https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/le...-the-tunnel-for-bulldogs-20210618-p58253.html
People have been walking around Belmore reciting Steve Hansen one-liners all week.
"The standards you walk past are the standards you accept," one Bulldogs staffer says. "Live out the values you set from the top down, not the bottom up," quips another.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has been working with Trent Barrett and the Bulldogs.CREDIT:LOUISE KENNERLEY
In Trent Barrett’s darkest hour, in the aftermath of his ugly departure from Manly in 2018, he reached out to the legendary All Blacks coach and travelled across the ditch to witness first-hand an organisation that is the envy of world sport.
Hansen urged Barrett not to rush into his next job; the kind of patience Hansen showed when he waited eight years for a head coaching role with New Zealand after stepping down from his tumultuous post with Wales in 2004.
Hansen implored Barrett to learn to understand himself and to have an awareness of what causes him to feel pressure. It’s the type of advice that led to Barrett phoning Hansen to ask him to become his advisor when he was appointed as Dean Pay’s successor last year.
“This job will throw things at him at times that will cause that, so he has to stay being Trent Barrett and not deviate off course,” Hansen told the Herald in his only interview during a 10-day hit-and-run mission before he returns home on Monday.
"Be patient, because when you're not winning and you don't have all the things you need to be winning then you can make rash decisions. It's about being really patient and having a plan about how you're going to improve it."
Barrett is a players’ coach. He connects with them on a level that very few coaches in the NRL are able to do. It’s why Manly were so nervous about the future of the Trbojevic brothers when he left the Sea Eagles and why many Panthers players have followed him to Belmore, including rising star Matt Burton.
The criticism of Barrett has often been that the line between player and coach has been blurred. But Hansen, who lost just 10 of 107 games in eight years as All Blacks coach, denied there is such a thing as “too close”.
"I think that's one of the greatest misnomers," the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning coach said.
Steve Hansen with former Bulldogs player Sonny Bill Williams during their time together with the All Blacks at the 2019 World Cup.CREDIT:GETTY
"People that think if you get too close to the players you won't be strong enough to make the tough decisions aren't living by the team first, individual second philosophy. If you put the team first, individual second, you're making that decision based on what's right for the team.
“You’ll always make a hard decision that might mean dropping a player that you really, really like and have a lot of time for. In the good environments they become like your family. You like them all. So you have to make hard decisions, but you base it on the principles of is this right for the team? If the answer is yes it is, then you have to do it.
"The beauty about getting close to them is you understand them so you can help them get better, whether it's on or off the field. If you are off them, you don't know what they are doing or how to help them."
There’s no doubt Barrett’s patience has and will continue to be tested as he attempts to rebuild the storied club that has lost its way in recent years.
The Bulldogs were once the envy of the competition: a powerful brand with passionate supporters that was a financial powerhouse. It was a club that others wanted to go to and those that were there didn’t want to leave.
But just 33 wins in the past five seasons has left the club in its longest finals drought since the 1950s. But under Barrett, Hansen sees light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering fans as a recent culture of mediocrity begins to shift towards a philosophy of accountability.
“There’s only two types of culture: there’s either a good one or a bad one,” Hansen says.
“The good one is the result of the same thing: either living the values you set out as a group or not living them. And living them from the top down, not the bottom up. Then when you say what you want to do, you have to go out and live it every day.
“Sometimes there will be mistakes made, but what’s the consequence when they are made? It’s a little bit like your children. Sometimes they make mistakes, but you still love them. You don’t hang them out to dry, but you make sure that they learn from that mistake. It’s the consequence and the learning of the mistake, not so much the mistake that matters most.
“There will always be good times; there will always be bad times. There will be times when people are looking and there will be times when people aren’t looking. But if you work on doing it 24-7, you cover all those things. I think there’s a good culture here. That’s not to say there won’t be mistakes made in it. But Trent is driving that really well. I think it’s all promising in that department.”
Winning, as the saying goes, can be contagious. The timing of Monday’s victory over the Dragons may only be coincidence, but already there’s a different vibe at the club just eight days on from the former All Blacks coach’s arrival at Belmore.
“Having Steve work with us is not about a short-term fix,” Bulldogs chief executive Aaron Warburton says. “He has been conducting a number of sessions with Trent and the leadership group over recent months and it has been fantastic to have him here and work with everyone in person. He has a great aura about him and when he speaks, people listen.
“He doesn’t overcomplicate things and he is more of a sounding board around what we are doing. When he spoke at our business lunch you could have heard a pin drop in the room. The messaging is simple, but you just find yourself nodding your head as it all makes sense.”
One of the issues that has plagued Canterbury in recent years has been the political infighting that has led to a raft of changes in positions of leadership.
Hansen was stunned when he learnt how volatile things had become and urged the club and its members to change their ways.
“One of the things I see is that the constitution allows the board to be changed every two years,” Hansen says. “I don’t think that creates stability. I think the fans have to vote to change that.
“Once they get stability in the boardroom, they get a lot of people making decisions that are right for the club, rather than right for survival to come back into the boardroom. There’s a massive difference sometimes in those decisions.
"I've never seen a sporting organisation who are successful who don't have a really successful off-field side of the business. It's because they are stable and making good decisions. That allows the high performance side of the organisation to go out and perform to the level they need to or make the adjustments they need to with time because people in the boardroom have the understanding of that."
With Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Brent Naden and potentially Shaun Johnson all on their way to the club next season there is a sense of optimism that 2022 could be the year the club begins to enjoy some success.
“What is success?” Hansen asks. “Are we saying that there’s only one successful team every year because only one team can win the grand final? All the others failed? No, they haven’t. Success is about being able to do something that maybe you couldn’t do before.
"When you're in one of those teams down the bottom or aren't winning the grand final, it's about watching them and seeing if they are playing better, is their skill getting better, is their understanding of the game getting better? If they are, that's success."
People have been walking around Belmore reciting Steve Hansen one-liners all week.
"The standards you walk past are the standards you accept," one Bulldogs staffer says. "Live out the values you set from the top down, not the bottom up," quips another.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has been working with Trent Barrett and the Bulldogs.CREDIT:LOUISE KENNERLEY
In Trent Barrett’s darkest hour, in the aftermath of his ugly departure from Manly in 2018, he reached out to the legendary All Blacks coach and travelled across the ditch to witness first-hand an organisation that is the envy of world sport.
Hansen urged Barrett not to rush into his next job; the kind of patience Hansen showed when he waited eight years for a head coaching role with New Zealand after stepping down from his tumultuous post with Wales in 2004.
Hansen implored Barrett to learn to understand himself and to have an awareness of what causes him to feel pressure. It’s the type of advice that led to Barrett phoning Hansen to ask him to become his advisor when he was appointed as Dean Pay’s successor last year.
“This job will throw things at him at times that will cause that, so he has to stay being Trent Barrett and not deviate off course,” Hansen told the Herald in his only interview during a 10-day hit-and-run mission before he returns home on Monday.
"Be patient, because when you're not winning and you don't have all the things you need to be winning then you can make rash decisions. It's about being really patient and having a plan about how you're going to improve it."
Barrett is a players’ coach. He connects with them on a level that very few coaches in the NRL are able to do. It’s why Manly were so nervous about the future of the Trbojevic brothers when he left the Sea Eagles and why many Panthers players have followed him to Belmore, including rising star Matt Burton.
The criticism of Barrett has often been that the line between player and coach has been blurred. But Hansen, who lost just 10 of 107 games in eight years as All Blacks coach, denied there is such a thing as “too close”.
"I think that's one of the greatest misnomers," the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning coach said.
Steve Hansen with former Bulldogs player Sonny Bill Williams during their time together with the All Blacks at the 2019 World Cup.CREDIT:GETTY
"People that think if you get too close to the players you won't be strong enough to make the tough decisions aren't living by the team first, individual second philosophy. If you put the team first, individual second, you're making that decision based on what's right for the team.
“You’ll always make a hard decision that might mean dropping a player that you really, really like and have a lot of time for. In the good environments they become like your family. You like them all. So you have to make hard decisions, but you base it on the principles of is this right for the team? If the answer is yes it is, then you have to do it.
"The beauty about getting close to them is you understand them so you can help them get better, whether it's on or off the field. If you are off them, you don't know what they are doing or how to help them."
There’s no doubt Barrett’s patience has and will continue to be tested as he attempts to rebuild the storied club that has lost its way in recent years.
The Bulldogs were once the envy of the competition: a powerful brand with passionate supporters that was a financial powerhouse. It was a club that others wanted to go to and those that were there didn’t want to leave.
But just 33 wins in the past five seasons has left the club in its longest finals drought since the 1950s. But under Barrett, Hansen sees light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering fans as a recent culture of mediocrity begins to shift towards a philosophy of accountability.
“There’s only two types of culture: there’s either a good one or a bad one,” Hansen says.
“The good one is the result of the same thing: either living the values you set out as a group or not living them. And living them from the top down, not the bottom up. Then when you say what you want to do, you have to go out and live it every day.
“Sometimes there will be mistakes made, but what’s the consequence when they are made? It’s a little bit like your children. Sometimes they make mistakes, but you still love them. You don’t hang them out to dry, but you make sure that they learn from that mistake. It’s the consequence and the learning of the mistake, not so much the mistake that matters most.
“There will always be good times; there will always be bad times. There will be times when people are looking and there will be times when people aren’t looking. But if you work on doing it 24-7, you cover all those things. I think there’s a good culture here. That’s not to say there won’t be mistakes made in it. But Trent is driving that really well. I think it’s all promising in that department.”
Winning, as the saying goes, can be contagious. The timing of Monday’s victory over the Dragons may only be coincidence, but already there’s a different vibe at the club just eight days on from the former All Blacks coach’s arrival at Belmore.
“Having Steve work with us is not about a short-term fix,” Bulldogs chief executive Aaron Warburton says. “He has been conducting a number of sessions with Trent and the leadership group over recent months and it has been fantastic to have him here and work with everyone in person. He has a great aura about him and when he speaks, people listen.
“He doesn’t overcomplicate things and he is more of a sounding board around what we are doing. When he spoke at our business lunch you could have heard a pin drop in the room. The messaging is simple, but you just find yourself nodding your head as it all makes sense.”
One of the issues that has plagued Canterbury in recent years has been the political infighting that has led to a raft of changes in positions of leadership.
Hansen was stunned when he learnt how volatile things had become and urged the club and its members to change their ways.
“One of the things I see is that the constitution allows the board to be changed every two years,” Hansen says. “I don’t think that creates stability. I think the fans have to vote to change that.
“Once they get stability in the boardroom, they get a lot of people making decisions that are right for the club, rather than right for survival to come back into the boardroom. There’s a massive difference sometimes in those decisions.
"I've never seen a sporting organisation who are successful who don't have a really successful off-field side of the business. It's because they are stable and making good decisions. That allows the high performance side of the organisation to go out and perform to the level they need to or make the adjustments they need to with time because people in the boardroom have the understanding of that."
With Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Brent Naden and potentially Shaun Johnson all on their way to the club next season there is a sense of optimism that 2022 could be the year the club begins to enjoy some success.
“What is success?” Hansen asks. “Are we saying that there’s only one successful team every year because only one team can win the grand final? All the others failed? No, they haven’t. Success is about being able to do something that maybe you couldn’t do before.
"When you're in one of those teams down the bottom or aren't winning the grand final, it's about watching them and seeing if they are playing better, is their skill getting better, is their understanding of the game getting better? If they are, that's success."
