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- Apr 14, 2013
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NEWCASTLE are staring directly at this year’s wooden spoon and are still without a coach for 2016.
They are also feeling salary cap pressure, so how can the club do a 360 on a budget and return to form next season?
Look no further than the Walker brothers, Shane and Ben.
In the running for Newcastle’s head coaching post, the pair have spent the past five years in charge of Queensland Cup side Ipswich, attracting acclaim for their unique style of play dubbed ‘contract football’.
But how does it all work and can it be transferred to the NRL?
In an exclusive chat with foxsports.com.au, Shane reveals the method behind the perceived madness and what they can offer the Newcastle club and community should they be appointed as head coaches for 2016.
PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
Ipswich is run without the financial strength of a lot of their opposition.
Operating on a salary of about a third of Queensland Cup ladder leaders Townsville, the Walkers emphasize playing to their players’ strengths.
It’s a philosophy they are passionate about transferring to the NRL.
Shane Walker believes a lot of struggling NRL clubs are guilty of trying to emulate more successful franchises but that brand of football is unsustainable for every team.
“It’s coached to the strengths and abilities of our roster,” Walker said.
“If you’ve got someone who kicks a good 40-20, then you’re going to get yourself into a position to kick 40-20s. If you have a player who naturally has an offload or step, you’re not going to discourage them from using them.
“In the immediate term, you’ve got to deal with the players you’ve got and develop a game plan around their strengths.
“When you look at some of the teams that aren’t doing so well, they’re trying to mimic the way the Roosters play.
“It was fashionable for a period to mimic the Storm and Broncos at stages, but you can’t do that if you don’t have the players who will allow you to play that style.”
There’s no doubting the Knights have some of the most exciting young talents in the game.
With the Sims and Mata’utia brothers, Dane Gagai, Jake Mamo as well as the experience of Kade Snowden, Jarrod Mullen and 2016 signing of Trent Hodkinson, the Knights have a more than capable roster.
When asked who he was most excited about potentially working with next year, he said: All of them.
“You can see some of the boys are down on confidence and that can be easily re-established. They’ve got plenty of guys with speed and skill. They have some rugged forwards as well.”
APPEAL OF KNIGHTS JOB
The Walker brothers were one of the first to express their interest in the position following Rick Stone’s axing three weeks ago.
While the board began interviewing candidates earlier this week, the pair have not formally spoken to the club.
Walker described their dealings with the Knights as in the “very early stages”.
It has been reported that Nathan Brown, Garth Brennan, Anthony Griffin and Terry Matterson have already interviewed for the role.
Brown is the early front-runner to be appointed head coach thanks to his previous NRL experience, coupled with success in the Super League.
Brennan is also understood to be a serious candidate thanks to previous ties to the club and an understanding of the Newcastle community, but Walker believes one of their greatest strengths is that they also understand how one-team towns function.
“Newcastle is a real rugby league town and their community love their footy team, and we’ve been part of those one town teams with the Broncos and now we coach Ipswich. We know what the footy team means to the community,” Walker explained.
“Their results haven’t been where they’d like them to be and we’ve been part of that before having to rebuild winning cultures.”
TWO HEAD COACHES
The duo both retired from professional football in 2006 and have been in charge at the Jets since 2011.
Between them they have played over 300 first grade games, with Shane a hooker and Ben a half.
They spent five years together in Brisbane and the final two years of their NRL careers with South Sydney.
With just one year separating them, they have developed a twin-like telepathy where they can predict what each other is thinking throughout games.
Rather than sitting separately with one in the box and the other on the sideline, they both prefer to be by the field.
While Shane admits they have disagreements around how certain things should be done, having each other to bounce ideas off of is a huge string to their bow.
But how do they split up coaching duties?
“We have some really robust discussions away from the training pitch about how we’re going to play or train and how it’ll look,” Shane said.
“Some of the coaches we’ve had in the past that we’ve been coached under weren’t afforded that luxury of working out if their idea is good.
“That’s been a real strength for us — nutting stuff out so were not left red-faced in front of our players or fans on game day.
“Sometimes we don’t need to say anything because we know what each other are thinking. Often something will happen and we’ll say the same thing at the same time.”
TIME WITH BALL IS KEY
Shane Walker said their brand of football is a mixture of things they have picked up from different coaches over their playing careers.
One of the key core beliefs in their style is they discourage wrestling.
The Jets have eliminated the wrestle so they get through their defensive set quicker and then focus on having the ball for a longer period in attack.
In theory the opposition could get through their set in 30 seconds, whereas a Walker-coached side will take close to one minute.
“Actual physical time — seconds,” he said.
“Getting to your kicks is still important but what you do in that time you’ve got the ball is the difference.
“You can do five hit-ups and the defence doesn’t have to work or think. You’re challenged physically but not mentally or often at times laterally.
“We try and challenge the defence on each play where they haven’t moved up.
“The whole defensive line has to come up and forced into make a decision about what we’re doing.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...cess-on-a-budget/story-e6frf3su-1227482569089
They are also feeling salary cap pressure, so how can the club do a 360 on a budget and return to form next season?
Look no further than the Walker brothers, Shane and Ben.
In the running for Newcastle’s head coaching post, the pair have spent the past five years in charge of Queensland Cup side Ipswich, attracting acclaim for their unique style of play dubbed ‘contract football’.
But how does it all work and can it be transferred to the NRL?
In an exclusive chat with foxsports.com.au, Shane reveals the method behind the perceived madness and what they can offer the Newcastle club and community should they be appointed as head coaches for 2016.
PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
Ipswich is run without the financial strength of a lot of their opposition.
Operating on a salary of about a third of Queensland Cup ladder leaders Townsville, the Walkers emphasize playing to their players’ strengths.
It’s a philosophy they are passionate about transferring to the NRL.
Shane Walker believes a lot of struggling NRL clubs are guilty of trying to emulate more successful franchises but that brand of football is unsustainable for every team.
“It’s coached to the strengths and abilities of our roster,” Walker said.
“If you’ve got someone who kicks a good 40-20, then you’re going to get yourself into a position to kick 40-20s. If you have a player who naturally has an offload or step, you’re not going to discourage them from using them.
“In the immediate term, you’ve got to deal with the players you’ve got and develop a game plan around their strengths.
“When you look at some of the teams that aren’t doing so well, they’re trying to mimic the way the Roosters play.
“It was fashionable for a period to mimic the Storm and Broncos at stages, but you can’t do that if you don’t have the players who will allow you to play that style.”
There’s no doubting the Knights have some of the most exciting young talents in the game.
With the Sims and Mata’utia brothers, Dane Gagai, Jake Mamo as well as the experience of Kade Snowden, Jarrod Mullen and 2016 signing of Trent Hodkinson, the Knights have a more than capable roster.
When asked who he was most excited about potentially working with next year, he said: All of them.
“You can see some of the boys are down on confidence and that can be easily re-established. They’ve got plenty of guys with speed and skill. They have some rugged forwards as well.”
APPEAL OF KNIGHTS JOB
The Walker brothers were one of the first to express their interest in the position following Rick Stone’s axing three weeks ago.
While the board began interviewing candidates earlier this week, the pair have not formally spoken to the club.
Walker described their dealings with the Knights as in the “very early stages”.
It has been reported that Nathan Brown, Garth Brennan, Anthony Griffin and Terry Matterson have already interviewed for the role.
Brown is the early front-runner to be appointed head coach thanks to his previous NRL experience, coupled with success in the Super League.
Brennan is also understood to be a serious candidate thanks to previous ties to the club and an understanding of the Newcastle community, but Walker believes one of their greatest strengths is that they also understand how one-team towns function.
“Newcastle is a real rugby league town and their community love their footy team, and we’ve been part of those one town teams with the Broncos and now we coach Ipswich. We know what the footy team means to the community,” Walker explained.
“Their results haven’t been where they’d like them to be and we’ve been part of that before having to rebuild winning cultures.”
TWO HEAD COACHES
The duo both retired from professional football in 2006 and have been in charge at the Jets since 2011.
Between them they have played over 300 first grade games, with Shane a hooker and Ben a half.
They spent five years together in Brisbane and the final two years of their NRL careers with South Sydney.
With just one year separating them, they have developed a twin-like telepathy where they can predict what each other is thinking throughout games.
Rather than sitting separately with one in the box and the other on the sideline, they both prefer to be by the field.
While Shane admits they have disagreements around how certain things should be done, having each other to bounce ideas off of is a huge string to their bow.
But how do they split up coaching duties?
“We have some really robust discussions away from the training pitch about how we’re going to play or train and how it’ll look,” Shane said.
“Some of the coaches we’ve had in the past that we’ve been coached under weren’t afforded that luxury of working out if their idea is good.
“That’s been a real strength for us — nutting stuff out so were not left red-faced in front of our players or fans on game day.
“Sometimes we don’t need to say anything because we know what each other are thinking. Often something will happen and we’ll say the same thing at the same time.”
TIME WITH BALL IS KEY
Shane Walker said their brand of football is a mixture of things they have picked up from different coaches over their playing careers.
One of the key core beliefs in their style is they discourage wrestling.
The Jets have eliminated the wrestle so they get through their defensive set quicker and then focus on having the ball for a longer period in attack.
In theory the opposition could get through their set in 30 seconds, whereas a Walker-coached side will take close to one minute.
“Actual physical time — seconds,” he said.
“Getting to your kicks is still important but what you do in that time you’ve got the ball is the difference.
“You can do five hit-ups and the defence doesn’t have to work or think. You’re challenged physically but not mentally or often at times laterally.
“We try and challenge the defence on each play where they haven’t moved up.
“The whole defensive line has to come up and forced into make a decision about what we’re doing.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...cess-on-a-budget/story-e6frf3su-1227482569089
