Otago development plan working well

Cory Brown.
Cory Brown.
Otago coach Cory Brown outlines what has been happening on the coaching side of the union and the Otago team.

The Otago Mitre 10 Cup team's first game is against Southland in Invercargill on August 21.

Having 15 players involved in Super rugby, at the Highlanders and Hurricanes, and more having been called in as training cover, is awesome for Otago rugby in 2016.

Having so many players experiencing Super rugby is outstanding for the individuals to get to the next level but also for Otago Rugby as it shows our player development programme is working well and producing footy players with real potential to make the next level.

Everyone is working really hard to produce future Otago players, Highlanders and All Blacks.

It was great to see Tom Franklin get one step closer to join Ben Smith throughout the Wales series.

The Otago Training Group (OTG) of 40 players is also working hard in our environment.

The OTG is a mix of players, some contracted and Academy/ID club players.

Otago trainer Karl Bloxham is working them hard with three-four gymskills early morning sessions and two evening training sessions a week as well as their individual club trainings and games.

Our player development model is based on the New Zealand Rugby six pillars and we work in 10-week blocks of testing, gym and training with each player having an individual action plan.

Another partner Otago Rugby is working closely with is the Otago Polytechnic regarding video analysis.

Hayden Croft and his team of student analysts are doing an excellent job filming four club games a week for all our staff and players to analyse.

It is fantastic that all the coaches get to see a range of premier games every week.

They are also videoing our squad's Wednesday evening trainings.

I am looking forward to my second season coaching Otago Rugby and everyone involved is working hard to get better every day.

I have two new coaches - Ben Herring and Keith Cameron - and we are working closely with all the players to continue to grow and develop their individual skill sets and roles within Otago Rugby.

The team will be named in late July and this year will be based out of the Logan Park Bowling Club.

Otago Community & Coach DevelopmentLast week, we moved into new office space in level 2A at the stadium and are now located in the old Otago Rugby Supporters Club rooms in the stadium.

The new office space has made a huge difference to Otago staff with more space and this development is an exciting time for Otago rugby.

I have also been involved in Otago Rugby's community and coach development in 2016.

We have two new coach development officers in Lee Allan and Seilala Mapusua, who have been excellent in their new roles so far and have bought great energy and experience to Otago Rugby.

During the start of the year, our rugby development staff were focused on coach education and in the delivery of the NZR compulsory coaching courses. We have also been out and about promoting and visiting clubs and schools in both Country and Metro.

Over the past month, we have assisted Tim Colling with player development and supporting underage workshops in both Roxburgh and Dunedin.

We had more than 200 future Otago players and it was great to be part of their development.

Over the next few weeks, we will be working closely with all our representative coaches to assist them with their upcoming season.

We have some enthusiastic and excellent coaches in Otago.

Our coach numbers attending the compulsory NZR coaching courses have increased again this year, which is great.

We are also working hard to develop all coaches to provide assistance, support, skills and drills.

We have a clear coach development plan which is based on up-skilling and increasing our coaches' rugby knowledge towards modern coaching methods and encouraging them to play an "Otago style'' of rugby.

We are really keen to improve our club and school coaches as they get to see the players more than we do so if anyone is looking for any assistance please don't hesitate to contact the team at Otago Rugby.

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