This is part 2 of my interview with Todd Blackadder. Check out part 1 by clicking here...
You can listen to the full interview by clicking the video below...
What motivates the players to play?
The culture of the team. They have got to be there to get better. If you are there trying to earn a wage or pay your mortgage off then it's all for the wrong reasons. You agree a contract and then it's your responsibility to motivate yourself to be the best you can be. So often I think players turn up and they think, they're waiting for someone to externally motivate them. If a coach is telling them what they need to do to be the best, they should be asking the coach what they need to do to be the very best. You should turn up everyday with a goal in mind. If I was a young guy going into any team my goal would be to prepare today like I'm starting the game. And you can do that Monday through to Saturday and you may not make the team but at least you are preparing really well and the other thing is, you can be the best teammate. That should be the greatest prize that anyone can get from their teammates. The other thing is that in the Rugby programme you can have certain goals around catch pass, running lines, cleanout work another goal you could have is that you could never leave the field if you've made a mistake unless you are auto corrected. So something that happened at training, because that's where the real learning comes from, is that you can do your training, go back, review it, work on it, have a shower and leave better for it. So that then the next day you turn up and repeat that process again. Because ultimately you can only get better Monday to Friday. And you can review everything you do Monday to Friday. If you are just reviewing the game, within that game you're probably only reviewing about 10 minutes of the week. So I think, particularly here I don't think that's even thought of. I think it's 'what are we doing today' instead of 'this is what we are doing today' and 'this is what I want to achieve today.'
What motivates you as a coach?
My job is to prepare the team every week to go and perform that's what motivates me. The other thing is that I really care about the clubs that I represent. Bath is bigger than me so my job is to get the very best out of this team so that this club can be proud. It's a great club with a great brand. The other thing that really motivates me is the supporters the community. We are the flag bearers really, for a lot of hope and aspiration for not only this beautiful city but this area. When we don't win I take it really personally and it doesn't sit easy with me when we are not performing.
I was going to say, does it become harder when the team isn't performing well?
Yeah. The first thing I do is I take responsibility for it. I don't make excuses, I don't look to blame. I take responsibility for it because if you take responsibility for it, you will do something about it. Whereas a lot of people don't want to own their performance you know, they'll make excuses for everything and there is always a reason why not. As a Director of Rugby I have got to take responsibility so that as soon as I do that I make sure things get done.
In My opinion there has been some inconsistency in the way the game has been refereed. At the beginning of the week you see which referee is taking the game do you adapt to their style?
Yeah. I think we've been hit with the referee stick this season. Some of the performances I just! I know that we have lost the game and I look at some of the decisions that have been made and I just scratch my head! On the weekend the Anglo Welsh Final I know that there were things that we didn't do but look at the performance. We contacted the referee around a couple of issues and I thought that they were massively offside, some of the decisions have been poor. When we were up against Exeter Rhys dropped the ball, it was actually a double knock on there. The ball got kicked through and ended up putting it out, Exeter dropped the ball off the lineout had a go at the line got a penalty that penalty put them ahead. We go back to the double knock on that was missed and they just didn't want to listen to the players. Those decisions have a massive impact and I think it's been a little bit inconsistent.
Who are the natural leaders on the pitch and are they able to have those conversations with the referee?
I think that there is definitely a way that you need to approach a referee. Like last week some feedback was that it didn't matter what we do they just weren't listening. I think we had five scrums in a line and the last scrum was no different to the first scrum. We were dominating. The scrum screws and goes in and goes 'ah yeah you're probably right.' That was a big moment in the game. The very first lineout was so crooked that it nearly hit the referee. This is a final and I just think that it need to be refereed fairly for both teams. And then we had a chat at half time about how to best manage the referee because I felt like so much was being missed. Offsides all the time.
Next season there are some big names both leaving and joining the club. Will Bath be looking to play in a different style next season?
Na, we will be looking to bring in an attack coach. With Tabi leaving thats a void that we never filled and it probably shows at times. the other thing is that we actually changed our attack structure from last season because it just wasn't working and so even next year we will be better for it. We will have had a whole season and we want to keep the same players so that we have understanding and continuity. We've just got to do things better. We've recruited one hell of a team for next year. We know exactly where we are at and our deficiencies and we are really clear on the skill sets that we need to come in to really fire this team. While there are big names leaving I don't necessarily think that it is a bad thing. For a lot of players who have been here a long time they probably need a change. They probably don't know how good they've got it either. You probably don't appreciate just how lucky they are to have what they've got. Whereas when you come in for the very first time, this is an unbelievable club. It really is. I think the owners and the club at times get a lot of negativity put towards them but we are actually going through a change and I can only see good times ahead.
This weekend Bath take on Leicester at Twickenham in the Clash, how are preparations going?
Really well. I think too on the back of a really disappointing month The team on Monday is pretty emotional and fired up. My feel is that this team will really want to actually play with some pride and show everyone what we've got. The occasion is bigger than us because it's really about the Bath foundation and when you think about what those young people have had to endure, we've got a lot to play for.
Only four games left this season, what are the targets?
To me it's about our performances we really need to get complete performances on the track and play really good rugby. If we end up in the top 6 then great. If we scrape into the top 4 you know, I think that'd be fantastic. If we don't and we finish out the back then it is what it is. you get what you deserve. If you're not good enough to be in the top 6 and in the champions cup then you're not good enough. I actually think with the injuries we've had like when we played Benetton in the first champions cup game we were injury ravaged and on the back of that we just got a win. Ant then we went to Scarletts and played really well and then we played Toulon home and away. And played rally well. So we beat everyone in our pool we all beat each other and then what happened was that it actually took too much out of us. With the injury impact the physicality of those Champions cup games we lost all those players to England as well. Then you can't rest anyone.
Follow me on Twitter @louis1999shaw
You can listen to the full interview by clicking the video below...
What motivates the players to play?
The culture of the team. They have got to be there to get better. If you are there trying to earn a wage or pay your mortgage off then it's all for the wrong reasons. You agree a contract and then it's your responsibility to motivate yourself to be the best you can be. So often I think players turn up and they think, they're waiting for someone to externally motivate them. If a coach is telling them what they need to do to be the best, they should be asking the coach what they need to do to be the very best. You should turn up everyday with a goal in mind. If I was a young guy going into any team my goal would be to prepare today like I'm starting the game. And you can do that Monday through to Saturday and you may not make the team but at least you are preparing really well and the other thing is, you can be the best teammate. That should be the greatest prize that anyone can get from their teammates. The other thing is that in the Rugby programme you can have certain goals around catch pass, running lines, cleanout work another goal you could have is that you could never leave the field if you've made a mistake unless you are auto corrected. So something that happened at training, because that's where the real learning comes from, is that you can do your training, go back, review it, work on it, have a shower and leave better for it. So that then the next day you turn up and repeat that process again. Because ultimately you can only get better Monday to Friday. And you can review everything you do Monday to Friday. If you are just reviewing the game, within that game you're probably only reviewing about 10 minutes of the week. So I think, particularly here I don't think that's even thought of. I think it's 'what are we doing today' instead of 'this is what we are doing today' and 'this is what I want to achieve today.'
What motivates you as a coach?
My job is to prepare the team every week to go and perform that's what motivates me. The other thing is that I really care about the clubs that I represent. Bath is bigger than me so my job is to get the very best out of this team so that this club can be proud. It's a great club with a great brand. The other thing that really motivates me is the supporters the community. We are the flag bearers really, for a lot of hope and aspiration for not only this beautiful city but this area. When we don't win I take it really personally and it doesn't sit easy with me when we are not performing.
I was going to say, does it become harder when the team isn't performing well?
Yeah. The first thing I do is I take responsibility for it. I don't make excuses, I don't look to blame. I take responsibility for it because if you take responsibility for it, you will do something about it. Whereas a lot of people don't want to own their performance you know, they'll make excuses for everything and there is always a reason why not. As a Director of Rugby I have got to take responsibility so that as soon as I do that I make sure things get done.
In My opinion there has been some inconsistency in the way the game has been refereed. At the beginning of the week you see which referee is taking the game do you adapt to their style?
Yeah. I think we've been hit with the referee stick this season. Some of the performances I just! I know that we have lost the game and I look at some of the decisions that have been made and I just scratch my head! On the weekend the Anglo Welsh Final I know that there were things that we didn't do but look at the performance. We contacted the referee around a couple of issues and I thought that they were massively offside, some of the decisions have been poor. When we were up against Exeter Rhys dropped the ball, it was actually a double knock on there. The ball got kicked through and ended up putting it out, Exeter dropped the ball off the lineout had a go at the line got a penalty that penalty put them ahead. We go back to the double knock on that was missed and they just didn't want to listen to the players. Those decisions have a massive impact and I think it's been a little bit inconsistent.
Who are the natural leaders on the pitch and are they able to have those conversations with the referee?
I think that there is definitely a way that you need to approach a referee. Like last week some feedback was that it didn't matter what we do they just weren't listening. I think we had five scrums in a line and the last scrum was no different to the first scrum. We were dominating. The scrum screws and goes in and goes 'ah yeah you're probably right.' That was a big moment in the game. The very first lineout was so crooked that it nearly hit the referee. This is a final and I just think that it need to be refereed fairly for both teams. And then we had a chat at half time about how to best manage the referee because I felt like so much was being missed. Offsides all the time.
Next season there are some big names both leaving and joining the club. Will Bath be looking to play in a different style next season?
Na, we will be looking to bring in an attack coach. With Tabi leaving thats a void that we never filled and it probably shows at times. the other thing is that we actually changed our attack structure from last season because it just wasn't working and so even next year we will be better for it. We will have had a whole season and we want to keep the same players so that we have understanding and continuity. We've just got to do things better. We've recruited one hell of a team for next year. We know exactly where we are at and our deficiencies and we are really clear on the skill sets that we need to come in to really fire this team. While there are big names leaving I don't necessarily think that it is a bad thing. For a lot of players who have been here a long time they probably need a change. They probably don't know how good they've got it either. You probably don't appreciate just how lucky they are to have what they've got. Whereas when you come in for the very first time, this is an unbelievable club. It really is. I think the owners and the club at times get a lot of negativity put towards them but we are actually going through a change and I can only see good times ahead.
This weekend Bath take on Leicester at Twickenham in the Clash, how are preparations going?
Really well. I think too on the back of a really disappointing month The team on Monday is pretty emotional and fired up. My feel is that this team will really want to actually play with some pride and show everyone what we've got. The occasion is bigger than us because it's really about the Bath foundation and when you think about what those young people have had to endure, we've got a lot to play for.
Only four games left this season, what are the targets?
To me it's about our performances we really need to get complete performances on the track and play really good rugby. If we end up in the top 6 then great. If we scrape into the top 4 you know, I think that'd be fantastic. If we don't and we finish out the back then it is what it is. you get what you deserve. If you're not good enough to be in the top 6 and in the champions cup then you're not good enough. I actually think with the injuries we've had like when we played Benetton in the first champions cup game we were injury ravaged and on the back of that we just got a win. Ant then we went to Scarletts and played really well and then we played Toulon home and away. And played rally well. So we beat everyone in our pool we all beat each other and then what happened was that it actually took too much out of us. With the injury impact the physicality of those Champions cup games we lost all those players to England as well. Then you can't rest anyone.
Follow me on Twitter @louis1999shaw
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