Future Maroons Coaching Conference proves power of connection

Connection, confidence, competence and character were the driving messages of this year’s Future Maroons Coaching Conference, as mentors for the Queensland Rugby League’s statewide competitions came together at the Gold Coast.

Coaches for next year’s BMD Premiership, Mal Meninga Cup, Harvey Norman Under 19s, Cyril Connell Cup and the inaugural Under 17 girls competition spent two days hearing from the likes of Neil Henry, Tahnee Norris, Jim Lenihan, Ben Woolf and more, as preparations ramp up for season 2024.

With a focus on player and coach development, QRL’s pathways and performance head coach Nathan Cross said he wanted to make the conference less about the “technical and tactical” and more about coaching people and reflection.

For up-and-comer Meg Ward - who will take on head coach duties with the Norths Devils’ BMD Premiership team in 2024 – she found the experience to not only be insightful, but validating as she gears up for her first season in charge.

“With all the different presentations that they did, I got heaps out of understanding what the players are looking for,” Ward said.

“Having not been a head coach before it was really to cool to hear about the connection between players and coaches and how much more players will put in and the culture that will develop with that dynamic between a player and coach.

“That’s the biggest thing I got out of it. The word used the whole time was connection so it was really cool to hear that because my coaching style is more about that connection.

“Even talking to other coaches and hearing where they’re at with their squads and their ideas for the season ahead, it felt good to hear they have similar struggles or hearing the direction they’re heading is similar to where I’m heading.

“It validated what I’m doing."

And it wasn’t just debutant coaches like Ward who took plenty from the experience, with veteran Scott Tronc also taking a few lessons from the conference.

The premiership-winning coach – who will return with Redcliffe in 2024 for their Mal Meninga Cup title defence – also noticed the ongoing theme around connection.

Former Queensland Maroon Tronc retired from playing in 1994 and moved straight into coaching, where he said the same “apprenticeships” didn’t exist.

Now the statewide competitions help to provide a pathway and he said conferences such as Future Maroons gave clarity to coaches coming through.

“What this does, it brings people together,” Tronc said of the conference.

“You’re sitting in a group and talking about philosophies in coaching and there can be a bit of reluctance to open up sometimes but it was easier to do that because, at the end of the day, it’s about developing that player that’s coming through and giving them that opportunity.

“It spells out to me that you’re getting those players ready for the next level of football. That’s all I’ve ever coached at these levels and that’s your job. It makes it real clear about developing their skills, game sense and things like that at different levels.

“One thing out of that conference is we all have a job to implement that now. It’s good to have a plan but it's another thing implementing it, and that falls on the coaches and the clubs and making sure that we implement the strategies that they put forward to us.”

As well as connection, Cross said the other major themes pushed forward were confidence, competence and character, as part of the player toolkit.

He said one of the final activities from the conference was to ask small groups to write down the three common themes from across the weekend and it was clear the messaging had been executed correctly.

“We know in coaching connection is so important,” Cross said.

“We really focused on the coaches going back to their clubs and connecting with their players and building their character.

“It’s ensuring they connect with their players and don’t treat their best player different to No. 25. That’s really important. It’s inclusivity.”