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Centurion Rob Colhoun has taken the reins, supported by assistant coaches Matt Cardey, Daniel (Doc) O’Connor, and Sam Ward.
Club manager Graeme Wallace said although it was a new coaching team, it included some of Silverdale’s favourite sons who had played a major role in the growth of the club. Colhoun, Cardey and O’Connor have all had lengthy club careers at Silverdale as players.
Colhoun spent his formative rugby years at the Silverdale club, starting junior rugby as a five-year-old. His talent and training took him to college rugby first XV before he rejoined the club in the under-21s and progressed to premier rugby, notching up an impressive 100 games.
“I’m pleased to be able to give back to the club that has given me so much. Many wonderful people helped me through my time playing here.
“I’m equally excited about the coaching group that I’ve got around me, the talent they bring, and where we can take the team with it,” Colhoun said.
Colhoun and Cardey have played for North Harbour’s national provincial championship (NPC) team, before embarking on professional rugby careers in the United Kingdom. Cardey went one step further, playing international test rugby at fullback for Wales in the Sir Graham Henry era. Since retiring, both players have honed their coaching skills at school, club and representative level, while O’Connor has built up expertise at premier level.
Wallace himself is the newly-appointed club manager, joining in August this year. He said the surprise was Colhoun’s pick for forwards coach, Sam Ward. Former set-piece coach for Tonga Rugby Union, Ward has also coached Brave Lupus in the top Japanese league, and North Harbour in the NPC.
“Sam brings extensive acumen and knowledge. He’s an advocate of scrum dominance so our forward pack can look forward to a decent education in scrummaging,” Wallace said.
The coaching team has already started preparing for next season. A programme of conditioning games and skills started earlier this month and will continue until December 10. Wallace said the club welcomes players from all senior grades to participate in their Tuesday evening sessions with the new coaches.
Pre-season matches kick off in March which Colhoun said will allow the new group of coaches to watch the players’ performance, ahead of team selection. With the season traditionally starting on the first weekend in April, the coaches have a team retreat planned for the last weekend in March.
“It will be a combination of refining our game plan, team bonding and a little bit of fun,” Colhoun said.
The infusion of coaching talent has also brought new initiatives to the club. Colhoun and Ward launched a development programme for juniors aged 17+, the Aspiring Seahawks Programme. They designed the initiative to include strength work, conditioning, mindset, and nutrition, to equip performance on and off the field.
“Hibiscus Coast and Silverdale junior rugby produces a lot of incredibly talented players and, because of that talent, they spread across the north harbour union for college rugby. So part of our aim with this programme is to reconnect with these players and support their reintegration into the club.
“We’re really lucky to have Sam running the programme. It’s on this side of Christmas to start with but our goal is to have something more long-term with the club, year-on-year,” Colhoun said.
The six-week programme also started earlier this month, and welcomes rugby players looking to transition through the grades.
