Graham Lowe: Pressures of coaching are tough at any level

The conditions last Saturday underfoot were perfect although it had been drizzling earlier.

I was nervous, as I usually am before any game. But there were extra pressures on me that I've never faced before as a coach.

I regard myself as someone who has enjoyed considerable experience coaching, but nothing prepared me for the countdown to last week's game.

Because, just minutes before kick off, I had only four players ready to go. We needed seven.

The rest were struggling to find their way out to the West.

My first season of coaching Under-6 league ends tomorrow, when our competition finishes.

Last Saturday, we played at one of the best clubs in New Zealand - Glenora. Our game took place not on the main field, but the ground up the back. It's called Duck Park.

To the kids playing it could have been Wembley.

As we walked from the carpark along a bridge that crosses the creek to get up to Duck Park I told my boys a story of when I was their age at this very ground.

Glenora is a club full of some of Auckland Rugby League's best memories and they've certainly fielded some of the game's greatest teams and players.

But the story I told my little blokes wasn't about one of their great players. It was about my dad, Ron, playing for the Glenora club.

One of my earliest memories was watching him play down at the Glenora Rec ground and after the match all the players washing in the creek behind the ground.

This was the early 1950s and times were very different then.

They were the times that carved a passion into my heart and a love of league.

And, sure as time marches on, there have been many other eras that have played a significant role, but that was something special.

Anyhow, I was there last Saturday with a couple of minutes till kick off and we didn't have a full team.

But I needn't have worried because at this level the game is coached and run by volunteers who can make anything happen.

There is no need to call in the player agents or the NRL boss David Gallop. The lady from Glenora quickly gave us a couple of their spare players. They just turned their jerseys inside out and away we went. I'll bet the Warriors wish their shortfalls could be fixed like this.

A simple solution to what could have turned into a forfeited game.

A few more of our kids arrived and quickly joined the game.

We lost, but it was a great morning of kids' footy. I enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed coaching a game at any level. They all had oranges at halftime - we play in three 10-minute spells - and chocolate pineapple chunks after the game. I think that beats any cooling down and stretching routine the big blokes go through.

During the game, every player on each side handled the ball and, more importantly, got to pass it.

At this mini-level that is what they do before anyone runs - it has to be passed from dummy half then through two sets of hands.

But they're never very deep in attack and there seems to be little structure - much like the Warriors' attack, in fact.

As coach, all I'm concerned about is that they all feel part of the team and they have a good time. (I'm competing with PlayStation.)

Under-6 coaches have to be on the field during the game with their teams and I'll tell you what, it's been a privilege doing it. I must say, though, it's a bit like trying to herd a bunch of ants into a bottle.

But many of the challenges that Warriors coach Ivan Cleary has had to deal with this year have also been faced by the coaches of all the Auckland Under-6 clubs.

Things like how to keep the players interested at training, how to keep everyone happy, how to keep going when you know you can't win, how to encourage them.

Plus there's a million other things that all coaches need to deal with. Although at practice I doubt Cleary has had to worry about the, "I'm hungry, can we go home for dinner?" question, or "Why is the moon yellow tonight?"

I know these questions have all got to be kept in perspective but the point is, they all need answers.

And finding the answer to a team in distress at times sometimes needs bold thinking.

It quickly became obvious to me this season that if the Under-6 teams kept giving the ball to their best, usually fastest, players, they had a chance of running around or through the opposing kids.

It's a simple game plan really. If you devise a strategy that allows your best players to get hold of the ball as often as possible you do stand your best chance of winning.

Under-6s don't worry about field position. They try and score from anywhere - much like the Eels against the Warriors last Saturday.

I don't know who won our competition this year - Under-6s don't have a finals series, so they know how the Warriors players feel. But I do know I have witnessed excitement, fun, hidden talent and fans, mainly families, loving it.

Isn't that what it's all about?

We will, no doubt, face a season review and a quote I gave many years ago comes to mind:

"There are only two sorts of coaches - those who have been sacked and those who are waiting to be sacked."

It's a tough job at any level.

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