Rugby Southland academy players' grind to reach top

Friday, 10 May 2019

Rugby Southland academy members, from left, Taine Te Whata, Curtis Williams, Ben Paulin, Kaleb Talamahina, Jack Nally, Henry Earland, Jacob Payne, and Leo Wiki at the Mike Piper Training Centre at Stadium Southland. They are juggling training commitments with trades.

The quest to crack it in professional sport isn't as glamorous as many may think - just ask Rugby Southland's academy players.

Of the 10 current academy members six were apprentice builders and another was an apprentice boat builder.

All were jugging trying to get a trade with their push to make it in rugby.

For many, the day starts before 6am for gym training and ends at about 8pm after their night training sessions.

* Southland Stags battle to find preseason opponents

* 'Still life in the old legs' as James Wilson eyes Japanese chapter**

In between is an eight hour or so work day to squeeze in.

Rugby Southland academy manager David Hall acknowledged it was a massive commitment for those young guys who have their sights on the Stags.

Hall himself was once part of the academy before going on to play more than 100 games for the Stags.

However, he admitted the demand on younger players was now much higher, for various reasons.

'When the academy started out, some of the boys were paid pretty good money, and also most of them studied, which is completely different.

'If they were tired they could stay in bed, their classes didn't go to 5.30 at night etc.

'But there is a change in society, trades are a lot more appealing, a lot more kids want to do trades.

'It is great, but it is tough on them to get gains when they are working on a building site for 50 hours a week,' Hall said.

Added to it all was an increased expectations around nutrition, he said.

The academy was in place to produce good rugby players, but Hall was mindful of the workload they carried.

'It's the balancing act between being balanced humans and us trying to get rugby results out of them,' he said.

Taine Te Whata was one of the six apprentice builders in the academy.

He was in his second year as part of the Rugby Southland academy and admitted he had only this year learned how best to juggle his commitments.

'The first year was a bit of a shock. I was trying to prove myself in both [rugby and work], it was tough.

'I now know what to expect and I've got into a bit of a rhythm and routine to deal with it.'

'Pretty much the only spare time is when I sit down with the flatmates for dinner.'

Rugby Southland professional development manager Jason McKenzie said Highlanders players Elliot Dixon and Waisake Naholo recently addressed the young players about their situation.

McKenzie said they told them they were in the most challenging part of their rugby careers, in terms of mixing work commitments and trying to make it in rugby.

While it provided obvious challenges, McKenzie said trades were a good fit for those in the academy.

'Two of the boys have bought houses now. They are chipping away and getting themselves sorted.'

If rugby does not work out they would still be setup for their future, McKenzie said.

'The development of that plan B is super important. It's about trying to get that balance right between performance and that other aspect of life.'