Coach NMFC Senior Coach Rhyce Shaw - Ben Buckley announces NMFC & Shaw will part ways immediately

The only proof I need was that there were 5 senior coaching jobs up for grabs this year (4 excluding North) which is bloody rare for so much opportunity to be available in one year. Brad didn't get any of them, was hardly approached.
I don't think the two things are contradictory. There's two schools of thought about Scott: that he was a good coach up until the point where he wasn't'; and that he was never any good. I'm in the former camp. If he disengaged and went through the motions at the end it wouldn't have been a good look for his job prospects, and the things he did well probably weren't unique enough to him to make him compelling.
 
The players joked last year about how turning up to meetings on time was considered being late and they started closing meeting room doors BEFORE meetings started. Though the references were to it happening during Walsh's time.

But fact of the matter is this sort of approach was already happening under Scott.

What about not being allowed to train if you're not on the field at the starting time?

I find it hard to believe Scott did that cos they never turned up on time for the start of the season.
 
Jun 9, 2001
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What about not being allowed to train if you're not on the field at the starting time?

I find it hard to believe Scott did that cos they never turned up on time for the start of the season.

Ha mate agree. If there was a coin with "Scott Apologist" on it I'd be on the other side.

However the whole timeliness thing was actually a point of discussion on the podcast last year although as mentioned the focus on who the players were scared of was Geoff Walsh, not Brad.
 

Kimbo

Cancelled
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However the whole timeliness thing was actually a point of discussion on the podcast last year although as mentioned the focus on who the players were scared of was Geoff Walsh, not Brad.
That not only makes sense, it seems obvious. Brad was a 'players coach' type (putting aside suggestions he invested more in the longstanding relationships), while Walsh was a 'shoot first, ask questions later' type. As in, the Hawthorn (?) game and what he fed Brad about what the umpires had (allegedly) said.
 
The players joked last year about how turning up to meetings on time was considered being late and they started closing meeting room doors BEFORE meetings started. Though the references were to it happening during Walsh's time.

But fact of the matter is this sort of approach was already happening under Scott.
I think it's all old military saying; "If you're on time, you're late?"

On SM-G965F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Scottroo

Premiership Player
Mar 15, 2002
3,126
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Absolutely loving the approach from Rhys so far.

one thing that sticks out for me is what he’s said to Zuhaar about taking a big hit or dishing one out early in a game to get everyone up and about. I love this, I find north a team you can tell if we’re on or not very early in a match
 
Setting standards are good but at the same time by years 2-3 it shouldn’t be Rhys enforcing them.

It shouldn’t be your Commanding Officer (Coach) telling you to get a haircut or turn up on time. It should be the leadership group or even a player who has been there longer than you telling you to pull your head in.
 
North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says Don Pyke’s cry for help on coaching’s pressures resonated

North Melbourne’s Rhyce Shaw has only had a brief taste but knows the role of an AFL coach can be addictive. As he prepares for his first full season in charge, the words of one former peer are still ringing in his ears.

Jon Ralph, Sunday Herald Sun
November 30, 2019 12:10pm


INSIDE NORTH: READ JON RALPH’S FEATURE ON RHYCE SHAW RAISING THE BAR IN THE SUNDAY HERALD SUN OR ONLINE

New North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says football must confront the crushing pressure and lack of work-life balance for AFL coaches.


Shaw is only months into his tenure as Kangaroos coach and admitted he was addicted to his job and unable to find that work-life balance.

He listened in September as Adelaide coach Don Pyke bemoaned the unique pressure of coaching. Pyke left the Crows with two years left on his contract and said he feared for “people’s genuine love of the game”.

Shaw, 38, who has two young sons, told the Sunday Herald Sun the topic needed further investigation only days after new AFL head of mental health Kate Hall said she would work to understand those stresses.

Former AFL coach Danny Frawley called Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto to check on Pyke’s welfare only months before Frawley died.

Frawley admitted he felt a failure after his own coaching stint at Richmond.


Former Essendon coach James Hird also battled deep depression in the wake of his Dons tenure.

“I think that work/life balance is coming up,” Shaw joked when asked if he had found a way to reduce his massive workload.

“I am hoping Christmas. I love it and I know I have to get better away from footy. I understand that. I am as keen as mustard to get into it. I could spend every hour here. I know I can’t, but I would if I could.

“Me and my wife, Leah, have had numerous chats about it and I would be happy for you to write this because on the back of what Don Pyke said, it really has to resonate throughout the competition, how important it is.

“Because it’s a big job and the support those coaches need, the guys who have been there for a long time, we have got to make sure we look after our people and keep good people in the AFL.

“I just think he nailed it in terms of his feeling towards the job because it is a big job, it’s huge and I have seen that for only a fleeting moment. It’s engrossing and addictive. Sometimes you have to be saved from yourself.

“I have loved every moment of it. I love getting out on the track and being a part of it, but I have to get better as a dad and husband as well.”

Shaw is determined to delegate to his assistant coaches and it also aware he needs to be told to pull back at times rather than work himself into the ground.

He has also had an enormous workload that will ease when new head of football Brady Rawlings joins the club on Monday, with new list manager Glenn Luff also appointed in past weeks.

“You have got to have a really good right-hand man, a really good support around you,” Shaw said. “And I have certainly got that.”


North Melbourne's coaching panel has undergone major change in the past 12 months. Shaw (centre) with coaching staff, from left: Heath Scotland, Michael Firrito, David Loader, Leigh Adams, Brendan Whitecross, Jason Lappin, Shaw, Jade Rawlings, Jarred Moore, Jared Rivers, Gavin Brown and Brent Harvey. Picture Jay Town

North Melbourne's coaching panel has undergone major change in the past 12 months. Shaw (centre) with coaching staff, from left: Heath Scotland, Michael Firrito, David Loader, Leigh Adams, Brendan Whitecross, Jason Lappin, Shaw, Jade Rawlings, Jarred Moore, Jared Rivers, Gavin Brown and Brent Harvey. Picture Jay Town
 
He's just so passionate about the job, I fully believe Shaw can take us places.
Its a real good combination of passion and awareness, or reflection, or whatever. It's *in good.
 

BigBadByron

Team Captain
Nov 28, 2019
322
469
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I'm extremely Shaw we have a better coach moving forward.

(bit like saying a Ferrari is quicker than a Corolla but still)
 
EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au
 
Jun 9, 2001
37,642
145,026
Fogarty Street
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
St Johnstone
EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au

HOLY s**t.
 
Jul 27, 2006
5,529
10,524
adelaide
AFL Club
North Melbourne
EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au

He’s not gonna Die wondering young Rhyce

Very impressive
 
Aug 3, 2018
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AFL Club
North Melbourne
EVERY SECOND COUNTS

UNDER THE METICULOUS RHYCE SHAW, NORTH IS TRAINED TO THE MINUTE

THE countdown clock on the giant scoreboard at North Melbourne’s Arden St training oval is ticking down to zero.

It is seconds before 9am on Monday, November 25, and under Rhyce Shaw every second matters.

Dozens of players are scurrying across the oval, aware that the new coach’s rules are unconditional.

If you are not in place by the affixed time and ready for a two-hour session jam-packed with football education and fitness, you don’t train at all.

“We are trying to make this place our classroom,” Shaw tells the Sunday Herald Sun. We are spending a day inside North Melbourne’s football department.

Shaw says the perception of him as a young man in a hurry is accurate.

He is determined not to waste a minute — not at training, not in fasttracking a list with half of its players under 23, not in pointless meetings in which players quickly switch off.

The 38-year-old’s stunning ascent to AFL senior coaching ranks last year came with a 7-4 win-loss record and a brand of footy that rocked the competition.

Brutal attack on the man, organised behind the ball, and flair in ball movement combined in such a way there was no other contender as Brad Scott’s replacement.

Shaw has aspirations for this football team — and the entire club

— and says it starts with attention to detail.

“Everyone knows I am pretty basic, but I love making people better,” Shaw says.

“I have come from a place (in Sydney) where the standards are so high and everyone understands what is expected and knows their role and then you just go out and play it.

“So I am not ashamed to say it’s similar to what I want to achieve here. I have seen it work.

“The countdown clock is just a symbol of respect for the people who have set up the training session, and it’s respect for each other.

“There are guys ready half an hour before training and guys ready five minutes before, but if we are all out on time and all connect first with no dribs and drabs and late warm-ups , we are all in it together and that’s important.”

ASK Cam Zurhaar how Rhyce Shaw has set the tone for a summer of toil and he guffaws.

What Shaw hasn’t mentioned in an extended sit-down about the club’s levels of discipline is what happens when those minor details aren’t adhered to.

“He has definitely set the tone,” says young bull Zurhaar.

“We had a few mishaps in the first week, a few early-morning sessions, but the little things matter a lot and it’s how we are going to continue through the season.

“We had a few beach sessions and an early-morning run. It was 5.30am and it was an hour away. The boys did the Thousand Steps run (in the Dandenongs) so the boys were up at 4.30am. Some boys forgot to put wellness (ratings) in and missed massages, but it was in week one and it’s now week four and we haven’t done an extra session since.

“Little things matter and we hit it on the head.” Under Monday’s session, arranged by head of performance Jason Lappin, the drills tick over with military precision. In the new era of data, no more circle-work and 100 by 100m sprints. Each drill has a purpose that links to the game plan as Shaw adds layers to the strategies that impressed last year. And Big Brother is most definitely watching. The club’s drone, deployed by its operator Aiden Amenta, hovers 20m above the surface to collect footage. Three other fixed-camera angles add to the levels of accountability. Every coach is specifically stationed to assess each drill.

At one stage there are 24 coaches, medicos and high-performance staff on the oval, all dressed in light blue, attending to a session of fewer than 40 players.

In a 10-versus-10 drill, every action is assessed.

NEW senior assistant coach Jade Rawlings sits in an Arden St box high above the wing. He picks out positives and flaws as a computer tech sits beside him with a laptop. Does Jared Polec put enough pressure on his opponent to disrupt the play? Is Tarryn Thomas vocal enough in a defence drill?

Between drills — again timed to the second on the scoreboard — players are shown passages of play from their 2019 season to reinforce what they are trying to replicate or extract from a certain exercise.

Shaw knows a scout or two might wander down over summer, but he doesn’t care.

He wants everyone to know what North Melbourne’s game plan will look like in 2020. “I am really keen for our fans, our members, for the AFL to understand when North Melbourne take the field they will play a really hard and physical game,” Shaw says. “Really organised and solid in defence and attack with the flair they have been given by God. That is in summary how I want it to be.” He believes a club that often had rivals taking a backward step in those 11 games can sustain that rage, aware it is the only way to win finals footy. “I went to every Greater Western Sydney game in the finals series so I was pretty lucky. I got some cracking games.

“The way they go about it, Richmond, Brisbane this year, they played finals footy and I want to play finals footy as soon as I can.”

Shaw sat and watched his brother Heath’s Giants as they belted the daylights out of the Western Bulldogs with such force that Luke Beveridge complained about MMA-like tactics.

“Oh, that was an unbelievable experience. I was sitting with my dad and two boys (Freddie and Louis) and it was just the way they attacked. It was relentless,” Shaw says. “That’s the type of footy we want to play and it’s sustainable if you want to do it. Sometimes it’s about going out and bashing the opposition, but we do have plans in place to make sure it’s sustainable.”

SHAW has spent his football life in powerhouse AFL clubs Collingwood and Sydney.

He says the size of a club is irrelevant. The ethos is more important than anything.

If there is one message he wants to send to his players it is that North Melbourne can be a powerhouse. Maybe not in literal footprint or membership or revenue, but in its consistent excellence.

“I want us to think big. I want to give the players, the administration, the coaching staff the ability and confidence to believe in themselves and believe anything can happen and we can do this,” he says.

“I have seen big jumps before. I have seen teams go from zero to high up the ladder and sustain it for 10-12 years.

“We are in it to win games of footy and ultimately premierships. I don’t shy away from that. I am not here to win coach of the year. I am here to win a premiership and I am here to win multiple premierships, as every coach is.

“I know we have got a long way to go and I am not getting ahead of myself. If I fail in two, three years, I know I will have tried to do it the right way. That’s all I can do.”

It is the kind of bold statement that some might think too optimistic, but it is clear from Shaw’s time at Sydney that he comes from a club that sets big goals then ruthlessly pursues them.

He will mix that culture with North Melbourne’s DNA, confident this team can carve out a sustained period of success.

“Reading about the history of this club, they have always fought for everything. Even the inception of the club into the VFL, it took them God knows how long to even get into the competition,” Shaw says. “Through the Barassi era they starred and got some guns in and won two flags — one against my old man (Ray) in 1977

— and through the Pago (Denis Pagan) era it was simple footy but brutal.

“Brutal footy and successful footy.

“I just think we have got to be able to believe we can be a team and club that can compete with the best.”

THE players are halfway through another drill and Rawlings is spitting chips. Luke Davies-Uniacke is baulked on the mark and as a result the attacking side runs the ball effortlessly down the field.

Then in a full-ground drill a series of passes from the club’s best field kicks hit the deck.

Rawlings has just finished remarking upon Shaw’s amazing gut feel — when to be a mate, when to interject — when the senior coach calls the group in.

After weeks of sparkling training the players are a few per cent off. Shaw gesticulates, urging them to lift.

Immediately the players respond.

“Now we look like an AFL team,” Rawlings quips.

Rawlings and another assistant communicate via walkie-talkie and decide how to review these breakdowns.

Only an hour after the session the players break into three groups and Rawlings brings up a list of edits inside the club’s theatrette.


This is his message: “No game style will ever succeed if we can’t be consistent in our behaviour.”

As he says, there are acceptable behaviours and “behaviours that make you a bad teammate” .

Rawlings doesn’t eviscerate players for a missed handball or a failure to close on a player receiving the ball.

Instead he highlights what that failure means for the team as he breaks the players into groups of four to ask how they could have defended better. He uses footage and shows them with a laser pointer on a projector screen how one mistake flows on down the field and costs a goal.


Then a Jed Anderson tackle that shuts down an attacking movement gets a tick, as does a Polec three-tackle effort in a congested handball drill.

Rawlings is authoritative but encouraging, and the players respond.

As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

Ben Jacobs, still sidelined with concussion issues, says shutting down that metre of space makes all the difference.

“If I am a step off, that’s another 12 touches for my opponent (in a game),” he says.

If three guys are a step off, it’s six goals.” And then the meeting is done in all of 15 minutes and the boys progress to weights.

As veteran Shaun Higgins walks off the track he talks of Shaw’s relentless ambition and how it dovetails into his own premiership hopes. “That is pleasing when you are an older guy,” Higgins says.

“We feel like we have got a list that is more than capable of being competitive week in and week out.

The dynamic and profile of the group suggests we should have those goals Rhyce is expecting of us.

“I am always optimistic of what we can do and nothing has changed.

If anything it’s grown more and more.”

jon.ralph@news.com.au

Well I’m excited.
 
As Luke McDonald says: “We didn’t pick those things up in the past and it’s going to be massive for us.”

What does this say about the previous coaches!!
I’ll put it down to different game plan , different structures (don’t want to flog a dead horse- looking forward not backwards)
 
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