Positives despite difficult season

Otago Daily Times

2 days ago

That was probably not how Jamie Joseph imagined his first season back as Highlanders head coach would pan out. A wooden-spoon finish has given him plenty to chew on as he prepares for next season. Hayden Meikle asks Joseph for some final thoughts on the 2025 campaign.
Cynics can spend as much time as they like looking for cracks in the Highlanders as they lick their wounds after finishing dead last in Super Rugby.
It seems they will not easily find any.
Jamie Joseph said an intensive week of meetings and player reviews following the end of their season had thrown up some common themes — the first being that the players liked each other, and liked being at the club.
"The team is pretty tightly connected," Joseph told the Otago Daily Times .
"They're all good mates. We had a lot of new boys in this year but also a lot of young boys who have been through the grades, whether it's in high school right up to here, then down to under-20.
"There's a lot of positive connections around, so what that means is this week's been pretty positive. One-on-ones are really important for the players to take some information away from the season so they can improve."
It will not be all fist pumps and best wishes for next season.
Several Highlanders players will not be back, some by their own choosing and some because Joseph has deemed them surplus to requirements.
"There are always difficult conversations when you're the head coach and you've got a finite number that you can select.
"Especially with this group of players. They're all really young, and I'm conscientious about their rugby. When the time comes, there'll be difficult conversations, but that's kind of my role."
Joseph said the other big takeaway from player reviews was that his men on the ground could see the potential in the team.
They won just three of their 14 games this season, but seven of their losses were by seven points or fewer.
Some key injuries — notably to No 8 Hugh Renton — contributed to the tumble down the standings, as did a sort of collective loss of confidence that manifested itself in games going haywire at key moments.
"We didn't really lose our way," Joseph maintained.
"We just couldn't win those tight games, and there were a lot of factors in that. So they will understand and see that, which then leads to a real positive outlook for the team.
"I'm a competitive guy, like most rugby coaches, so what I find hard is where the players are. They've worked so hard and come so close to get no reward.
"But the table doesn't mean too much to me. It's just where we are.
"If we nailed a few of those games, even half of them, we would be in a totally different position. I think people can see that, and certainly our fans can see that."
Indeed, the response from Highlanders fans has been uncommonly generous.
The coach banked so much capital from his first stint with the team, which included a fairy-tale title run in 2015, that there was always going to be some latitude around public expectation this season.
Joseph made no excuses when the Highlanders started losing this season but he did regularly point to the relatively young age of the squad as a factor.
The club has invested heavily in youth in recent years and the hope is that will come to fruition when some of these youngsters really find their feet.
He pointed out depth remained an issue for the Highlanders, who have just one current All Black though they should have at least one more in a couple of weeks, compared with the other New Zealand teams.
Then there is the No 10 issue.
Cameron Millar and Taine Robinson are still finding their way at Super Rugby level, and while either or both might go on to great things, the fact remains the Highlanders do not presently have a top-class operator in the most important jersey.
"I think in different games, at different times, most of our players got their confidence smacked in the nose, basically," Joseph said.
"But everyone gets to look at the 9s and the 10s because decision-making around controlling the game on attack and defence, particularly on attack, sort of relies back on the 9s and the 10s."
Renton's absence for most of the season was also a cruel blow.
He offered so much as a leader and an on-field figure of action and respect, Joseph said, and was not easily replaced.
While the Highlanders' results were poor, they were often a decent watch.
The coach felt their game plan was sound and their approach positive — two things that were important to show off the club as an attractive destination for potential new players.
"I think, when I look at all the other teams, we've played a more forward-dominating kind of game plan in the last couple of years using pressure, and I think you can contain teams like that.
"But it's a lot safer if you've got the forwards to be able to play that kind of game. We lost a few players this year, particularly in the tight five, so that's one reason I think we needed adjustments to the game.
"If we're going to attract outside backs to Dunedin, we need to play a game of rugby they're excited to play and also the fans are excited to watch.
"We made quite a few changes to the game. I think it's the kind of game that's going to put us in a better position going forward."
Perhaps the final judgement on this Highlanders season has been made by the team's best players.
And they are unanimous in wanting to stay.
Timoci Tavatavanawai, Ethan de Groot, Fabian Holland, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Caleb Tangitau have all extended their contracts in a major show of faith in the team's direction.
"I think the modern rugby player and the professional are really conscious about their futures and really understand what they need to take themselves forward in terms of being a professional rugby player with a long career," Joseph said.
"So that's really, really promising for us that there are a number of guys that are all wanting to come back.
"I think Sam Gilbert is the only guy that's chosen to go overseas and he's been here six years. So it's a promising future — we've just got to make sure that we improve on the small things that we have to get right this year."
Joseph has effectively been on non-stop Highlanders duty for nine months.
He is looking forward to a little bit of time away from rugby to clear the head before preparing in earnest for next season.
"My job really is to try and create a team and a team environment where the players can be at their best.
"To some extent, I feel I've achieved that, but clearly there's a lot of work to do."
[e-mail]