Brad Meurant to Jono Gibbes: How Chiefs grew from 1996 to today’s squad

1996 Chiefs coach Brad Meurant and current Chiefs head coach Jono Gibbes. Photos / Photosport

Last weekend’s match against the Crusaders didn’t go the way the Chiefs had planned, though there is little time to dwell on the loss. Ahead of their next match against Moana Pasifika, journalist Danielle Zollickhofer talks to the first Chiefs coach, Brad Meurant, and the current Chiefs coach, Jono Gibbes.

When Brad Meurant took up the mammoth task of coaching the first Chiefs side, there was a lot he had to figure out on the go.

“When you are setting something up, you are going into new territory,” he said.

“It was a completely new environment.”

Meurant, a former coach of North Harbour, had spent some time coaching in South Africa and London when he heard that New Zealand rugby was going to become professional, and he applied to be a coach.

“It was exciting. We were gonna be the first New Zealand professional coaches, we were gonna be part of a new era.”

This new era included a new team, consisting of only 25 players from six different provincial unions – Northland, North Harbour, Thames Valley, King Country, Bay of Plenty and Waikato – who had varying skill levels, and who were suddenly living, training and travelling together.

“We’ve essentially had [access to] these players 24/7.

“How do we train, how do we organise our lives, how are we gonna keep these players occupied?”

Aside from the 25 players, the Chiefs staff included two coaches, one manager, “a bagman” and a physio. “That was it,” Meurant said.

Training took place five days a week, in Hamilton and on Auckland’s North Shore.

“We didn’t have the analysis and expertise that they do now ... now, you see them all with their laptops and things.

Brad Meurant, Paul Mitchell, Glenn Taylor, Errol Brain, Richard Turner, Ian Jones, Slade McFarland, Frank Bunce, Craig Stevenson and Dean Anglesey reunited at FMG Stadium Waikato last week. Photo / Chiefs Rugby Club

“[Back in the day] you watched the video of the [previous] game a couple of times, then talked about it and then moved on.

“There was not so much research into the upcoming team.

“We were trying to be the best [team] we could, but we didn’t know how good everyone else was going to be [because it was all new]. But everyone was in the same situation.”

In addition to developing a training plan, the biggest hurdle was to become a team, Meurant said.

“For a lot of the players, the only time they met [previously] was when they were arch-rivals [during the National Provincial Championship or NPC], so we had to mould that together, try to become one.”

Chiefs coach Brad Meurant in 1997. Photo / Photosport

Meurant said this was also challenging, because “North Harbour people are different to Waikato people”.

The fact that the players were now always together and often away from their families for a long time added to the pressure.

“These players weren’t used to that.

“Some weeks we were training at home and then flew out to a game. You were always at work, but then you had all these kids not seeing their father all week.

“You need to make time for that, create a happy space ... do some recreational stuff. Like we played a game of tennis or a round of petanque ... and gave [the players] some free time.

Former Chiefs coach Brad Meurant at FMG Stadium Waikato last week. Photo / Chiefs Rugby Club

“I’d like to think we got that [balance] right most of the time.

“Winning is most important, but ... a happy team is usually a team that’s successful.”

Overall, Meurant said he was pleased with his 1996 team.

“They were good guys, a good group.

“Getting the players to play together was really pleasing.

“We were only one game away from making the finals.

“We had the players and the ability to be in the top four, so losing that last game was gut-wrenching.”

Meurant, now aged 72, said he would give himself a “C+” as the first Chiefs coach, “a ‘could-have-done-better’”.

Duane Monkley of the Chiefs during the week 8 Super 12 match between the Auckland Blues and Waikato Chiefs at Eden Park, Auckland in 1996. Photo / Andrew Cornaga, Photosport

“As an experience, it was fantastic. The results – we probably could have done better.

“But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I’m not too nostalgic ... [but] being part of the evolution of Super Rugby ... being part of the history is quite humbling, when you think about it.”

Nowadays, Meurant said he is happy just watching the Chiefs’ matches on TV, from the comfort of his home in Auckland, though he did make some observations on the Chiefs’ development.

“[Over the years] they changed the way they play quite significantly.

“These guys are [highly] capable ... the players are more skillful, stronger, they are ... looked after better.

Chiefs head coach Jono Gibbes. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“The defensive patterns are stronger than they used to be.

“Their way [of playing] now is close to us [in 1996].”

However, a thing that the 1996 Chiefs did better than the 2026 Chiefs was problem-solving, Meurant said.

Current Chiefs head coach Jono Gibbes said it was indeed an important skill to have.

“Everything was a bit of an unknown [in 1996], all they could do was get on with it, attack it with their best intention,” Gibbes said.

“Whilst the format’s ... known [now], something could come up in our season where it’s an unexpected ... that we have to step through, and I think it’s important that we just attack it ... That’s probably a [skill] they need to have now.”

Jono Gibbes used to captain the Chiefs.

As a former Waikato, Chiefs and Māori All Blacks captain (he also played eight times for the All Blacks), Gibbes knows the Chiefs inside out.

He still remembers being awarded the Chiefs captaincy in 2002.

“[It was a] really proud moment, an honour, but also a bit daunting cause who I was taking over from, Deon Muir, was an iconic captain for the region, so really big shoes to try and fill.”

Gibbes said the biggest difference between the 1996 Chiefs and the current squad was the level of professionalism and size: There are currently 52 players training as part of the team.

When it came to differences between his 2002 team and the current team, he said it was the training and rehabilitation.

“Whilst we felt ... when I was playing [that] we were professional, and we were on the cutting edge of development and preparation trends and rehabilitation trends, things have evolved even further now.

When Gibbes was a player, the Chiefs had just started the science of pre-hab, which had now advanced to a whole new level, he said. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

“[For example] In the physiotherapy space, we would have rehab, and we had started the science of pre-hab and trying to avoid injury through certain reinforcement methods. That was pretty new.

“Now ... the advancement in that area and all the things that the players do to try and strengthen and protect against injury is a real different level.”

Gibbes said moving from playing and captaining the Chiefs to becoming their coach was great.

“It’s pretty special to come back and work and coach in the club that you played in ... It’s a real sense of being at home.”

One thing the 2026 team could learn from his 2002 team was “togetherness and connection”.

“The camaraderie is a really core component of successful teams.

“In 2003, we weren’t successful results-wise, but ... there’s some friendships in that team that are lifelong.”

Looking at facing Moana Pasifika next up, Gibbes said the Chiefs had addressed a few things after the loss against the Crusaders.

“I think the fans that turn up on Friday will see a determined team.”

Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.