New head coach for MSP premiers
MSP will have a new premier coaching set-up in 2011 with the appointment of Clayton McMillan as head coach and club coaching coordinator John Duignan as his assistant.
Clayton, the current coach of Bay of Plenty’s development side, has also been a New Zealand under-20 selector for the past three years. In his playing days he captained the Bay of Plenty Steamers.
Clayton says he’s passionate about coaching and wants to go as far as he can as a coach. “I enjoy the challenge, and I enjoy being part of the contest and part of the team.”
He prefers to coach an expansive style of game, but says that depends on the profile of the players and the conditions on the day.
He brings an impressive rugby CV, having managed the Bay of Plenty NPC team and gained NZRU High Performance Coaching certification to Level 3. A No 8 as a player, he captained the NZ Divisional team, his Whakarewarewa club side and Bay of Plenty secondary schools, and was a NZ Maori trialist.
It was captaining the Bay that he had his first association with MSP. Two players in his team were from the club: “Bernie Upton and Apoua Stewart were pretty passionate about MSP, as is the current Bay of Plenty coach Sean Horan.”
Clayton and his partner Natalia and their 18-month-old child are moving permanently to Wellington in January next year.
He will bring fresh ideas and new systems to MSP, and his assistant, John Duignan, will bring a wealth of local knowledge of the club and its players. The club is delighted with the new appointments, having lost the services of the coaching duo who took the premiers to three finals in the past four years.
Kevin Horan is now coaching in Portugal and Murray Tocker is stepping down from his premier responsibilities. However, Murray, along with Tony Meachen, will act as technical advisers to share their wealth of coaching knowledge across the grades.
In other coaching appointments, 2010 colts’ coaches Dave Wanden and Bevan Packer will take over the senior 1s, along with successful senior 2 coach Gus Slade who will move up a grade.
In the colts, MSP welcomes new coach Mason Lawrence.
Footnote: The DominionPost newspaper reported on 27 November that MSP had 'hired' Clayton as the club's new coach. While MSP appreciates the publicity, the club has not hired Clayton. MSP is an amateur rugby club and Clayton's position is unpaid. All MSP coaches are volunteers.
The only exception is that of the 'club coaching coordinator', the position currently held by John Duignan. All clubs have a CCO, which is part funded by the WRFU and part funded by the club. No other coaches are paid.
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