Stephen Kearney held a session yesterday morning, at which he told about 30 of the city’s top coaches of his experiences and lessons he had learnt.
The new Warriors’ head coach was in the city for tonight’s NRL match against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
"I love [being in Dunedin]," Kearney said.
"I’ve been down here a couple of times now with the Broncos and also the Kiwis, so really enjoying it."
Kearney brought plenty of experience to the discussion and spoke of what he hoped to achieve at the Warriors.
He had learnt from two of the best in Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett at the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos.
Both had been influential coaches over the NRL’s modern era and Kearney heeded some important lessons from each of them.
Bennett, with who Kearney initially coached at the Kiwis, brought a simple, successful approach. Kearney felt both coaches cared well for their players and made them confident.
The confidence at those clubs meant the players took the field expecting to win, rather than hoping to.
Since beginning at the Warriors, instilling that sort of belief had been a key focus.
However, he was careful to ensure he remained realistic with the players, letting them know where they were at and where they needed to get to.
Building strong connections with the rugby league community throughout the country was important, too.
He hoped that might stop young talent leaving the country to play for Australian clubs. That had been a trend and he made mention of Rory Ferguson, who had been recruited by the Broncos out of John McGlashan College last year.
Kearney said it was likely there was more young talent in the South, although he acknowledged the presence rugby union had in the region.
"I’m pretty sure there is [untapped talent here]. We’ve got to try to prise them off the Highlanders."
Connecting with the community was key in trips such as this and the team had a busy schedule.
Injured players made trips to several schools yesterday, while Nigel Vagana and Ben Henry delivered presentations last night.
"I know Steve [Martin] does a really good job for New Zealand Rugby League down here," Kearney said.
It was always a pleasure to be able to "help out and spread the good word."
