Impressive coaching line up named for 2017
The Marist St Pats Management Board takes great pleasure in announcing the appointment of a formidable coaching team for the 2017 season.
Premiers: Andrew Robinson and Bernie Upton
The Premiers will be guided by Andrew Robinson, one of Wellington’s most successful club coaches in recent years. 'Robbo' is well known for his tutelage of the Under 85 Blues that won a combined 11 first and second round trophies over a six year period that culminated in him being named Wellington’s Club Coach of the Year in 2014.
In 2016 Robbo guided our Premier Reserves to the coveted Harper Lock Shield title after the side won 12 of their 13 first round matches. He has also coached the Wellington Centurions under 85 representative team for a number of years.
Robbo will be joined by fellow club stalwart Bernie Upton. Bernie is well known on the rugby scene as a professional player who played a number of Super Rugby seasons with the Chiefs and Hurricanes, along with stints in Ireland and Japan. He also played for the Junior All Blacks in 2005 and 2006.
A four-time Jubilee Cup winner he is familiar with what it takes to win in the Wellington club competition. Since hanging up the boots Bernie has coached our Premier Reserves in 2013 and has been involved in Wellington age grade representative teams.
Premier Reserves: Jamie Parkinson and Francois Hecquet
Following a successful season as an assistant to Andrew Robinson, Marist St Pats Centurion Jamie Parkinson will step up as head coach of the Premier Reserves next season.
Parky has been cutting his teeth in the coaching ranks over the past few years following a successful playing career that saw him represent Samoa at test level in 2005. His experience and continuity will be extremely valuable to this group.
He will be joined by Francois Hecquet who has been coaching the Hutt Valley High School 1st XV for the last 3 years having won the co-ed cup for the first time in the school’s history in 2016. He has his Level 3 NZRU coaching accreditations.
Colts: Edwin Meachen and Ciaran O’Brien
Our Colts enjoyed a successful season in 2016 and will again be led by Edwin Meachen. He will be joined by former Premier player Ciaran O’Brien who assisted with the team last season.
With a large number of talented players returning they will be looking to build on the foundations built last season which saw the side win 15 of the 20 games - while seeing a number of players be promoted through the grades.
High Performance Coaching Unit: Arden David, Nic Fitisemanu, Dan Kauraka and James McHardy
2017 will also see the appointment of a formalised High Performance coaching resource team to assist all our top sides as they strive for peak performance. This experienced group boast hundreds of Premier matches along with a large haul of silverware between them.
They will focus on equipping our players with the tools to be successful both on and off the field with technical expertise and personal mentoring, with James and Nic having an active part in designing and running the weekly training sessions with Kas Lealamanua and the respective team coaches..
Marist St Pats is delighted to be able to provide such a quality, experienced coaching team to work with our players in the upcoming season. We are very excited to see how these new formations take shape as we continue our quest for excellence.
Coaching positions for other teams will be announced in the near future...
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