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Photo by Mr. Mark Ealey

Tight-five sessions with Mike Cron

Mr. Mark Ealey —

Former All Black coach Mike Cron to deliver six sessions to our senior school tight-forwards

Former All Black forward coach Mike Cron has delivered two skills sessions for our senior school tight-forward group. 

The first session was last Monday (7th), focussing on ball-into-contact and the clean-out and today's session (14th) was on lineout skills, with a particular focus on primer drills that can be used before and during team practice. Both sessions involved use of video filmed on IPads to give the boys an immediate visual feedback on their grasp of the content.

Tight-forward group student leader Will Sparrow said, "It's great to learn from someone as knowledgeable as Mike. These sessions will definitely allow us to strengthen our understanding of our key roles as tight-forwards. I’m sure all the boys will use the learnings from these sessions to improve ahead of the coming season.”

Front-rower Darryl Harris commented: ”I really love these sessions. Mike has helped me a lot with advice about my technique. He sees the small things that can ultimately impact your game. I also know the boys are really enjoying Mike's coaching. I look forward to the next training!"

RDO Mark Ealey says, "It's so good to see how our boys want to soak up as much as possible from a world class coach like Mike. I know that they appreciate how special each of these opportunities are." Mike's eye for detail, easily understandable feedback and smooth flow of the delivery of content is as good as it gets. 

Coach Wiremu Gray says,  "I have attended the first two tight-five sessions offered by Mike Cron. I feel very fortunate being offered this coach development opportunity. Mike's sessions are always of high quality. He expresses the importance of the micro details by covering the basics extremely well. I always come away having learned something new. I recommend that all coaches in the St. Bede’s rugby community make the most of this great opportunity to learn and to develop your coaching toolbox further."

Mike has enjoyed both sessions so far, saying, "The players are keen and extremely engaged. They give 100% effort to everything I throw at them. It is a pleasure to watch their development."

The next session will be in late January.