Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen joins The Breakdown for a quick chat on life after the All Blacks. Video / Sky Sport
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has a foreign task ahead of him, but he is confident he can offer the right tools to aid in the revival of a notable NRL club.
The Canterbury Bulldogs have brought in Hansen as a coaching consultant, sitting above head coach Trent Barrett who assumes his role in 2021.
While he arrives without a lick of rugby league experience to pen on his resume, Hansen did have an exceptional winning record as a coach of New Zealand at 87 per cent over the course of eight years.
Speaking to Bulldogs media, Hansen said he does not think his lack of experience will be a problem.
"Coaching's coaching I think. I don't have to understand the nuts and bolts of the game because I'm not coaching the game, I'm just helping coach the coach and his group," he says.
"I think that's the same in any sport, if you get certain things right you're going to get the environment you need to be successful.
"Looking forward to joining up with it, it's an exciting challenge for myself it's a different sport."
The double World Cup winner mirrors a path he implored during his hugely successful time at the helm of the All Blacks – bringing a fresh outlook into training camp with the inclusion of personalities from others sports.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is now in a consultant role with the Bulldogs in the NRL. Photo / Photosport
"[I've] always been open to having people come in and visit us from other sports, and league's taken advantage of that. We've had Laurie Daley, we've had Craig Bellamy, we've had Ivan Cleary and Trent, just to name a few people," he says.
"It's an opportunity for them to see how we operate, but just as much an opportunity for us to see and learn off them so it's a two way thing. From that you form relationships."
Few if any NRL clubs are in need of a reboot like the Bulldogs, who have been ailing at the cellar of the competition since last making the finals in 2016. Over the last four years the club has finished an average of 12.5 out of 16 on the ladder. They also have the equal second longest playoff drought in the premiership currently.
Canterbury can thank an already established friendship between master and apprentice as their saviour.
"Barrett, who had spent some time with All Blacks doing some PD with us a number of years ago, approached me and asked if I would be keen to mentor or be a sounding board for him. I've got a lot of time for Trent, and once we sorted out what he needed and what he was after… we agreed to go ahead with it.
In order to right the ship Hansen already has his pen and playbook out. He says a thriving culture is vital in sustaining success.
"You're on a very limited winning environment if you don't have the right culture.
"If your culture's eerie fairy, so are your results. You may succeed for a little while but it won't happen long term, and the whole idea of this is to have long-term success.
"One of the non-negotiables for me has always been the team is more important than the individual, that way you get everybody contributing to the team, you get everybody making good decisions. No young athlete is ever going to be perfect."
The new consultant position follows on from Hansen's coaching director position he held at Toyota Ver blitz, which was his first venture after stepping down as All Blacks coach at the end of 2019.
