KEY POINTS:
It has long been a lament. Usually it reaches its apex during summer when we consider the deeds of the Australian cricket team, but there have been plenty of examples in netball, rugby and other sports when this country looks covetously across the Ditch.
The focus of our envy is the manner in which the Australians employ a hard-nut attitude, the way they can reinforce natural talent with nous, intelligence and leadership.
So it should appease those Aussiephiles in our midst that many of our sporting teams have tapped into the same guidance which sides like the Broncos, Storm, Swans and the Aussie cricketers use to get themselves through competitions.
The if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em approach has been accepted by the Black Caps, Warriors and Breakers, while the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes have signed up in the Super 14.
They are all using Leading Teams, a Melbourne company which specialises in leadership development for elite sports and corporate teams.
The All Blacks are not a client, yet, but coach Graham Henry mentioned their input in a break from a leadership workshop where the national coaches, players and NZRU staff heard from former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, MainFreight chief Don Braid, neuroscientist Kerry Spackman, the University of Auckland Business School's Lester Levy and Pat Lam from Auckland Rugby.
Those with a droll sense of scepticism would ask what Buchanan could teach the All Blacks. Henry was certain there was a crossover between the codes. "They do a lot of self-coaching in cricket and they have their own gameplans which fit into the team strategy," he said.
"They spend a lot of time working - be it physical, mental or tactical - on how they are going to approach their individual needs in keeping with the team plan.
"I thought it was a different way of looking at leadership. I think self-coaching and coaching of others is a hell of a good way to learn. If I get Dan Carter to coach one-on-one defence, then he is going to get a lot better and learn more about it.
"We have been playing with this idea for a while and do quite a bit of it but I think we could do a lot more."
There was no blueprint about leadership so the All Black panel had created their own programmes. They were always after improvement and had invited the coaching and academic group to reveal what they did with their teams.
"Our leadership was criticised at the World Cup," said Henry. "We have taken that on board and we are trying to improve it. We are trying to develop ideas to take our leadership model and own self-reliance to a higher level."
Leading Teams chief executive Patrick Steinfort said his company did not lay out leadership formulas for teams to follow. There was no uniform template. Sides agreed on the sort of team they wanted to be and his staff gave and received feedback from there about developing leadership.
"They work out their trademark, their essence and from there it is a question of the culture we develop with each side."
Steinfort, a former AFL ruckman, speaks to the Blues on a regular basis while other colleagues are involved with the Chiefs and Hurricanes.
"I am tinkering with a programme now where we can further develop the leadership skills of Super 14 players by getting them out into the communities in South Auckland where they can talk about those people making the right choices about big issues like health and welfare."
The leadership seminar had enthused Henry. He and his fellow coaches, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, had been stimulated by the techniques used by Wayne Bennett.
"He is very practical, straight, commonsense, no bullshit and he came here to challenge. He challenged the coaches more than the players and I found him stimulating. It was no surprise, but he invigorates," said Henry.
Buchanan talked more about what his former team did. He told how someone like Matthew Hayden would spend ages getting his gameplan organised in the nets, visualising what he would do, how he would face certain bowlers.
Henry accepted that ideas on coaching and leadership were plentiful, that the trick was to sieve the useful from the average and to ensure players were not overloaded with theories.
"I think we have got enough experience to work out the good from the bad."
