The Coaches Corner with Pat Lam
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For the Blues to be in the playoffs for first time in four years, the first time at home since 2003 and the first time in my coaching reign is pleasing and very exciting. There’s a great sense of satisfaction for everyone concerned, from the board right down to all the players and the administration staff. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes from a lot of people to get us to this stage and it’s fair to say that everyone in those areas is pretty excited about the upcoming game against the Waratahs on Friday night.
In saying all that none of us are fully satisfied; we’re excited but we want to push on now. We’ve given ourselves that chance after 18 rounds and a longer competition and when you consider the quality of the teams, the individuals and the management teams that are now out of the competition it does increase the sense of satisfaction to have made it this far but we’re certainly not content and we’re focussing on the home qualifier against the Waratahs. We want to kick on from here, do the job and earn our place into the semis.
The most pleasing thing from the Highlanders game last week was our attitude. I mentioned after the game against the Crusaders in Timaru that we got our mojo back and a lot of people have asked me ‘what does that mean?’ It’s nothing to do with game plans, structures or systems, it’s to do with body language, it’s to do with heart and it’s do to with attitude. That’s not to say we weren’t trying before but it was a collective coming together and it was indicated in our defence where we only missed one tackle in really trying conditions.
When attitude and heart comes into your game that’s the result and it enables you to execute your game plan better. It was epitomised towards the end of the game when the Highlanders winger broke out. The game was already won but to see five guys chase desperately back and surround him and bring him down was an indication of what I mean by our mojo coming back.
We went through a trying time and we got tested over the previous four weeks and I continue to say that good times don’t change your character, it’s when times get tough and that’s what we went through as a group. It’s put us in good shape for the playoffs now and it’s fair to say there’s a real buzz and plenty of excitement heading into this week’s game.
Another bonus of making the playoffs is it gives John Afoa and Luke McAlister an opportunity to reach their milestones of 100 games for the Blues and 50 games for the Blues respectively.
I’m really pleased for John; to reach 100 games for the Blues behind Kevvie and Woody at the young age of 27 is massive, particularly playing in the front row. I put the acid on Johnny last week that his 99th game needed to be good because if he didn’t have a good 99 he wouldn’t have the opportunity to reach 100 and for him to go out and top our tackle count in his 68 minutes on the field was superb. He carried the ball well, did his core role well and was awesome and it highlights how much we’re going to miss Johnny next year. He’s really grown not only as a rugby player but also as a husband and father and it’s really good to see the strength of character from John to go out there and celebrate 100 games for the Blues – the boys will certainly want to put in a big game for him.
It’s the same with Luke McAlister. He came back from overseas and he’s had his fair share of injuries but I know it means a lot to him and his family to play 50 games for the Blues and again the boys want to get out there and do well for him and they do that by playing as a team, that’s the most important thing. The Chiefs last week talked about getting overcome by emotion and so forth and it’s important that the focus is on the team rather than individuals. If we do that and everyone strives to do their bit for the team everything will come together.
The Waratahs will be a dangerous team on Friday there’s no doubting that. They came here earlier in the season and we blew out to a big lead before they showed their strength in defence and they restricted our points in the second half. The last few weeks they’ve been playing some good footy and they’re one of the best defensive teams in the competition.
Like a lot of the teams at the moment they’ve got plenty of injuries to contend with but it’s always more dangerous when you’ve got a player who hasn’t played much and is keen, he’s fresh and unknown and certainly that’s what we’re going to face on Friday night. I’ve got a lot of respect for the Waratahs and they’re very similar to us in many regards. In Sydney they get a lot of unfair criticism but they’re consistently in the playoffs and they’ve got quality players and Wallabies across the park. They are well led by Phil Waugh so we’re certainly not taking them lightly and we’ve got a real battle on our hands.
There are plenty of tickets still available for the game and I know a lot of the players have been talking about the hope of getting some really good support from the crowd. It’s been a long time since the Blues have been in a playoff game and even longer since it was a home game at Eden Park so to get a big crowd will make a massive difference. I encourage everyone out there to get along and really get behind us, wave those flags and try and get us through to the next stage of the playoffs.
Pat Lam – Head coach Aucland Blues.
by Auckland Blues Rugby.
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