by Paul Cook –

With six teams down and six to go, we’ve reached the halfway point of our 2015 season reviews as we prepare for the new Shute Shield competition, which kicks off on March 19th. This time it’s the turn of West Harbour to go under the microscope.

With Joe Barakat back at the helm of his beloved Pirates, hopes were high at Concord Oval that the club legend would return to his early coaching roots ready to impart plenty of the knowledge he’d picked up in the intervening 10 years from his stint at the NSW Waratahs, and in Japan. The only trouble was, such was Joe’s reputation that by the time he’d set foot back on familiar ground, he had already been head-hunted for a professional gig with Irish club Ulster, a role he would take up after round 12.

As a result, Wests’ season can almost be analysed in two parts – the first two-thirds under Barakat that saw steady progress and a focus on defensive solidity – and the remaining six rounds with assistant coach Mark Gudmunson stepping up admirably to the plate, a period which could have seen them come unstuck but instead, saw a late surge that left them one agonising place away from finals football.

Gudmunson returns to his assistant coaching position this year, with new arrival Neil Tunnah taking up the reins. But he was happy to talk Rugby News through his year in a supporting role; the transition to head honcho; the progress achieved and ultimately, the nagging disappointment of missing out on finals with a side that appears to be heading firmly in the right direction.

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Give us a brief overview of the season from your perspective?

Mark Gudmunson: “It was one of those years where we pretty much had to start from scratch with our whole program, our gym work and conditioning – everything. We thought that we were going to have a little bit of a slow start, which we did, but we were very happy with how quickly we progressed and we won five out of our last seven, which really showed a lot of progression. We beat Sydney Uni once and could have beaten them twice, and we could have beaten Manly at Concord but gave away a silly penalty on attack and lost 24-17. But overall results wise, it was disappointing because we had expectations of making the finals.”

The Pirates started with three losses in a row, was that just a consequence of the team still building under Joe and the way he wanted them to play?

“It was quite tough because Joe didn’t turn up until the trials started so we were kind of running the program via correspondence. I was chatting to him two or three times a day pretty much and he was feeding us with what he wanted while myself and the other coaches put our spin on pre-season. Strength and conditioning was a key part of that.

“We also had a few new players in new positions, we hadn’t really settled on a fullback and were chopping and changing at halfback, which kind of hurt us a little bit early on. We also turned one of our 2nd grade backrowers from last year into our hooker, so there were a few changes made that we had to get comfortable with and we were blown off the park by Norths in round one. They came at us out wide and we just weren’t ready for them so that was a tough start, but it was also a bit of a wake-up call.”

The team built to a point where, in rounds 8, 9 and 10, you got a win at Woollahra over Easts, beat Uni at home and only went down by 4pts to Manly – and – as you said – maybe should have beaten them. At that stage, you were looking like the most improved team in the competition and a serious threat, was that the feeling inside the camp?

“Yes, and we were getting good feedback from the opposition coaches as well, which is a good sign. They were watching our tapes and had seen our improvements each week and were wary of us as a result. I remember our first TV game up at Warringah in round five where we were well in it up until a couple of minutes to go before a couple of silly errors cost us, but the improvements in the side from round one were obvious.

“What we tried to focus on from there was not worrying too much about what we did wrong but how good we could be and on taking what we were doing well and doing it more often. For example, the game against Randwick at Coogee Oval in round two. We didn’t win it but there were periods in that game where we made Randwick lose 10 metres in five or six phases for three or four minutes at a time, and it was about turning those short snippets of good stuff into an eighty-minute performance.

“That came against Uni in what was a memorable afternoon. I don’t think we had anyone on that field that had ever beaten Uni in 1st grade, so that was a massive, massive achievement. Even though they weren’t travelling as well as they usually do, they still had quite a strong side that day, and to beat them, and the manner of victory, was really good.”

A heavy loss to Souths in round 11 knocked you back but you went on to win five of the last seven games, all of which coincided with the departure of Joe, and yourself taking up the head coaching reins. You must have been pleased with how the boys handled that changeover and finished the season off so well?

“I pulled them aside after Joe left and said that there were two ways we could go, we could be disappointed that he’d left and go away from what we’d been working so hard on building, or we could change very little, run with it and see where it took us. I wasn’t about to change everything, the only thing that could change was their attitude as players and they really took the reins and ran with it.

“I’d been head coach of colts but never at Shute Shield level so I was a bit fresh in and it was a bit daunting early on. But having people like Tom Games and Rory Sidey really helped me out at training, on the field and in pre-game talks, which made the transition much smoother. I won’t say it was surprising how we went because we knew it was there, but it was really enjoyable to see how happy the boys were and how they applied themselves. Those last seven games, we really worked hard on game plans and finding weaknesses in teams and it really worked for us.”

The side ended up 7th on the ladder but finished with the 5th best defence so it’s maybe clear to see Joe’s defensive footprint on proceedings?

“One hundred percent, that’s his strength and that’s why he’s over at Ulster right now. His knowledge of the tackle contest, the breakdown and his understanding of the game and how to put it into place really helped everyone. Defence was a focus in pre-season and throughout the season, we were constantly working at it. The old West Harbour used to think that they could concede 40pts because they would score 50, which is what we wanted to get away from. It’s just tough to do that nowadays with teams that have got such good defensive records.”

Conversely, you finished 9th on the points scoring list. Is it fair to say you left a few out there as a result of the defensive focus?

“I think that was more down to poor execution. We certainly created opportunities but sometimes we let ourselves down with a poor option or the last pass, or through kicking the ball away when we should have had a crack. We never took away from the player’s attacking flair as coaches, but it was a case of making them aware of the consequences if it doesn’t come off. It was reeling them in a little bit but making them see that if you go that extra phase, what you can create. That may have dried up the points a little bit but we didn’t stop making opportunities, they were definitely there but weren’t taken.”

Before the season started Joe told Rugby News that he believed the team was “…good enough to make the semis. I don’t think we’ll be high up in the semis but I think we’ll win more games than we’ll lose. There is no reason we can’t finish fifth, anything else is a bonus.” It seems strange given some of the good work that was on display but does that actually mean the team underachieved in 2015?

“You know what, looking at the table and who we had and how we could have ended up with some of the results then yeah, as harsh as it sounds and with the progress we made, it probably was pretty disappointing where we ended up. Some of the West Harbour teams over the years that I’ve seen, they lose a game and the boys are back in the changing room and having a beer and a laugh. But last year, if we lost a game – especially that Manly game or the second Uni game – we were absolutely devastated about it and wanting to talk about why we lost and how we can get better, so I think there was a real attitude change in that way.

“Every single week we talked about ‘Why can’t we make the finals?’ when we’d had people writing us off before the season and saying that ourselves, Penrith and Parramatta would be the bottom three teams. We didn’t want to be in that mix.”

Rookie flyhalf Ben James started all 18 matches for the Pirates – Photo: J.B Photography

How far off is the side from being genuine finals, if not title contenders, or is that too much pressure at this stage of their development?

“With the program we put in place before last season, we’d always talked about it being an 18-24 month time frame with the whole change of structure and attitude and getting the right coaches and the right players in. You don’t coach not to make finals so, if we’re not in the top six this year, we’ll be very disappointed again, but by the same token, you just don’t know what the other teams have got. It’s such a tough competition.

“With some of the clubs like ourselves and Parramatta having coaches and players involved with the Rams in the NRC, I expect us both to take a step up this year, but most important for us was putting a program in place and sticking to it. We’ve had something like five different coaches in the last six years, which is always tough because players are trying to learn new game plans, and although we have another head coaching change this year with Neil Tunnah coming in, there’ll still be some similarities in the strength and conditioning and with myself still being around, that will try and keep it as familiar as possible for the players.”

Across the club, only 2nd Grade and 3rd colts made the finals, is there a young wave of players that will improve over the next few years or are Wests in need of more depth?

“I think there’s a couple of colts that have come through in the last few years that are really going to step up in the next season or so – players like Angus Le Lievre, who played a few grade games last year and Jack Corry, who will play his second year of grade this year. But you can always have a little more depth across certain areas and there are some good players kicking around. West Harbour have usually been a club with a solid 1st grade team and then a big drop-off to our 2nd grade team across the squad – good players to cover positions but not as solid. If you look at all the top teams, they always have good 1st grade and 2nd grade sides and if you don’t have a good 2nd grade side then 1sts will always struggle when you get injuries.”

Player of the Year?

“Kelly Meafua. It was a real shame that we lost him with a broken cheek in that second game against Uni, and he missed out on the last four rounds. Not only would that have given us a major boost for the game we lost against Eastwood, but I think he would have gone pretty darn close to the Catchpole Medal too if he’d continued in the same form. He did get the Shute Shield Rookie of the Year Award, which was a brilliant thing, and he got a contract over in France with Narbonne off the back of it. I hope he goes over there and performs to the same level.”

Rookie/s of the Year?

“That was Kelly’s first year at the club so he’d obviously be in the mix but another guy I’ve already mentioned was Jack Corry, who played a few games off the bench and then started the last game against Southern Districts. He won our club Rookie of the Year Award, but if you’re talking purely about 1st grade, Kelly would be hard to shift.”

Most Improved Player of the Year?

“The most improved player from my perspective was Ben James. When he came to the club, he hadn’t played too many 1st grade games for Eastwood, he’d mostly featured in 2nd grade so, for him to start every single game and continually improve week by week was terrific to see.”

Players rewarded at the next level:

Michael Alaalatoa (Manawatu Turbos, ITM Cup & Crusaders); Kelly Meafua (Greater Sydney Rams, NRC & Narbonne, France); Cameron Orr (Greater Sydney Rams, NRC; Aussie U20s; NSW Waratahs Training Squad); Matt Coles (Watsonians, Scotland); Bradford Kapa (Greater Sydney Rams, NRC); David Lolohea (Greater Sydney Rams, NRC); Cohen Masson (Greater Sydney Rams, NRC)