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    Trippie Down The Well

    Trippie, our resident continent hopping Rugby guy, has agreed to go down the well after being asked about his career in BBV.

    He will be along to answer questions, so ask away m8s.

    Will ask a few when I get on my laptop

    #2
    ...This could be a good thread... 3 Questions... What age were you when your started into rugby, what was the epiphany moment in your life that made you know this is for you...And what is your favorite Tea bag?...

    Comment


      #3
      Do you think Anthony Foley is robbing a wage at Munster as head coach?

      Do you think steroids and other performance enhancing products are creeping into Rugby?

      Comment


        #4
        How did you get started as a professional rugby coach?

        Comment


          #5
          You've had a few diverse careers in a relatively short time. Poker pro, hotel manager, rugby coach and other things. Any reason for the variety? Any thoughts on changing roles in life and grasping opportunities?
          ‘IF YOU had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” Genghis Khan

          Comment


            #6
            How much of the coaching in the Southern Hemisphere focuses on the psychological side of the game and towards the end of careers how do they deal with transitioning people out to tackle depression/loss as a large part of the career comes to an end?

            In terms of youth academy's which is a good balance between future skills and the on the field training - is the Southern Hemisphere the same?

            How do you see the game evolving over the coming years in Europe?

            Ireland's backrow who would you go with?

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by luckforsome View Post
              ...This could be a good thread... 3 Questions... What age were you when your started into rugby, what was the epiphany moment in your life that made you know this is for you...And what is your favorite Tea bag?...
              I went to Belvedere when I was 8 for 3rd class, second last year of them having a primary school iirc. Rugby was mandatory and I struggled with this as was swimming competitively and couldnt do tuesday and saturday training sessions so had to give it up.

              I don't know if I have had an epiphany moment to be honest. It's something I have just gradually transitioned into, there hasn't been a eureka moment. Something I needed to work on is celebrating events and achievements and putting them in the bank so to speak. I have only started doing this so I don't really have many positive moments to draw upon. My wife would probably be the person to ask on that. ( She said when I became too fragile to continue playing )

              This one

              Last edited by Trippie; 02-08-16, 23:24.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Hooch View Post
                Do you think Anthony Foley is robbing a wage at Munster as head coach?

                Do you think steroids and other performance enhancing products are creeping into Rugby?
                The value of a head coach is hard to substantiate without knowing the environment. Cheika is a not a great skills/position coach but he has an inate ability to surround himself with the best in the their field and using his people skills to extract the most out of everyone.

                At munster I would question the appointments below axel. Attack, Defence, skills, forwards, backs etc. These would have a bigger impact on the team than Axel. The overall quality of product is just not there so he has to burden a lot of the blame publicly.

                Creeping? It's already here, South african schoolboy rugby is rampant with it for example. By all accounts if you fail a test then you are taking the wrong supplement.
                Last edited by Trippie; 02-08-16, 23:25.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Hectorjelly View Post
                  How did you get started as a professional rugby coach?
                  I read this book and it changed how I see sport and life.



                  There's a great part in it talking about the differences between amateurism and professionalism. The difference is not about whether you get paid or not but rather the dedication to eliminating mistakes and mastering your craft. I consider myself coaching professionally since about 2011 when I was in Colombia and got my first regional side work. I have a massive fear of defeat and the feelings that that illicits in me rather than chasing the glory of victory. So I set out then to give the best coaching the Bogota under 18's had every received.

                  Fast forward a bit and I was back playing & coaching rugby in Dallas, around the 2013/2014 season I was enraged by just how piss poor the coach was and the overall direction of the club( stopped training one time before quarter finals and started telling him how retarded he was, not my proudest moment). I had heard that the current president would be stepping down. This gave me about 9 months to change the club's entire perception of me and I worked hard to appear nice with their best interests at heart ( friday night feeds, social events at the house etc )

                  End of season rolls around, president steps down and I won the election against my version of Trump. The coach threatened to quit publicly if I was elected so off he went, I cast aside the other guy who ran as well. I got the board to approve my best mate as coach with myself as he had done it before. He stepped back 3 weeks later and then I was a benevolent dictator for a year. I met the USA rugby analyst at a development conference, told him how I thought he was doing things incorrectly and then got a call to come on board as a performance analyst in the summer.

                  My wife lost her job and we decided to travel for a year. Knew I was going to be in New Zealand for a month and sent my CV to every ITM/Mitre 10 Cup province development officer in the country. I had asked for any amateur clubs interested in having me help. Not sure how, but it ended up in hands of someone at Crusaders and I got a year long contract so had to take it and that's how I ended up in a professional environment.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by V for Vendetta View Post
                    You've had a few diverse careers in a relatively short time. Poker pro, hotel manager, rugby coach and other things. Any reason for the variety? Any thoughts on changing roles in life and grasping opportunities?
                    Firstly, I would hardly call myself a poker pro, I played a lot but was not professional in any sense of the meaning.

                    It has not been so much about grasping opportunities but rather running away from misery and tough times. It has taken a lot for me to get here where I can confidently face hardship and use all the mental skills I have learnt the last 2 years to enable me to function properly.

                    I have battled depression since about 13 or 14. Belvedere was a miserable time for me and I ended up leaving when 16 but never got to the root of the issue. I have always wanted to travel so I studied business and hospitality. Everything was going well until I moved to London for placement at the Oval. This really set me back 4 years. I spiralled pretty badly and found myself on the roof of the Oval one day. I had been playing at the time and enjoyed the competitive side of it. When I was held back in university for a year as had to repeat placeent I transitioned to playing full time. Overtime the lack of understanding of mental skills caught up and I plummeted into alcholism and debauchery.

                    So america became the great hope for me and I did everything I could to get there. Ended up working at the Dallas Country Club which was the most extravagant and unique place I have ever worked. Would go from meeting George Bush to hearing the ex mayor say he didnt go to the fundraising dinner as he would have shot the black bastard. Not getting my visa renewed as they culled the entire mgmt team was rough and ended up back in Dublin needing a job.

                    I then ran away from misery that was Dublin and ended up in Colombia working for the government basically, grasped an opportunity and arrived back to Dallas August 12th 2012 and rest is history I guess.

                    I think I answered the "why" in the first paragraph but have a tendency to ramble on.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by RichieM View Post
                      How much of the coaching in the Southern Hemisphere focuses on the psychological side of the game and towards the end of careers how do they deal with transitioning people out to tackle depression/loss as a large part of the career comes to an end?

                      In terms of youth academy's which is a good balance between future skills and the on the field training - is the Southern Hemisphere the same?

                      How do you see the game evolving over the coming years in Europe?

                      Ireland's backrow who would you go with?
                      A) Huge amount, Crusaders have a mental skills coach named Renzie Hanham. He is an incredible man, black belt in Judo, 8th dan black belt in Karate, former Olympian and all round nice guy. He teaches mental skills in group settings and then one on one. he has been the biggest resource for me since getting here. There is another guy Gary Hermansson who I did some work when I first arrived who has a good book out.

                      The mental skills work focusses on a few aspects. Red/Blue head, Back on task, anxiety vs anticipation, dedicated practice & goal setting.

                      B) They have a full time professional development officer. Mark Ranby, he gets guys starting businesses, finishing degrees and helping with post retirement. New Zealand rugby insists that every player has one day per week off and this is generally assigned to professional development.

                      C) Every academy is different, Crusaders one is roughly 3 gym sessions per week, a power/speed session. 3 on field skill sessions and a conditioing games session. THe players then have club training tuesday and thursday with games on Saturday. They will have a mental skills session on wednesday as as personal development - interview, budgetary, social media skills. Each player has a mentor who will have 1:1 meetings going over game footage every two weeks.

                      There is a much bigger focus on skills and breaking down the game to micro levels, I have coached three sessions purely on the skill of the post contact ball carry, score try, army crawl, ball placement etc. Done two hour long sessions on the offload as well. They really hammer the micro skills and then leave the game sense to the clubs.

                      I think they have an advantage here since the quality of the club competition is so high that guys are getting high level game time every week. The club season finished this week and the majority will head into Mitre 10 now so they get 4 months as a professional rugby player. I am not too sure how the acadeies work in Ireland but I don't think that there is same willingness to trust clubs to further the development of the players. Correct me if I am wrong.

                      D) Europe is a funny one, I have not paid it as much attention as I normally would. I think that the increase in revenue will bring a wealth of talent to the club game. Pat Lam's success will also bring a lot more of the coaches who have failed in southern hemisphere and instead of taking the money in Japan will move to Europe to restart their careers. I would hope that this would bring different ways to play the game using different attacking shapes and structures. A lot of south africans are migrating up though which will mean size over skill becomes the norm. Just look at France. Saracens success in England may mirror that.

                      The club competition will continue to grow because they can compete and win. The dominance of the All Blacks will lesson the interest at internationla level especially with world cup in Japan. I read a great article a while back about how rugby in ireland has changed from a participation sport to a spectator one for majority. Will try to find it but to me it hit the nail on the head of how the game is going.

                      E) I think I have watched about 2 Ireland games since going to the world cup last year so I am not really qualified to pick. The makeup of the backrow has to be done in accordance of the rest of the team though. it's not just a case of selecting three heaslip's. I believe the numbers on the back are a bit misleading, in order for a back row to function properly there needs to be an Impact Man ( Ball Carrier/Defence) a Link Up Man (defence to attack transition, forwards to backs - Read is the best in the world at this) and a breakdown guy (clearing bodies, securing rucks, disrupting and stealing ball).

                      Depending on what shape the team wants to play 2-4-2, 1-3-3-1, 1-6-1 to use New Zealand ones, the different zones on the field (exit, play,transition,score) will determine what is needed.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Hey Gordon,

                        Congrats on what seems to be a blossoming career.

                        1. if you ever inflict angry little ginger people on the world would you want them playing rugby?

                        2. Career aspirations-how far can you go? Goals/dreams etc

                        3. I want to get properly qualified to coach soccer at a decent level-what were the steps you had to take to get to where you are in rugby?

                        4. Top 5 sports to watch.

                        5. Fullring table of degens- whats the line up. Just for old times sake! Do you remember that hand with bald taxi guy who used to play-king high hearts-humour me: give me our memories. Biggest pot I saw in the Jackpot for sure.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by jbravado View Post
                          Hey Gordon,

                          Congrats on what seems to be a blossoming career.

                          1. if you ever inflict angry little ginger people on the world would you want them playing rugby?

                          2. Career aspirations-how far can you go? Goals/dreams etc

                          3. I want to get properly qualified to coach soccer at a decent level-what were the steps you had to take to get to where you are in rugby?

                          4. Top 5 sports to watch.

                          5. Fullring table of degens- whats the line up. Just for old times sake! Do you remember that hand with bald taxi guy who used to play-king high hearts-humour me: give me our memories. Biggest pot I saw in the Jackpot for sure.
                          1) Yeah, I absolutely love the sport and wouldn't be the person I am today without it. I don't get the whole it's dangerous therefore we cannot have children doing it. The eldest granddaughter tried to play it last year at her university and they told her she could be watergirl becuase she was so terrible at it. She is still invovled because of the social aspect I believe. There's not many other sports like that.

                          2) Ireland at 2035 world cup. I have a picture of a greyed out shamrock stuck to my laptop and I am using a green highlighter to fill it from the bottom all the way until I get the Ireland job.Currently have about 2 millimetres coloured in. I am not one of the guys who just wants to be involved in professional rugby. I wouldn't be happy being an academy manager at leinster for example or coaching in Italy for 10 years at Treviso. It's international rugby after club rugby hopefully

                          3) Rugby is a lot less regimented than soccer from my understanding. It has IRB coaching levels 1-4 but then each country does its own thing. I got my level 2 in america which amounted to a 6 hour course. The level 3 there is a 2 day thing where as level 3 in New Zealand is 3 month thing with coaching evaluations, session planning and a notebook review. Breifne Early might be a good person to talk to as I believe he has some of the qualifications in football. If it were me i'd live the dream and spend a year in the italian coaching university where they make all their coaches go.

                          4) This is a lot tougher than I expected. In no real order :

                          Womens Curling
                          Hurling
                          NFL on TV ( like majority of american sports its pretty poor live)
                          Rugby
                          NCAA Basketball is pretty exciting during march madness

                          Have gone through phase of loving F1 ( Schumacher/Hakkinen), Tennis ( Federer/Nadal 08 era) Football (98 - 06)

                          5)

                          A king high hand? I do not remember many of the hands at all, I tried to drink away all the misery from that time. I had some big hands in the jackpot for sure but couldnt tell you most of them. Others would probably remember more than I do. I remember a king high agaisnt conor doyle in 2/5 but thats about it. i would like to hear details on what one you're talking about.

                          I remember playing heads up for fun agaisnt you after both busting the old 20 euro thurday competition and you were rippling 100 in 5's. Was thinking to myself wow look at the amount of cash he has. Clearest memories of our debauchery are both car related. i remember one night I closed a tabkle down with you beside me and then we wanted to go to the early house. Girl approaches car at traffic lights and asks where we are going, she then asks if she can go, we agree, calls her boyfriend out and they get in back and then she proceeds to berate you and demand to be taken to her house, kicked her out in some alley way off camden street. She thought we were a taxi.

                          Other one was driving out to a tournament in clonee I think? I had picked you up and we were late, I was the on the phone to keith who was navigating us through the countryside as I drove. You say I didn't know you drove. yeah says I. How long have you been driving. Ah about a week. Every last bit of colour left your face and you suggested we slow down a bit and perhaps you talk to keith.

                          I played poker for the competition not for cash so full table would have you, conor doyle, broomfield, eamon, peter maughan, mickste, marc and sean gregory for the spark to set it all off.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by V for Vendetta View Post
                            Any thoughts on changing roles in life and grasping opportunities?
                            Missed this last bit. There's two types of people in life I think, those that grasp an opportunity and those that talk about what if. One of the biggest things for me is the fact i live out of a backpack. This has enabled me to take chances where others may not be able. By living a minimalist lifestyle I have a lot more scope to where and what I do. I am also extremely fortunate to be married to my wife and not everyone has the same opportunities that I have been given. I know this and it keeps me grounded. I am very determined when I have my mind set on something. I will work all day every day if I think it is going to help me get to where I want to be. There were times in colombia when saving for the USA I would eat a loaf of bread in the grocery store and that would be me for the day.

                            People seem so caught up in materialism that the work cycle will never be enough because it will always be needed for what they want goods wise. If people can take a step back, not be concerned with owning 4 houses, 2 cars and a 60 inch tv then the amount of salary required becomes a lot less. When the required amount of salary is drastically reduced then I wonder how many people would go out and do things that they enjoy rather than what they feel they have to.

                            If we do something that we love then we will never have to work a day in our lives. It's cliched but it's true.

                            Heard a fable of an american businessman on holiday in mexico.
                            he sees this fisherman go off to sea everyday and then come back about 10 with a few fish. He gives these fish to his wife, plays with the kids and lays in his hammock then.

                            American goes you know if you fished until about 5pm you could come back with three times the amount of fish every day.

                            What would I do then says the mexican

                            Well after a while you could sell them all and afford to buy a second boat. Now with two boats you could quadruple the amount of fish you can catch.

                            Oh really? That sounds good but what then?

                            Well with two boarts you could outfish your rivals and then hire them to work for you and increase two boats to an entire fleet. After a while you potentially be the only fisherman in the area and would be able to catch all the fish.

                            Wow, that sounds big, I don't know if I could handle all of that.

                            Yeah you could, with all the fish you could invest the oney in a processing plant to cut out the middle man. Being able to process the fish here would double your profits.

                            Double the profits on all the fish? That sounds incredible.

                            Yeah maybe a few years after then the company would grow to be biggest in the country. Of course you would have to move to New York as you would want to export to america and thats the best place to be.

                            New York city? I've only ever dreamed of that.

                            Yeah being there would mean you could float the company and then make millions and millions.

                            Millions? I like the sound of that. what would I do then?

                            You could then take those millions and retire to a beach where you can lay in a hamock all day and spend time with your family.


                            Moral of the story go live somewhere so cheap that you can lounge about on the beach and not have to worry about bills.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              1: how do you think poker impacted your life positively/negatively (obv more stories please)

                              2: greatest sportsmen(sports man ?) living today iyo ?

                              3: if you could go back and give your younger self advice what would it be and why ?

                              4: if you feel comfortable could you expand on the depression issues ? and what you think helped you with them ?

                              thanks for doing this very interesting read.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                What happen out at the IPO with a fellow (at the time) boardie. Slowroll, angle shoot, blow up type thing

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by chips1234 View Post
                                  1: how do you think poker impacted your life positively/negatively (obv more stories please)

                                  2: greatest sportsmen(sports man ?) living today iyo ?

                                  3: if you could go back and give your younger self advice what would it be and why ?

                                  4: if you feel comfortable could you expand on the depression issues ? and what you think helped you with them ?

                                  thanks for doing this very interesting read.
                                  A) Poker provided me with so many great memories and lasting friendships. It has put me in places where I would never have been either. I also have an original ronnie wood painting hanging in my bedroom back home which is nice. Through it I learnt to suppress emotions, to be analytical in most situations and to know that the deck is set and that the winner will be the one who maximises their winning hands and minimises their losses. These have stood to me while coaching as I am generally quite serene on the sideline and I always adopt a I'll just have to figure out how to beat the game now attitude. I don't do the whole pacing up and down, screaming at players bemoaning bad beats etc.

                                  The negative is an easy one to talk about, lost friendships would be the main one, I transitioned away from all my university and local friends and just became engrossed in the poker community. I made friends at the expense of losing others. I have wondered that if I didnt have poker then perhaps I would have fought harder to not be held back from 3rd year in university. This cost me a lot and was the tipping point I believe from being a functioing member of society who played poker to full on degenerate player. Obviously the amount of time spent playing and the late nights took a toll on my health too.

                                  I had spent so long suppressing emotions and ignoring issues that when I did realise I had a problem it was too late and the only way to function again was to get away from it completely.



                                  B) How do we define greatest? is it about dominance of their sport or their success transcending not just their sport but rather sport in general. Messi/Ronaldo are a tough act to argue against in either case.

                                  A bit left field but I think Simone Biles is pretty special. She will tear up in this years olympics.

                                  In rugby terms Beauden Barrett is the most game changing rugby player in the world off the bench. Does that qualify him though, i'd argue that Dane Coles has changed the way rugby is played from the hooker position, not sure if others agree or not?

                                  JJ Watt in the NFL and Mike Trout in baseball are doing things unheard of but whether they sustain it is another issue. There are so many incredible athletes these days that it's hard to choose especially with how specialised sports are becoming. There aren't the cross over athletes anymore.

                                  C) Adopt a growth mindset over a fixed one and refuse to let my parents push me into a fixed one.

                                  Can someone tell me how to embed youtube videos and pictures please

                                  D) My depression is something I have only really begun treating professionally this year. I have been in counselling once every two weeks since early january after I had a breakdown and missed flight to Vegas which resulted in a non negotiable from my wife. I had been doing my own reading and experimenting way before then.

                                  Through my Belvedere days I can't really put into words the feelings that I had. They were ones of frustration, and a longing to belong I guess. I didn't and that called into question about why even bother. My family unit wasn't the happiest and we tended to wallow in our misery. I was a confused and lonely fat kid. I suppressed these feelings for so long that after I changed schools it went away and didnt appear again until in London. I figured I was fine up until that point. Again in London I was lonely, longed to belong and felt disconnected from the world. I went to work and then I slept, that was my day.

                                  I lived with this kiwi girl and thought of a sitaution the other day which made me laugh. It was just the two of us sitting on the sofa one night, she goes can we watch some porn on tv or do we have those channels. I said I think so, gave her the remote, babestation was only the thing that was unblocked. She goes this isnt good enough, want to get your laptop and we can watch some good stuff in bed? I was disconnected from what was going on I said no, im going to bed, it didn't dawn on me until 8 years later that I may have got a handy out of it...

                                  I feared sadness and misery so much so that I actively sought to avoid it and happiness as well. I figured that happiness was fleeting and likened it to pitches and troughs in a soundwave. I aimed to be content and consistent. This made me cold, closed off and very apothetic towards life. This only worked for me since I was so transient in nature. A new scene Poker, Flannerys, Dallas, Colombia etc. I was able to reinvent myself as someone happy. It was never enough though.

                                  Going to start what worked with this picture. Can someone embed that for me please. It may not be accurate or true and may be disproved by the experts and those a lot more knowledgeable than me.




                                  Couple of things have helped. Having a goal to work towards has been a huge help for me. It has focussed me and not allowed to be close myself off and just drift through life. If I don't have something to focus me I become distant and blase about everything.

                                  Embracing my emotions has been good too, I allow myself a day/hour where I am a real dick or a shell of a human, I let out all my anger, frustrations or wallow in my own misery. Once the timeframe is up I make conscious effort to get back to doing what needs to be done and being positive. That also means I celebrate the good things and feelings.

                                  There were times where it felt like a dam had burst and millions of gallons of misery were rushing down a small river and i was trying to throw sandbags one a time to stop it. Not very effective at all. So i had to either address the issue with the dam or focus on putting things back together when the current had slowed enough. Easier to address before it bursts.

                                  One of the biggest mental skills from sports is ability to get back on task. A physical activity which breaks the train of thought. This is how I release pressure at my dam. My one is imagining my head to be a french press coffee maker. When i recognise negative or unhelpful thoughts I imagine that all these thoughts are in the french press. I breath in deeply and as breath out I imagine the plunger coming down slowly trapping all the shit at the bottom of my mouth which is a trap door. When I breath out fully the trap door opens and all negative thoughts are gone. Sometimes it's really difficult like the coffee has been ground too finely and there's so many thoughts. I breath in and slap the top of my head which is me squashing down hard on all the thoughts.

                                  Richie McCaw used to breath in and stamp his feet stepping on his mistakes, Brad Thorn would brush off all the shit off his shoulder. A lot pull up their socks. I have heard of a female olympian who would imagine she was one of those old school hoovers which has the face on it and when she would rub her mouth she was connecting hose up to hoover and sucking out all of the negativity.

                                  If i can i'd like to try two experiments which helped me.

                                  A) If I were to say teach me how to be anxious or depressed how would you go about that? How do you act depressed? What does your body posture look like? What tone of voice and language do you use? There was an experiment done on this where a psychiarist got a man to pretend he was upset around his family and then asked his family to try and guess when he was feeling shit and when he was faking. over time they began to recognise the symptoms, the change in his posture and language. They were then able to help him change his posture and tone of voice so that he would become more positive and functioning. I forget name of doctor now, im sure hotspur knows more

                                  This article was interesting to me regarding that:



                                  Second one has been huge for me.

                                  B) If you were to think of a time where you were bursting with happiness and thought this is best moment in my life? How did that make you feel? Where do you feel that in your body? Is it in your head, your chest, your heart etc? Is it warm or cold? Does it have a colour? Now if you know where the feeling is located, what colour it is and how to get there then can you go back there regularily. Imagine it as a giant picture behind your eyes, blink and imagine you have a photo of it now. A map to get exactly to the best moment in your life.

                                  Now if we are to do the opposite with a time when anxious, scared or depressed where do you feel that? What colour is it? Is it a voice? If so is it your voice, inside or outside your head, or a third party voice ( I say to myself jesus gordon you're an idiot for example). Do you see that picture in black or white or is it in colour. Can you see that picture, imagine it being part of a slideshow and going to the next picture, the first one, the map to best oment in your life. Or can you imagine what you are watching is a tv with that feeling and all your feelings, can you just turn the old school knob on the tv and have the channel flick over to the happier one?

                                  I will be doing a lot of mental skills with next job so any feedback on whether these worked or not would be appreciated.
                                  Last edited by Trippie; 04-08-16, 00:42.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Mellor View Post
                                    What happen out at the IPO with a fellow (at the time) boardie. Slowroll, angle shoot, blow up type thing
                                    Was absolutely out of my mind playing cash, ended up misreading my hand in a 3000 pot, thought i had a straight with 45, got it in on the turn, i said I had straight, he said kings, threw them face down into middle on river, they didnt hit muck so when i turned over my cards to claim pot he was told he had winner by albert kenny who iirc was beside gholi. He reached in and turned cards back over. I let myself down when i tried to claim the pot saying he had mucked his handand argued about it.

                                    He went onto boards the next day when I was asleep and posted about me cheating and the thread had over 100 posts before I was awake so it had spiralled pretty badly. I wasn't as apologetic as I should have been and it all blew up from that. Luckily the rag2gar wsop scandal took over soon after and everyone forgot about it.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      You sit on WR council for a day, they're overseeing experimental rules in rugby. What new one do you sneak in?

                                      Concussion issues in rugby, sleeping danger or overblown?

                                      What elements of 'cheating' do you guys actually coach?

                                      What % of guys in starting 23 are playing through injuries usually? (obviously niggles / tight muscles excepted). Thinking about the interview with Fitzgerald who said he played a game without any sense of feeling in his left arm before.

                                      Coaching / Tactics, where do you feel your advantage is here? Are you working on both, so that the coaching techniques and methods are ever changing, and the tactical development moves too? Or are either a bit more rigid than that?

                                      Can you give us a daily grind timetable for a coach of a professional sports team?

                                      Cheers.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Thanks for doing such a frank well.

                                        1. Your thoughts on how some modern approaches to rugby, mental game etc., might be applied to poker.

                                        2. Can you recommend 3 sporting books.

                                        3. Were Ireland just blessed in their first generation of the professional rugby era, with BOD, ROG, Horgan etc., and how would you change management/organisational structures in Ireland to compete with influx of TV money in UK/France.

                                        4. Thoughts on MMA as a sport/entertainment/business.

                                        5. Best place you have travelled to and why?

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Trippie View Post
                                          Luckily the rag2gar wsop scandal took over soon after and everyone forgot about it.
                                          Lol thats right,

                                          It's fucking boring around here these days in comparison

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Emmet View Post
                                            You sit on WR council for a day, they're overseeing experimental rules in rugby. What new one do you sneak in?

                                            Concussion issues in rugby, sleeping danger or overblown?

                                            What elements of 'cheating' do you guys actually coach?

                                            What % of guys in starting 23 are playing through injuries usually? (obviously niggles / tight muscles excepted). Thinking about the interview with Fitzgerald who said he played a game without any sense of feeling in his left arm before.

                                            Coaching / Tactics, where do you feel your advantage is here? Are you working on both, so that the coaching techniques and methods are ever changing, and the tactical development moves too? Or are either a bit more rigid than that?

                                            Can you give us a daily grind timetable for a coach of a professional sports team?

                                            Cheers.
                                            A) Not too sure, never really thought of it. Mike Cron is on the board for this and he has spoken about a few of them. Newest one is collapsed scrums ref calls play it and if they can they just ignore whatever happened and play the ball to save resetting it. Also they will ratify the "use it" call from back of scrum. Taking the 30 second stupid scrums out of the game

                                            B) Serious issue. Professional rugby is only about one generation into the game. There has not really been any studies on long term lastiing effects of the issue. I think in 5 - 10 years we will start seeing probles with those who played mid 90's. Saying that it's bloddy frustrating when you lose players. Do we have a care of duty to the people who play for us is how I look at it.

                                            C) Cheating wise, biggest one us cleaning out the tackler before the breakdown can be set. We try to make it look like first supporter latches onto ball, he then slides over and smashes tackler, this frees ball carrier to either get through gain line, free hands for an offload or on the ground, place the ball and get back to his feet.

                                            D) Everyone is monitored by club doctors and physio's these days. It's hard to fart without someone knowing. The unions also have a mandatory rest period put inot players contracts. It's hard to get on field if there's an issue, obviously calls are made based off of scenarios though, grand final is a lot different than week 2 of season.

                                            E) This was one of a few articles floating about this season about shape or tactics. It is in the wave of new media and the emergence of guys talking about tactics. What they never go into is the way that it is taught and the skills to make the right decisions required.



                                            In america my advantage was in tactics, creating a free flowing structure where everyone knew their role and what was required in order to execute it. I had a rigid shape played off of 9 which looked something like this:

                                            Ruck
                                            9 ________ F 10 F F

                                            New Zealand has changed my approach of the game. I am now focussed on improving the skills and very much decision making games based. Teams I am involved with managed to win two club grand finals on the weekend. We had some set tactics, red zone exit to our 22, orange zone 22 to 10 where it was get the ball to 13, play if on, kick for grass if not, score zone 15 out where our attacking shapes would change. But it is generally just about creating exploitable opportunities anywhere on the field. The whole growth mindset has enabled us to back our players, trust them to have a go and back them if it doesnt work. Complete opposite to south african mentality which is very scripted. I do think however that no team should try to copy the all blacks as they will be 10 years down the track. We need disruptive innovation in rugby.

                                            F) I'm a long way away from being in the main room but this is the weekly calendar for last home game of season. Coaches normally in between 7 and 8 for early days, Whats not schedule is the amount of games and footage watched and gym sessions. Could probably watch 10-15 games a week coupled with highlight packages of opposition, academy players and possible recruits.

                                            Last edited by Trippie; 03-08-16, 09:19.

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                                              #23
                                              Anyone know how to dig up that Gholi thread?!

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                                                #24
                                                Box kicks from scrum halves - what is the reason for Ireland's fascination with this and are you in favour? Also the up and under another Irish fascination - should we be abandoning this or is it still a valid weapon?

                                                When I asked about backrows I guess what I was really wanting to know is do you favour the ball carrying false 6 or the out and out traditional 7.

                                                If Argentina had been admitted into the 6 nations instead of the tri-nations would they have been another Italy now and likewise if Italy had been admitted into the tri-nations geography aside would they have developed like Argentina.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by colm_leche View Post
                                                  Thanks for doing such a frank well.

                                                  1. Your thoughts on how some modern approaches to rugby, mental game etc., might be applied to poker.
                                                  Cheers,

                                                  Couple of things; firstly the back on task french press coffee method I mentioned earlier. Will help when on tilt. This is what being on task looks like.



                                                  Focus on the process not the outcome. Understand that you cannot control your thoughts but you can influence them.

                                                  For poker homework if you draw two heads with some space between them.

                                                  On left hand side put things you can't control, on right put things you can control.

                                                  Write down all the things you cannot control in left head, write down what you can control on right.

                                                  On the left when you focus on these things you feel victimised (bad beats is classic example) and are focused with attention inwards. The right hand side what you control acts as a buffer for the negativity. Now in that middle blank space write down what you can influence. Where your attention goes your energy will follow.

                                                  Originally posted by colm_leche View Post
                                                  2. Can you recommend 3 sporting books.
                                                  Mentioned the first one earlier. I read the original version not the updated one. Sacred hoops by Phil jackson and Agassi's Open are two great books from a learning point of view.








                                                  I also enjoyed Fever Pitch, Tim Parks a Season with Verona, the Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss and most recently Carlo Ancelotti's autobiography. I am an italian football fan so slightly biased.


                                                  Originally posted by colm_leche View Post
                                                  3. Were Ireland just blessed in their first generation of the professional rugby era, with BOD, ROG, Horgan etc., and how would you change management/organisational structures in Ireland to compete with influx of TV money in UK/France.
                                                  Yeah we were blessed with a generation of talented rugby players who were involved in outstanding team environments. Leinster could not won without Munster and both teams pushed each other to be the best they ould which helped drive the national team to successs.

                                                  We will never be able to compete with the cash from them so have to manage what talent we have better. I don't know too much of the workings of rugby in ireland. I have only been a visitor since I left in 2009. From watching club games when I was home last I think that the standard has dropped a lot. I will try to find the article I read recently talking abaout how rugby is transitioning to a spectator sport from a participation one. Guys either make the junior acadamies from school or stop trying to play serious rugby. This is to the detriment of rugby in ireland imo. We need a strong club competition to coincide with professional teams.

                                                  There needs to be a competition between pro12 and club rugby. The ITM or Currie cup is a good example. After the club season the best players, academies players plus bottom to middle tier pro talent all get train together in order to make the regional team. The contracts are only worth $18,000 NZD so whatever that works out to be in euro these days.. I think there could possibly be an 8 team tournament, split munster to cork vs limerick, leinster to dublin north vs south vs the pale. Probably couldn't split Ulster to catholics vs protestants as that might create some tension but you get the picture. Run this after the club season for 9 weeks. Play everyone once then a top 4, bottom 4 knock out round.



                                                  Originally posted by colm_leche View Post
                                                  4. Thoughts on MMA as a sport/entertainment/business.
                                                  Clearly a market for it. Pugilistic sports will always generate interest and conversation whether good or bad. I'm somewhere between indifferent and not interested. much like how I am with Gaelic Football. I wonder does it count as a pugilistic since it's not just the fists. Kayroo would be the person to ask I guess


                                                  Originally posted by colm_leche View Post
                                                  5. Best place you have travelled to and why?
                                                  Ugh, have been dreading this the most. I don't know. I have travelled a bit and places all have their charms. Maui was a great adventuring trip with the roads to drive on and hikes available. Wife and I stumbled upon the Hare Krishna Palace of gold in the middle of West Virginia which was an incredible experience. Cleveland really surprised us with how nice the city was. Savannah and the carolinas are worth a trip too.

                                                  Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor had some spectacular scenery, good food and very cheap. As did the puglia region in Italy. It was hard to beat the 1 euro bottles of house wine at dinner south of Lecce.

                                                  I am very fortunate with where I live right now. I think I posted this pic before but it's the view from my balcony in the mornings.



                                                  I can't really say one place.

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                                                    #26
                                                    Last one for now.


                                                    Originally posted by RichieM View Post
                                                    Box kicks from scrum halves - what is the reason for Ireland's fascination with this and are you in favour? Also the up and under another Irish fascination - should we be abandoning this or is it still a valid weapon?
                                                    There was a point in time where someone said the ideal distance is 28 metres for a box kick, this enables attackers enough time to get under the ball. I don't know why or how that is applicable these days since people are all different shapes and sizes. Ireland's fascination is because they are best in the world at it apparently. The GAA background of our wingers means that they are comfortable being in the air. You're not going to ask Julian Savea or Nemani nadolo to chase these.

                                                    It takes a long time to master this skill, in the meantime you are contesting a ball which will probably lose and generally hemorrhage penalties in kickable positions. I am not in favour for it at all. I believe that modern day players are so proficient under the high ball that it baffles me why anyone would kick as much big bombs as we do. Defenses are so skilled that they will siply catch it and launch counter attacks. Look at connacht this year, they had a no kick policy, why would you want to give them the ball in space?

                                                    I do believe that we need to look at where the space on a rugby field, its pointless to just go sideline to sideline trying to get around defensive line. If you think of space as a three tiered zonal space, First one is generally out wide either side, second level is behind defensive line and third is behind full back wingers. Attacking the second two levels is key. My club team kicked a lot this year but our policies were very different, we generally excited from 13, he had freedom to play or pass wide if he wanted. Our wingers did a lot of work on putting straight long bouncing balls along the touchline. The whole goal was the change the stride pattern of the defenders to get the to turn around and slow them down before they launched counter attacks. We played a lot of kick tennis where the goal was to get the ball over the crossbar under the posts and onto the ground as quick as possible. Make the defenders make decisions.

                                                    Originally posted by RichieM View Post
                                                    When I asked about backrows I guess what I was really wanting to know is do you favour the ball carrying false 6 or the out and out traditional 7.
                                                    Traditional 7. That's what I played so I am biased. It is clear that this position must sacrifice for the team hence why Sam Cane starts and Ardie Savea is on the bench for the AB's. That is if you want to play an expansive game with lightning quick ruck ball (defined as under 2.5 seconds from point of contact to pass) If you are south african/french/english teams where it's about the collison then a massive guy like Haskell makes sense. the wallabies went for two 7's with hooper and pocock. New Zealand nulified them by jumping where pocock would lift in the lineout and then running straight at hooper taking them out of the game in basically one phase.

                                                    When ireland/leinster/munster defines the style it wants to play then finding the player that fits best is key.

                                                    Originally posted by RichieM View Post
                                                    If Argentina had been admitted into the 6 nations instead of the tri-nations would they have been another Italy now and likewise if Italy had been admitted into the tri-nations geography aside would they have developed like Argentina.
                                                    No from being in Colombia I saw some glimpses of rugby in Argentina. it has a great setup. Despite football being the number one sport it has pockets where rugby is life and engrained in the culture. I wrote this a while ago talking about clubs in america. It is applicable to argentina. They have such support because they have tradition and have built a rugby culture. Italy is a shambles by all accounts. Italy would never have gotten Graham Henry to help them develop for 2 years. They might progress under o'shea but will see what happens I guess.

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                                                      #27
                                                      Are drugs as prevalent on the other side of the world in rugby, as they are here?

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                                                        #28
                                                        Originally posted by Trippie View Post
                                                        Cleveland really surprised us with how nice the city was.
                                                        Cleveland Rugby Anecdote:

                                                        I was in Cleveland there for a year in the late 90’s at college, about 10 miles from downtown/The Flats/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Having played a bit of underage rugby up until 15-16, I went to try out with the college rugby team.

                                                        It was mostly frat boys and jocks from an ex-gridiron background. A lot of big lads and serious athletes.

                                                        The first exercise was everyone stands in a circle [about 15 people]. You pass to the first man, and try to run around the circle, quicker than the ball can be passed around everyone in the circle. The idea was to work on quick hand speed etc.

                                                        I was never blessed with speed, and after seeing the first few guys do the drill, probably ex-running backs, I figured I was down the pecking order.

                                                        So when it was my turn to go, instead of popping it to the first player, I lamped the ball as high in the air as I could to give myself a time buffer to get round the circle ….

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                                                          #29
                                                          Read a few articles from Bill Gerrard, who was a technical analyst at Saracens, who said that rugby was in the dark ages up until very recently when it came to data analytics compared to other forefront sports and met with a lot of resistance from old school coaches. How much was the 'moneyball' approach embraced were you were and what weight would it hold over influencing transfers/tactics ect..?
                                                          Profit before people.

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                                                            #30
                                                            Originally posted by poprock View Post
                                                            Are drugs as prevalent on the other side of the world in rugby, as they are here?
                                                            I don't know what the usage is like in ireland. What do you know about it? I know south african rugby is rampant with steroids and hgh.

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                                                              #31
                                                              Originally posted by The Situation View Post
                                                              Read a few articles from Bill Gerrard, who was a technical analyst at Saracens, who said that rugby was in the dark ages up until very recently when it came to data analytics compared to other forefront sports and met with a lot of resistance from old school coaches. How much was the 'moneyball' approach embraced were you were and what weight would it hold over influencing transfers/tactics ect..?
                                                              Different strokes for different folks. Some coaches embrace it a lot more. one of the crusaders coaches had a canadian mathematician plot out every set piece and phase played inside a teams own 22 in super rugby last year. He created an analytical model with weighted scores for what is best play and roughly where the action will be.

                                                              If we take lineout on left hand 5 metre line, generally forwards will hit midfield, ball is played back to 10 to clears to touch. Different areas on field had different outcomes, run vs kick, box kick vs kick from width etc. They used this data to craft some general rules as to what to do.

                                                              Analtyics have proven that playing with the ball in your half is inviting trouble, that box kicking is going to increase number of penalties given away, that getting tackled around the 15 metre lines is a no man's land where majority of turnovers happen one phase after that. It's all about how you use the data. There is a big problem with teams willing to spend money on the best software and technology but really lacking the understanding of what they want to measure and assess. Each team should have different systems because each team plays differently.

                                                              Regarding player recruitment the crusaders 2-4-2 system relys on line breaks out wide to bend the defence, pull defenders out of shape to exploit gaps out wide. Linebreaks usually come from 2v1's, missed tackles or offloads. That's why Nadolo was so good for them, his offload skills and size made him the perfect foil for their edge attack. He is going to struggle in Montpeillier chasing kicks all day.

                                                              Pat Lam insists that left wingers must be left footed, that #5 ust be a good decision maker and has to be able run, catch and pass as he is the player calling the triggers & releases. Connacht are ahead of the curve a bit since they mapped out how they want to play and are recruiting based off of tangible requirements.

                                                              If I can figure out how to put a pdf up I can show a copy of an old knowing the enemy document which is produced for each opposition during the week.

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                                                                #32
                                                                Super answer, best of luck with future goals.
                                                                Profit before people.

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                                                                  #33
                                                                  Fav pasta dish?

                                                                  The big 3 slow down whilst Connacht enjoy a epic rise during a time where French and English clubs are being made the European priority. Where do you see Irish Provincial Rugby' future?

                                                                  Opinions on concussions and where the game will be headed with head injuries being copped onto worldwide these days

                                                                  Hungover and starving, what do you order out of the chipper, Chinese, Pizza place? Answer for all 3!

                                                                  How far behind is the game in the countries who participate in European Nations Division 1A?

                                                                  Getting the Ireland job is your ultimate goal, what job do you see yourself leaving to take that position?

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                                                                    #34
                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    Fav pasta dish?
                                                                    Pesto with chorizo

                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    The big 3 slow down whilst Connacht enjoy a epic rise during a time where French and English clubs are being made the European priority. Where do you see Irish Provincial Rugby' future?
                                                                    A lot depends on what the strategic plan of the IRFU is. If they want a top down system where the provincial sides just feed the national sides then they are fine with teams getting knocked early in europe as players will be fresher. Connacht like the highlanders had success because they had national team quality players who weren't playing internationally. This means they have access to them a lot more during 6 nations, summer & november tours.

                                                                    There's too much invested in Leinster for it to be allowed to decline. Potential coaching changes were almost made this year and there might still be something done. Munster will have to lower it's debt and Ulster will still continue to beat to its own drum. Ulster will be moderately successful, generally top 4 in pro12 and make 1/4 finals in champions cup. Never good enough to win, never bad enough to start afresh. As i posted with the smoking picture earlier. Just my thoughts and may be completely wrong.

                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    Opinions on concussions and where the game will be headed with head injuries being copped onto worldwide these days
                                                                    Spoke about it briefly earlier.We have a care of duty to our athletes. Would love to see research on where majority of concussions occur. I know the breakdown is a lot safer these days but without research into how they occur i'd be just throwing darts blindfolded.

                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    Hungover and starving, what do you order out of the chipper, Chinese, Pizza place? Answer for all 3!
                                                                    Snack box, Hot & Sour Soup, pepperoni & red onion.

                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    How far behind is the game in the countries who participate in European Nations Division 1A?
                                                                    Pretty far if you were to take them and transplant them right now. With access to more IRB funding, consistent competition at junior level and then a relegation guaranteed first few seasons I would imagine big progress made. I was looking at playing numbers for portugal the other day, they had a massive increase nation wide after they made world cup in 2007, the union invested all the money in a new stadium, failed to make 2011 or 2015 and numbers are back to where they were. It would beneift our b teams if we got more playing time too. Perhaps the home nations b sides take on the 1A teams. The talk of global season and zero fixtures schedule post 2019 might make some changes.

                                                                    Originally posted by CHDog View Post
                                                                    Getting the Ireland job is your ultimate goal, what job do you see yourself leaving to take that position?
                                                                    It would have to be one of the main provinces or a super rugby job. I don't think winning the premiership or top 14 would get me across the line. Super Rugby has the mystique and a reputation. Dave Rennie will be favourite for the job when Schmidt goes to the Highlanders next year.

                                                                    Who knows what the landscape may look like in 20 years though. Rugby may be a dead sport by then, perhaps the IRFU will have changed they way it goes about things and will try to hire from within the environment like the All Blacks do now.

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                                                                      #35
                                                                      IRFU looking for a new coach for the Women's team today....

                                                                      What can you tell us about Jamison Gibson-Park? What will he bring to Leinster?

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                                                                        #36
                                                                        Originally posted by Emmet View Post
                                                                        IRFU looking for a new coach for the Women's team today....

                                                                        What can you tell us about Jamison Gibson-Park? What will he bring to Leinster?
                                                                        Team manager not a coach unfortunately. Womens rugby is a tough one to be involved with too. Very difficult to make the transition from womens to mens.

                                                                        Don't know much about him, he has a decent pass and is quick. Good ITM 9 and solid super rugby squad player, would he ever take a starting spot from smith, TJ, Weber or kerr-barlow? I doubt it.

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                                                                          #37
                                                                          This finished now?

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                                                                            #38
                                                                            Originally posted by Trippie View Post
                                                                            This finished now?
                                                                            Hi Gordo very nice read would have loved to talk about a few things mostly rugby related to you in person.
                                                                            Always though you were a very coinfident- arrogant young fella but its a thin line.
                                                                            Hoping the future goes well for you its good to have irish coaches with foreign experience.
                                                                            Instead of us just importing kiwis aussies many of whom have been very good.

                                                                            Think it shows the decline of the forum the lack of ?s to a proper degenerate well back in the day anyways.

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                                                                              #39
                                                                              Originally posted by Sickpuppy View Post
                                                                              Hi Gordo very nice read would have loved to talk about a few things mostly rugby related to you in person.
                                                                              Always though you were a very coinfident- arrogant young fella but its a thin line.
                                                                              Hoping the future goes well for you its good to have irish coaches with foreign experience.
                                                                              Instead of us just importing kiwis aussies many of whom have been very good.

                                                                              Think it shows the decline of the forum the lack of ?s to a proper degenerate well back in the day anyways.
                                                                              Yeah if there's anything ask away then, will gladly talk rugby, also will be back in ireland mid september. can catch up then if you want.

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