Kayla Hodge catches up with the founder of Rugby Bricks and Black Ferns XV assistant coach as life only gets busier.
Peter Breen has an eye for detail.
The former Otago and Northland back has built his career from it, launching his business Rugby Bricks, and channelling it as a coach with the Melbourne Storm, Wallaroos and Black Ferns XV.
Breen, originally from Oamaru, created Rugby Bricks to fill a void for online rugby content around kicking, passing and the skill set.
What started as a small content business has evolved, offering online coaching, training programmes, tips, podcasts and kicking tees used by top international players.
But it was playing for Otago, under coach Tony Brown and battling against first five Hayden Parker, where Breen’s first obsession, goalkicking, began.
"If I was ever going to get over Hayden to play ... my goalkicking needed to be as good as him," Breen said.
"There was just this real obsession that Tony Brown really helped me with, Hayden helped me with. Goalkicking was probably the first thing that I really tried to help players with online."
After playing for Otago from 2012-15, Breen joined Northland for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
He finished his career in 2017, the same year he started Rugby Bricks, before heading to Melbourne.
In the early days, Breen focused on building Rugby Bricks’ audience - it now has more than 250,000 followers across social media - before creating kicking tees.
He always dreamed of one tee - they now sell six - and never envisioned 24 Rugby World Cup players and five WXV 1 teams using his tees.
"You just don’t even have those thoughts. I still remember probably the very first pro player was Quade Cooper. That was an incredible dream come true. To where we’ve got to now with where the products being used, and who, it’s really special."
Creating online content and engaging with players through social media taught Breen a lot.
"You’ve really got to be aware of what cues you’re trying to get across and what’s important.
"That’s been great with explaining things, because if you can’t explain something simply, then you probably don’t understand it well enough yourself."
"People get a lot of support when they almost get a green light to really get passionate about something like this.
"A lot of people talk about balance and we’re quite [a] tall poppy here in New Zealand. So to have someone supporting that really encourages people to lean in, and do extras, and put in a lot of work into something, can just help someone get over the line. That’s probably what I’m most proud of."
When he moved to Melbourne with his wife, former Southern Hoiho basketballer Jay Maoate-Breen, Breen helped Wallabies backs Matt To’omua and Reece Hodge, before joining the Wallaroos as attack and backs coach from 2019 to 2021.
Coaching internationally helped Breen flourish as a coach and he was proud to watch the Wallaroos beat France in Dunedin last weekend.
He joined the Melbourne Storm as kicking and skills coach from 2021 to 2022, relishing working alongside Craig Bellamy and Billy Slater and seeing how kicking impacted league.
"I loved how you got a direct reward for a really good kick. Then with the goal kicking side of things, there’s quite a few cowboys in the NRL when it comes to kicking, so just adding a little bit of detail and consistency really helped a few of those boys."
Ready to return home with his young family, Breen moved back to Dunedin last year, and joined the second-tier Black Ferns XV as assistant coach this year.
Breen was "blown away" by the skilful team, crediting coach Whitney Hansen as one of the best for building people around their values.
He also lent a hand with the Black Ferns kickers in Dunedin for WXV 1 last week.
Having the international series on his back doorstep allowed Breen to connect with players - Renee Holmes (Black Ferns), Sophie de Goode (Canada), Keira Bevan (Wales) - who he had helped online. He spent time with five goal kickers across the teams and credited World Rugby for the WXV initiative.
Breen wanted to continue chasing opportunities. He flew to Japan yesterday for a stint with the Black Rams, previously helped at Toulouse, and had New Zealand women’s under-20 camps on the horizon.
Rugby Bricks continues to expand with plans in works for mouthguards and other gear, and hosting camps for under-18s in Dunedin, Christchurch, Hamilton and Auckland in January.
Asked why he continued to pass on his knowledge, Breen looked back at his career and the turning point of being obsessed with goalkicking.
"I’m a huge believer that happiness is a combination of progress and resistance.
"You can really feel your own progress with your goal kicking getting better and resistance is how hard it is and pushing against something and working towards something.
"I just know as a player how rewarding it was, and how proud I am when I look back on what I did, and really try to help people to get to that same place is hugely rewarding for me."
