Rugby: Versatile Blake's remarkable return to union

Warriors fullback Phil Blake slips past two Bronco tackles in this 1995 match. Moments earlier Blake had scored the home team's first try. Photo / Geoff Dale

Phil Blake. Remember the bloke? Nifty league player, a foundation Warrior in 1995 who spent three years at the club before heading back to Sydney.

These days he is based in Perth where he is continuing his rugby coaching career in charge of defence for the Force.

It has been some trip for the 46-year-old, especially last season when he had triple bypass heart surgery in February and was later picked to assist the Wallabies on their end-of-year tour.

Both incidents took Blake completely by surprise.

"My sights were set on coaching Manly [club rugby] again but then I got a call about three or four days before the Wallabies left and was asked if I wanted to go on tour," Blake recalled.

That done he was asked to join the Force in Perth under the new coaching umbrella set up by Richard Graham.

Those appointments ended a year which began distressingly for Blake and his family when he discovered he needed heart surgery.

"I have always trained and I went for a run and had some massive problems. My left arm went numb and my chest started to squeeze and breathing became very hard," he recalled.

"Four days later they operated on me. I was a walking timebomb and needed to be worked on pretty quickly. I was very lucky."

Blake recovered and slowly worked his way back into rugby coaching, a scene in which he has been involved for the last six years.

But defensive coach. Come on Phil, that was never a strength of your game, you always favoured attack over defence when you played.

"Too right, if I didn't have to make a tackle I didn't make one," he laughed. "It was not a strength of my game but I understood what it took to be a good defensive side and those are things I learned over a good deal of time in league and brought over to union."

When Blake started in the NRL he only trained a couple of times a week without much emphasis on team patterns.

"When the code became fulltime we had defensive coaches but it was always a problem for me because tackling was not always instinctive or ingrained in me," he said.

"These days the kids understand the evolution of it all."

Blake's trip has gone in circles from league to union, attack to defence, Sydney to Perth.

"I always wanted to coach. Things did not work out in league so when the chance came in rugby I wanted to do it and do it properly."

Blake reckoned he was coaching blotting paper.

He tapped into as many rugby troops as he could, he worked his way through the club rugby scene in Sydney and overloaded his video recorder with games, interviews and any clips about how teams and coaches went about their business.

"I had to understand the game and really work hard at it," he said.

In league he reckoned some of the best hit-men were Dave Gillespie and Les Davidson while halfback Geoff Toovey was a third their size but just as effective on defence.

"I'd hate to be on the end of a Tatafu Polota-Nau hit in rugby, he is so committed just like David Pococko and Matt Hodgson here at the Force," he added.

In the opening game this year the Force deployed a rush defence against the Reds, a tactic they may reproduce against the Blues in Perth on Sunday.

"They have great ball movement and that is a great strength to their running game," said Blake. "We want to stop them and get our backrow into play - that will negate or stifle some of heir recycling and the width they play with.

"But first of all our tackles, one-on-one up front, have to be spot on and effective. We have to shut down their space, win the collisions, slow the ball down and introduce our backrow into the game," said Blake.

"We have to cut their legs down, get the ball on the ground where we think we have a strength. Then when we have the ball we want some good linespeed to cut down the Blues time to get set on defence."

While Blake's main focus this weekend is on the Force, the sports junkie will also be monitoring his old Warriors side who he has tipped to start with a win against the Eels.

"I think they will have a good year but they are still waiting for their breakthrough season when they win the comp. I hope it will be sooner rather than later."

He could also be speaking about the Force's hopes for Sunday.