certain clubs i agree do coach very poorly, and these are the clubs have alot of big Polynesian boys. Clubs like Cabra come to mind, very poorly coached in alot of young age groups. I coach at a club where we are predominately none Polynesian so therefore we need to coach them the correct defensive technique and structures to succeed. Usually the smaller white guy catches up and the passes the Polynesian boys over time. the poly boys are just so much bigger at certain age groups unfortunately. I wish we had 2 front rowers but the demographic in the hills shire is very few and far between.
My coaching life was in 2 stages. Initially I took up coaching in 1993 after retiring from refereeing the year before.
I was out of it for 10 or so years when one day my then 19 year old stepson came home and proudly announced he was the coach of our local under 12's who the previous year had an average of 30 points per game scored against them.
Then it suddenly dawned on me that he didn't have a coaching certificate. He then informed me that because I have one he could coach under my supervision. My wife was not amused losing the both of us on Saturdays. I stayed in the role for 6 years as the desire to improve players returned. He got the certificate half way through the 1st season.
Needless to say I concentrated on the defensive side of the game while my son planned the attacking strategies. Gradually we improved and snuck into the semis in 4th place in the second season. We won the comp in our 3rd and 4th seasons.
After that a lot of the lads discovered girls and gradually the team drifted away.
I had a lad of Tongan heritage who was small but muscly. I made the mistake of holding a tackling bag which he hit pretty hard and sent my then near 60 year old body flying. Never again did I hold the bag for him.
The legacy is now those boys are in their early 20's and 3 of them have been coaching for 4 years now. 2 of them have coached premiership teams.
I am very proud to have been associated with them.