Hutt Valley High School First XV building framework for future success

Above: The Hutt Valley High School First XV squad recently had a 90-minute classroom coaching and mentoring session with Sir Graham Henry.

“We are not the biggest side, we are quite skilful, but our main strength is we have a team this year with a terrific culture and we love sticking together, says first year Hutt Valley High School First XV coach Warren Bradshaw.

HVHS were beaten Premier 3 competition semi-finalists last year, but they have made the leap to the WelTec Premiership this season after winning all three of their grading games, beating Aotea College (24-22), Naenae College (29-21) and Bishop Viard College (39-22). 

There’s still a lot of work to do to compete on a level playing field with the big traditional schools but with a new emphasis on team culture and an old fashioned pride in the jersey and with each other, things are on the up at HVHS. 

“Team unity is something that’s been struggling in recent years at HVHS”, continues Bradshaw. “Our numbers have been way down and we have lost players to the bigger schools. “Losing just one player is one player too many for schools like HVHS to schools already stacked with talent and depth. This has a huge impact on schools like ours; we want our young year 9 and 10 talent coming through being able to look up to our 1st XV and dream of playing for that team one day.

“This year, these guys are falling over themselves to be part of this team! 

“If a team develops a really strong culture, regardless of how strong that team is, the boys will stick around because they want to be part of something that is special.” 

This extends to keeping the players well nourished. Thursday soup nights are part of the weekly routine and are hugely popular. Recently one of their players turned up to play hungry so now Bradshaw’s wife fuels the boys up on home cooked pasta on game days. 

Last weekend HVHS played their first Premiership competition game in a decade, against last year’s top 4 side Wairarapa College (losing 0-31). 

For Bradshaw, this is the first team he has ever coached. He has the help of hard working and dedicated manager Keith Vaughan and assistant coach Matt Renata, who connects really well with the boys, and support from local club Hutt Old Boys Marist not to mention support from HVHS. 

Bradshaw also calls upon his experience gained from his day job. He is the videographer and producer for the Rugby Site (www.therugbysite.com), an online rugby coaching portal featuring coaching tutorials and tips from some of the game’s greatest coaches and players, so he has an intimate knowledge of where to go for assistance. 

He is the Rugby Site’s sole editor, meaning he films everything and then sits down and puts it all together. “I know the content very well because I might be looking at one particular edit for 12 or 15 hours.” 

He’s got a library of 300-plus videos to call upon to help in his coaching. “For instance, if the team’s struggling in a particular area I know exactly where to go.” 

Working with some of the best coaches in the world such as Sir Graham Henry, Warren Gatland, Wayne Smith, Eddie Jones and Joe Schmidt has certainly helped him with his new role with the HVHS First XV.

“I was with Graham Henry in San Francisco recently filming a rugby site coaching clinic at Stanford University. Over lunch, I mentioned my new coaching role. He said to me that on 27 April he was coming down to Wellington for the NZRU AGM and do you mind if I come along to one of your training sessions? "No need to think about that offer"! So we did a classroom session with him, had all the boys turn up and Ted gave us 90 minutes of his time. We did some strategy stuff, but also talked to the players a lot on team culture and commitment and not only how that transpires on the field and in the classroom and everything you did around that.” 

How did the opportunity to coach this team come about? 

“The HVHS coach from the last couple of seasons had moved on. In February this year we realised there hadn’t been an appointment made so I thought we need to get things underway, playing a bit of touch and getting the boys into fitness. Word got around that we were having a bit of fun and before I knew it we had about 25 guys turning up on a regular basis.   

“I had absolutely no intention of coaching a rugby side this year, having not done it before. But after careful consideration, I applied. The key reason I got the position is my desire to help rebuild the school and team’s rugby culture.”

The year started with three pre-season games against Tawa College (win), HIBS (win) and St Bernard’s College (loss) and then it was into the three-week grading series.

“We had two tough wins over Aotea College and Naenae College and then we finally came up against Bishop ViardCollege, a team we have traditionally struggled to beat, but we got across the line and before we knew it we had qualified for the top grade.

“It was a tough decision to go up, it was a democratic vote and there was a 70/30 split in favour. The boys were worried about getting tuned up by the big schools, so I reassured them that they were good enough, they have earned the right and have the right team spirit. If we can end up mid-table in the Premiership that is classed as more of a success to us than the possibility of lifting a trophy in Premier 2.”

It’s a young team, with the majority of the nucleus of the team being Year 12s, so the future is bright.

Bradshaw acknowledges though that HVHS having a very young second XV means that depth is an issue if they get injuries, particularly in the front row. 

This coming weekend, HVHS faces perhaps its biggest test when they travel in to town to play 2014 National Top 4 champions Scots College. But, win, lose or draw, the HVHS side is going to be better for the experience.