1
'The coaches that I've seen achieve the greatest success have three things in common'
By Ned Lester
From Wayne Smith to Graham Henry, and then from Steve Hansen to Ian Foster, All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka witnessed greatness in his 23 years with the team. The now world renowned psychologist’s observations over that period unearthed some vital keys to success.
ADVERTISEMENT
The mental skills role is, in large part, one of observation and Enoka, being the longest-serving member of All Blacks management – until his recent retirement from the team following the World Cup in France – has had plenty of opportunity to observe and learn from some of the best athletes and leaders in the game.
He was asked by RNZ for his thoughts on the Wallabies’ struggles in connecting with a head coach and finding success, specifically under big personalities like Michael Cheika and Eddie Jones.
“When people come in, it’s fresh and it’s new,” Enoka replied on RNZ. “There’s a lot of dialogue around the history and what people have achieved. Both those men are interesting characters, I’ve met them both.
“The coaches that I’ve seen perform and last and achieve the greatest success have three things in common: One is they know who they are, they’ve spent time doing that.
“(Secondly) they be who they are, so they’re not trying to be someone else and there’s no inconsistency in the expression of that talent.
“And, they stay being who they are; I think sometimes when people can come in and they are different and they can use bravado, and players see everything, they see through anything that’s false, they’ll detect frauds in a heartbeat and if you’re not who you are and you’re not consistent in being that then all of a sudden they’ll chew you up and spit you out in a heartbeat.”
ADVERTISEMENT
There’s no substitute for authenticity when it comes to leadership in Enoka’s eyes. Having brought up 300 Tests during the Rugby World Cup, Enoka’s departure from the team highlights the turnover of experience off the field as well as the traditional exodus of verteran players post World Cup.
However, Enoka insists he’s leaving the team in good hands.
“I saw Razor (Scott Robertson) on Wednesday this week and we sat and chatted through several different things about the legacy and you know he’s been an All Black which is fantastic, so he knows the culture and the expectation.”
Rassie probably best covers the points raised by Enoka. The players trust him and believe in him implicitly. Rassie has not always been perfect, but there is no doubt what he does is always to protect and support his players. He has also been very innovative, which was always the space NZ covered. The Boks also started in 2022/23 to expand their approach as they brought in new backline talent. Looking forward to the Irish series, and to see how Rassie goes about ‘building’ again.
The ABs have slipped a bit on the mental side of the game since Hansen left. IMHO.
Will be interesting to see how Enoka is replaced, his work was a key strength of theirs between 2004 and 2016 when the ABs were virtually unbeatable. I hope it gets the same attention.
Rassie = GOAT