Canterbury coach speaks out on league incentives

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33964, 3 October 1975, Page 20

Canterbury coach speaks out on league incentives

(By

JOHN COFFEY)

The attractive incentives that most Rugby league clubs in Canterbury are prepared to offer to coaches, as well as players, has caused some concern to the code’s provincial board of control.

The major worry is not so much the money and other benefits available, but rather that the clubs will snap up. the best coaches and leave the Canterbury representative team without a fully qualified person to guide it. The present Canterbury coach (Mr Gary Clarke) has already received offers from two clubs for next season, and he said yesterday that he would make a decision on his future shortly after Canterbury met Auckland in the final of the national Rothmans championship at Auckland next Tuesday evening. “Every coach in Canterbury, except the one handling the representative side, is getting a few bob. There is a temptation to think that after putting in so much time and effort one may as well get something out of it apart from prestige,” Mr Clarke said.

“I have enjoyed coaching Canterbury and some of the players have asked me whether I will take it on again next season. But the officials seem to think that it is a privilege. When I was coaching Papanui I was paid $250, and now club coaches are receiving up to $1500,” he said. SMALL PAYMENTS Comments were made at the most recent meeting of the board of control that reimbursement should be made to the provincial coach. The players receive small payments —the equivalent of about $4 a win a man—and

the board decided to reconsider the matter at its meeting on Monday week. Undoubtedly a payment will be forthcoming, although it will almost certainly be meagre when the many hours spent by Mr Clarke in assisting Canterbury to the top of the Rothmans table are taken into account; Mr Clarke does not agree that travelling to away fixtures is a “perk,” but more of an extension of his duties. Mr Clarke also feels that it is time that the administration was more generous in its payments to players, and quotes the case of Wellington having offered $5O to each of its team members as an incentive for victory in Rothmans matches. “I know of one club which offered bonuses of $2O each

over the latter half of the season, another has been paying $l2 for a win and $6 for a draw, and most have a winning rate of between $5 and $8 for their players. This could have an adverse effect on whether players will make

themselves available for Canterbury in the future, especially because their club training runs are usually closer to home and not so timeconsuming,” Mr Clarke said. GOOD SPIRIT “There has not been too much talking along these lines by the players this year because the team spirit has been very good. But it is time that more incentive was offered, and if this was decided then I would definitely think about applying again,” he said. In a bid to have a stronger group of candidates to choose from, the board intends to call for nominations before the end of this month. Several clubs have already advertised for coaches, and the board has decided to change from its normal policy of selecting its coach only a month or two before the opening of the new season. One long-serving club coach who intends stepping down from premier level to concentrate on schoolboy football is Mr John Flanagan, who has led Linwood to considerable success in both playing and non-playing capacities.