I am yet to get to the bottom of what happened with the Crusaders' result, but unfortunately I was there to witness the 1st team’s debacle in our first derby match of the season against Baildon, the side we kept up in the last round of matches last season! The same side that now sit well above us in the league.

Some interesting chats in the bar after the game, as well as a few with various people in and around the club over the rest of the weekend got me thinking.

And this is where I am at….

First of all I need to issue an apology. I highlighted last month that something needed to change. Nothing has. I know more than most involved with the playing setup how to instigate change. And I haven’t done it. For that I am sorry.

Now we need to put that right.

When we were struggling last year we created a new culture for ourselves at the club. We began to create a ‘wolf pack’ mentality. Plus a real ‘us against the world’ attitude. This worked for us for almost a year. But as I eluded to last month we now have a squad driven by fear rather than a squad driven by success.

The problem is when you start the season as well as we did this creates a huge issue and puts you in a situation that Aireborough are in now. A fair distance away from fear. But going nowhere fast.

So we need to address our culture again moving forward.

An evolution of the Wolfpack:

A culture is the expression of a team’s values, attitudes and beliefs about the sport and the competition it competes in.
It determines whether for example, the teams focus is on fun, mastery, or winning. Whether it promotes individual accomplishments or team success.
The culture is grounded in an identified sense of mission and shared goals. For instance, the goal of promotion.
Culture should create norms of acceptable behavior within a team. The norms can dictate how a team behaves on and off the field, how they communicate, and how they deal with conflict.
Cultures should develop with time and circumstances but Aireborough’s hasn’t.

As a coach I can encourage a culture to develop in one of two ways.

It can emerge naturally as an expression of the individuals within the team. An ‘organic’ approach. This obviously comes with a degree of risk. It can create a team that is unfairly shaped by a few team members who may be more assertive or controlling, leaving other members feeling marginalised and powerless. This is the approach I have been attempting the last 3/4 weeks. Other than positive reinforcement, I have tried to leave the players to sort themselves out. But it isn’t working for me. Which brings us on to the second option
The second approach (more often used in sport) is for a coach to take an active (though not dominating) role in the evolution of the culture. Leading discussions, adding leadership, helping identify values, attitudes and beliefs. Looking deeper into what sort of atmosphere the squad want to have, helping to create and manage expectations, thus creating a culture where all members still feel a sense of ownership, but have guidance.

And this is our next stage.

Over the coming weeks (before the end of December) we need to start looking at the following for the second half of the season.

What values do we want to act as the foundations of our team culture?
What attitudes and beliefs about Rugby, the leagues (2 sides remember) and our teams do we want to hold?
What are our goals?
What atmosphere do we want within the club?

These are all things that need answering, but I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that we will do just that. Aireborough have come such a long way in such a short space of time, and I for one need to remember that sometimes. But let’s not live in the past, let’s look to the future.

I have decided to give the guys Monday off this week (for a number of reasons), but look forward to hopefully seeing great numbers on Wednesday, with renewed energy and desire for the rest of the season. I also look forward to hearing any opinions on what our club should look like moving forward of the back of this. Feel free to let me know.

Onwards and upwards..