Rugby: Research as big a part of game as skills for Blues' coach

Mick Byrne

In the past week, Blues forwards coach Mick Byrne took a trip down memory lane and into the future.

As part of his wide rugby brief, the former Aussie Rules player used his side's bye week to delay his journey home from Canberra to research training methods, ideas and sporting trends in his old code in Melbourne.

Byrne was a ruckman with the Melbourne club, subsequently Hawthorn where he won a Grand Final winner's medal, and the Sydney Swans in a 167- game career over a 13-year career.

He stepped back into that world to assess developments in AFL with St Kilda and Collingwood and also took a look at how the Melbourne Storm were operating in their continued league success.

"In our job of coaching and high performance the first place people look at is the States, that is a bit of a no-brainer but the Aussie structures now are up there. The Storm share their new high performance facilities with the Melbourne Demons and Melbourne Vixens," he said. "The number of people working there and the equipment is eye-opening."

One of those machines is an Alter G treadmill which reduces players' bodyweight and helps them return to aerobic training without putting too much strain on their knees or damaged joints. It was like running on a cushion of air for about $120,000 a machine.

Collingwood also had a hypoxic chamber, which the Warriors have, with about nine treadmills, 15 spinbikes and two Alter G treadmills for their injury rehab and recovery. That was just the upstairs area of their gym.

Byrne toured Collingwood with an old AFL teammate and now football general manager Rodney Eade as they shared envious recollections about the equipment they had when they were pro athletes.

If they were lucky they had a club bench, a universal machine, dumb-bells, a rowing machine, sit up tables and benches to help get them in shape.

"It doesn't blow your mind because you know that's high performance now and we have developed all the sort of analysis and full coding that we do with Troy Webber and our analysis at the Blues," said Byrne. "He will sit in the box during games and complete aspects of the game we think are the ones we need to concentrate on. We will use those during the game and at halftime. Later he will do full coding of the entire games and we get those details the next day."

The AFL was able to collate and use those details during matches because of the shape and substitution rules of that sport. Each club would use multiple analysts during matches to give the coach live running information.

"Rugby is heading that way. Sometimes you get too much information but if you know how to use it properly then you can trim down what is important and what is peripheral to the job.

"But it is a cost and at the moment in rugby, it is a cost, whereas AFL look on it as an investment."

Statistics about players' work off the ball were often as important as details about their use of possession. If a back three of the wings and fullback kept their width while also being involved in the play then it was tougher to break down the backfield.

"We call certain aspects of our game 'unrewarded running' and in AFL terms that is used to create space.

"They interchange positions. We couldn't put Charles Piutau at lock and make a difference to our game whereas AFL could put him into the ruck and alter the way they play the game.

Looking at options, ideas and new trends in a variety of sports fascinates Byrne as he ponders how they would cross over into rugby.

It's the sort of inquiry which draws him to backgammon when he has some spare time on All Black duty to challenge coaching pals Mike Cron and Ian Foster. The trio fancy their ability to confront and solve problems as well as providing new ideas to set their rivals on their heels.

For the past couple of seasons, Byrne has ramped up his input at the Blues with additional emphasis on the breakdown and the team's skills. Skills coaching has been Byrne's global role in rugby for the past few decades with a New Zealand emphasis on the All Blacks and now the Blues.

It is another game within the game like motor-racing as a mix of technical coaches weld their areas of expertise to the mainframe.

For Byrne, that journey began as a league player in his native Sydney, before his mates suggested his 2m tall frame was best suited to Aussie Rules. When the teenage Byrne told his parents about his plans, they dug out a box holding all sorts of memorabilia about his father Lionel's exploits in that code.

In his final school year, Byrne played rugby on Thursday, Aussie Rules on Saturday and league on Sunday. He made an Aussie Rules rep side as a ruckman and centre half forward, signed a contract as an interstate player and headed off to Melbourne and the start of his career.

Once that was done, Byrne used his sporting connections to work with the Swans, then Manly league where he taught current coach Geoff Toovey how to improve his kicking game.

Just up the road, the Manly rugby club heard about Byrne's work and he was employed by former Wallaby Tim Lane.

That began the rugby connections for Mick the Kick and global interest in his work. He was hired by Graham Henry with the All Blacks and the pair are once again together at the Blues where Byrne is pushing that envelope wider with his forwards' coaching role.

Is there not a danger that sides can suffer paralysis by analysis, that players' eyes will glaze over if they are bombarded by too much detail and they will lose their instincts for the game?

Possibly said Byrne, but they are looking to give players' informed decisions so they can improve. They were only scratching the surface now and making sure they gave players significant help.

"If you just coach by numbers then you will see worrying trends. We don't want rugby players painting by numbers."

At this stage of the Super 15, the Blues have been inconsistent and that has disappointed the players and staff. Byrne puts it down to the mental preparation of the side and a playing and travel itinerary which has not allowed them to have repeat planning weeks. Their standards and results were evident in comparing the twin games against the Highlanders.

"One of the key things in rugby is the mental game and I don't think anyone can say they have nailed it. It is a bit like golf, where you think you have got it and then you have a little hiccup and you don't get in that consistent groove.

"One of the key things in my visit to Australia was how much people are working on that mental side of the game. Like my coaching it is always evolving, they review their work all the time.

"As the game evolves so do you. I was asking a lot of coaches how they approaches aspects of their work. I had time with Craig Bellamy [Storm coach] and that was great insight into managing the player group.

"It all comes back to getting your players ready to play at 100 per cent. The amount of time they spend on recovery is huge. For example the Storm's first training was Wednesday after they played Sunday, St Kilda had a light flush session Tuesday morning after a Saturday game in Perth."

Like most before him and those coaches who will follow, Byrne is always searching for self-improvement. He has altered his philosophy about the flow of information. He used to deliver it, now he wants to players to work it out for themselves.

"In every skillset there is a non-negotiable movement of principles be it basketball, swimming, baseball, rugby or golf. The players' range of skills has changed in rugby too where the No 10s always used to kick and now we have Ma'a Nonu who is able to do that to break down defences."

Nonu could always kick but he had developed a range of kicks to adjust to the changing requirements of his position and the defences in the game which had improved markedly after the 1999 World Cup.

Benji 'works his butt off' at training

What about Benji Marshall? It is an ongoing puzzle for the Blues.

"He has done a great job, is working his butt off," says assistant coach Mick Byrne.

"There are a lot of subtle differences between rugby and rugby league and when you have to sit down and learn those things as well as just play the game, it can be quite daunting.

"Sometimes he is uncertain as he ponders what he is supposed to do and what he feels like doing. Benji's attitude to it all has been first-class. We are not far away from him getting out there, expressing himself and knowing what is expected of him in his position.

"Instinct comes from having a complete understanding of your surroundings and then it becomes a massive weapon. If you are not sure of the environ-ment and you do things instinc-tively, then you can come unstuck but I think Benji is getting to a good place with all that," said Byrne.