And Crusaders high performance leader Richard Smith can prove it.
As an example, the Crusaders beat the Highlanders 32-30 in controversial fashion at Forsyth Barr Stadium in May, yet all the relevant statistics pointed to a Highlanders win, he said yesterday.
Speaking to about 110 coaches from all sports at various levels at a coaching conference at the Sargood Centre at Logan Park, Smith asked, cheekily: ''Remember the game against the Highlanders down here?''
The result was shrouded in controversy after television official Vinnie Munro ruled Highlanders winger Patrick Osborne had not scored what appeared to be the match-winning try after the final hooter.
Smith, previously a consultant with High Performance Sport New Zealand for 11 years, spoke for about an hour and highlighted the importance of judging success on performance, not just results.
''Against the Highlanders, all of the metrics actually said we [Crusaders] lost the game. I don't know if [Israel] Dagg made the tackle or not - it's not for me to dispute.
''But the metrics said that the Highlanders beat us, but the Crusaders got the result.
''If you're just pinning performance on the result alone, you're going to get a skewed picture. You're not not actually going to be finding out the things that really matter.
''If we all just coached for the win or the loss, we would all go mad and give up.''
Smith, who once lived in Dunedin and played rugby for Otago University, gave an insight into the most successful team in Super rugby history.
''When I took over this job, I said to the four coaches, 'I'm going to work with you guys to make sure you are the best Super rugby coaching unit in the competition.' I don't know if we are, but that's an aspiration.
''How do I tell [Todd Blackadder] how to be a coach? I can't do that. But what I can do is lead him and make sure his clarity and thought about where we are heading is 100% right.''
Smith stressed the importance of coaches understanding the players and creating a learning environment for them where changes were not feared.
He also provided a different way of looking at coaching by quoting Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick - ''I don't coach football, I coach people.''
Other speakers on the first day of the South Island conference were keynote speaker Prof Rich Masters, Siliconcoach development manager James Nation, Sport NZ coaching consultant Brett Reid, Southern Steel coach Janine Southby, NZOC medical director Lynne Coleman, Olympic physiotherapist Helen Littleworth and Otago Polytechnic lecturer Pete Sanford.
Western Australia Institute of Sport athletics coach Grant Ward is today's keynote speaker, while New Zealand Olympic Committee boss Kereyn Smith, Otago Polytechnic lecturer Pete Sanford, freeskiing coach Bruce Wells, Paralympic coach Roly Crichton, nutritionist Fiona Simpson and Olympic athlete Rebecca Wardell will also speak.
The conference finishes this afternoon.
- Robert van Royen
