Rugby: Help from the past in restoring glory

By Chris Rattue

Grant Fox does not dwell on history too long. Then again, history is full of important lessons.

Fox, the Auckland assistant NPC coach, and head man Wayne Pivac have been charged with restoring Auckland rugby to its former glory - some task, considering the extraordinary heights the province has reached since the mid-80s.

And an even greater task considering the depths the side plummeted to last year when they lost more games than they won and finished eighth in the 10-team first division.

And as Pivac pointed out earlier this year, when you add in the poor Blues Super 12 campaign, the once complacent Auckland rugby public have had very little to cheer about in recent times.

So, can Eden Park again become a graveyard for visiting teams? Will a visit from the so-called "A" team silence opposing fans around the country. Can the Lion roar again?

Or are the one-time aces of New Zealand rugby just another dud hand about to be thrown in next to the increasing pile of Otago, Waikato and Canterbury chips?

If anyone knows the formula for sustained success, then it is Fox, one of the greatest match-winners in rugby history. He stood at the centre of provincial and international teams who pursued excellence the way Sir Edmund Hillary attacked mountains.

Fox was a legendary trainer - his goalkicking feats were testament to the countless hours of practice which developed his natural skills.

Rugby league convert Matthew Ridge summed up the effect of the Fox attitude when he was asked how he honed his own field-kicking skills.

Ridge was often required to collect the ball for Fox at goalkicking practice, and was so nervous about not kicking the ball straight back to him that he made sure he developed pinpoint punting skills.

Around Fox were players just as dedicated and determined. Zinzan Brooke's competitiveness was second to none. Ball-skill games in hotel hallways turned into world championships when Brooke was around. They reckoned he would take bets on how many lollies were in a jar - and expect to win.

You only had to watch Sean Fitzpatrick on the field to realise that here was a bloke who viewed winning as only a fraction less important than breathing.

Then there was Andy Haden, a dedicated professional before his time when it came to campaigning for player payments, but just as determined with his game - a giant of a man who set many of the foundations on which Auckland rugby flourished.

It was Haden who at training scared Fitzpatrick into becoming a fine lineout thrower in what became an Auckland tradition of young players listening and learning from the best.

"Andy Haden was 35 years old but you couldn't beat the bugger to training. Andy did it himself - he didn't need to be told," Fox said.

Which is the basic message Fox and Pivac want to instil in their troops.

"Things have changed over the years and there's not so much of scaring people into things any more, but peer pressure is a very important part of building a team," Fox said.

"What Wayne and I have done is talk about a team culture, although that culture is not for public scrutiny. It is a private thing within this team.

"We are using a lot of points that we have seen previously from the success of very good teams.

"The players have got to buy into that ... and it has got to come from within.

"They must want to do it themselves. You don't need to be coerced. That work ethic is so important. A two-way thing needs to exist between the senior players and the young players. The senior players pass things on, the young players must listen and learn.

"You don't achieve anything without a lot of hard work and this team have put in a lot of hard yakka together. So far, it has been very good."

Fox said that even before taking on the job, he acknowledged that the Auckland team of today had significant differences from those he played in.

In the past, when players worked, they relied a lot more on individual training programmes. In contrast, this Auckland side have trained at Eden Park, starting at 7 am, from Monday to Thursday.

There has been another training session on Wednesday night, and as well, the players have trained with their clubs on Tuesday and Thursday.

"Even the ethnic mix is different and there are also quite a few religious players in the team," Fox said.

"You could be a bit more black and white in how you treated people in the past. Everyone was treated the same but now there is more of an acknowledgement that everyone is a bit different.

"We have got Fijians, Tongans, Samoans and Europeans in this team. When we have a little sing-along we sing songs from all those different cultures.

"These days the song committee has to get the wordsheets out. Some of us aren't too good with some of the words - I do a bit of humming. But the point is you are trying.

"You've got to treat people as individuals and show respect for things like the different cultures involved."

Fox and Pivac have limited the NPC build-up to two matches and a training camp in Blenheim, because of all the comings and goings of players in the All Blacks, New Zealand A, Academy and Maori teams.

Their first major test of the season comes against Wellington in the opening match of the 1999 NPC season at Eden Park tonight.

It is the beginning of another Auckland era, but new captain Paul Thomson will also lead out a group of players who have had the chance to learn some revealing lessons from the past.