inspired by lots of guys. As a young fella I used to go down to Carlaw Park and we used to run around and listen to the coaches giving the halftime talks. People like Roger Bailey and those type of guys and then Gary Dick, who coached me in the junior grades and then Mike McClennan - Brian's father. So I've always been round those type of guys I guess.

What career ambition do you want to realise before you retire?

I'd love to see the club win the premiership. That's the ultimate thing for anyone, I think.

If you weren't coaching what would you be doing?

I'd probably be teaching history at St Peter's College - that's if they'd have me. I've taught on and off for 30 years.