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It was only three months ago when Jonathan Poff called time on his playing career, finishing with a 50-5 thrashing of Burnside for Lyttelton.
But with head coach Anthony Horan leaving, following the premier reserve semi-final exit, Poff has decided to assume the role for next season.
Alongside playing, Poff has been assisting Horan with the forwards for the past two years. He said the club wanted someone who was already familiar with the environment to take the mantle.
Poff was initially looking forward to having free time on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, but the feeling of being in the changing room after a big win was too good to give up.
“In the end, it was quite an easy decision to make,” he said.
“It’s a club that needs people to step in, otherwise there’s chances if you don’t get the numbers, there could not be a Lyttelton team.”
He was a former professional rugby player, earning caps for Tasman, Crusaders and the London Wasps.
A hip injury cut his career short however in 2013 and has worked as a carpenter since.
Poff will take much from his time working under Horan, particularly the importance of collective player buy-in, the way he interacted with the team and his organisational skills.
Horan had been the team’s head coach for the past two seasons and led them to a metro premier reserve title in 2025.
Poff said much of the side are veterans and approaching the end of their playing days. A big part of the off season will be convincing them to stay, and if unsuccessful, filling all their open vacancies with the right people.
He has told his players to take a break from thinking about rugby and plans to regroup before the end of the year with some social functions before they start running up hills in pre-season.
“It’ll just be about getting in, enjoying each other’s company. I’d like to put some sort of emphasis on the season that we can all buy into,” he said.
Poff felt there was not as much buy-in from the players last season compared to their title winning year, which was reflected in their struggle for numbers at training and performances in the back end of the year.
Poff will be assisted by Lyttelton stalwarts Mark O’ Malley and Lindsay Harmon, father of former Canterbury flanker Billy Harmon.
Lyttelton’s game plan has been built around overpowering the opposition with their forward pack. Poff said that will remain their bread and butter but wants his side to not be as one-dimensional on attack.