Cool, calm Kahu to coach Coast

Ngāti Porou East Coast first-five Kahu Tamatea is brought down by a Poverty Bay player in a 2003 game at Rugby Park. Tamatea scored 12 of the Coast’s points in a 17-14 win. It was his only season with the Coast. He played 11 seasons for Poverty Bay. Tamatea is head coach for the Coast in this year’s Heartland Championship. Herald file picture

Ngati Porou East Coast have Lochore Cup-winning brains back in 2023.

With Hosea Gear as the Sky Blues’ first-ever director of rugby, world secondary school championship-winning coach Kim Harris returning as technical adviser and Kahu Tamatea going from an assistant coach role to head coach, the only iwi-based team in the country is raring to go in this year’s Heartland Championship.

“I’m very excited for this opportunity because after the last Heartland season, I’d spoken to Hosea and LeRoy Kururangi (Coast’s chief executive) and recently I was asked about taking up the head coach role, so after speaking with my family and my boss, I accepted,” Tamatea said.

In 2022 we had a positive environment, with great learnings for me, so now we’ll work on the foundations that were laid in previous seasons.”

There is no secret when it comes to Tamatea’s motivation to take up this post.

While Tamatea played most of his representative rugby for Poverty Bay — 11 seasons between 2000 and 2015 — he did have the one season (2003) with the Coast, and one for West Coast (2019).

He is enjoying a hugely successful Poverty Bay premier club rugby season at the helm of reigning champions YMP, who go into this weekend’s top-four playoffs with a perfect record of nine bonus-point wins from nine matches.

“I want to watch the progression of the team (NPEC) , see them all buy in and produce some hearty efforts, with everyone on the same page wanting to do their best for the sky blue jersey,” he said. “That’s why I do it.”

Ex-All Black Gear holds Tamatea in high regard.

“Last year Kahu brought a great dynamic to the group because he’s extremely experienced at heartland level and has an exceptional understanding of the game, having played at first-five eighths.

“From my point of view, in coaching, his two great strengths are that he stays cool and calm, and that he’s great at getting a gauge in finding the right balance for the group — a balance between hard work and seriousness, and enjoyment.

“He shares great ideas, opinions, so is very thoughtful around that. These players have grown a lot in terms of maturity and game-sense.

“Having older experienced players around the locals has been huge, too, where self-belief, fitness levels etc are concerned.”

Harris, who coached Gear and Tamatea in the Gisborne Boys’ High School first 15, believes the game’s in good hands with them.

“They’ve both played under different regimes and there’s a sameness about the way the game’s being played elsewhere around the country,” said Harris.

“As players, they were physically fit because of the choices they made around conditioning and nutrition. They’re bringing that to these guys now and they’ve got intellectual property that’s all their own.

“Also good people bring good people around them, as with the Coast’s support staff. The numbers wanting to play for the Coast and player enjoyment factor is up.

“That said, there’s more to do and other teams will be thinking the same thing.”