Tokomaru Picton Manufacturing 2024

Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu
Treasure each small step


The team training and game plan is deliberate. I believe it is important to recognise and treasure each small step we learn or refresh. The end goal is not winning. The end goal is to enjoy the journey of small steps together and if done with the best intent, game day will reflect this.



Yesterday we were able to play the whole team and further test our structures and model (way of doing things), including WD mandates (what the WD can and can’t do). Nei ra te mihi ki a koe e Bec S! One of key roles as a WD is effectively shut down the WA or make them irrelevant. They no longer are the main centre pass taker, they struggle to cross the line or get to the top of the circle or at times cant get to the circle edge. It's exciting to see a concept and thought that was newly learnt on Thursday, put into practice and nailed.



The cool stuff

Having the full 8 ready and locked in by 2.10pm. (Mihi to Noddy for supporting albeit against the advice to keep warm and rest 😊)

Seeing genuine excitement to get going and play a game you all love

Asking Lyn to cut top (1. Allow space in the circle for big passes, 2. Offer as an option for 2nd or 3rd phase) and she adjusted and offered as an option.

Asking Wiki to go from the bench, to GK and then to C – despite starting at GS. Accepted as part of her contribution to the team. Next level adjustments in my book.



Our measures and my observations

Locking in – Achieved
1st Phase – Well achieved
Wavell humbly owns this achievement. Next steps is C-WA and then give and get


2nd Phase – Work in progress
Both Bec and Wiki offered as a first option for the 2nd phase. Being prepared and deliberate in body position and space identity, sets the scene full of opportunities for 1st Phase players to make considered decisions. Nga mihi kōrua.

Drop (GD only) - Achieved

Block (WD only) - Achieved – awesome Bec and Dolls

GA to take backline circle throw ins – Achieved


Homework – what to look forward to on Thursday

Circle defense – sides
WA – Next steps: Turning in not away when taking a pass – What is the benefit of this? Catch, land on 1 foot and pass before the second foot lands, and, catch and pass before landing
Off the ball/player full court zone – Define what this means, what is the pros and cons and make a decision whether to add this to our growing list of tools for our took kit.


Key words
Prepare, Deliberate, Adjust, Lock in, Acceptance, Block

Åku mihimihi,
Rach

Kia hiwa rā! Kia hiwa rā!



E mihi kauana ki a måtou mēmã o te hāpori, ara, ko ngā pāpā, māmā, taiohi, tamariki, poua, taua, nani, koro, me te whānui katoa.

Huge shoutout to our community, the dads, mums, teens, babies, grandparents et al. For us to do what we do, we lean into our community.



The cool stuff

We had 5 core players and 4x hāpori (our community) players contribute to our win on Saturday. A huge mihi to our hāpori of support and those that put their hand up. (Charmaine, Erica, Lisa and Tania 😊 😉 )

I observed commitment to the team considering 2x players were not familiar to our structures. It was a good start to the season with a notable 26-12 win. The second half saw great flow throughout the court, comfort to let the ball go and some great intercepts. Players of the day were Pera and Kelly. They both worked hard to confuse the space, force errors, rebounds and give and get.



Our measures and my observations

WA to take all centre passes
Comfortable where we are with this. Really high percentage rate of receiving the centre pass and giving a good 2nd phase pass.

GA to take all back line circle throw ins
Despite Lisa and Erica only learning about this before the game, this was achieved.

2nd phase attack ball
Bec F was available as 2nd phase receiver and took many of these outside of the circle.

All team key words – Prepare and Deliberate
An area to improve on. However given 2x key positions were not familiar with what we have been working on, I am comfortable in terms of where are at.

GD to call drop if required
Not applicable this game

Rebounds (Shooters and defenders)
An area to improve on (will be part of this weeks training plan. What is the best angle? What is box off? etc



Learnings

Fitness
Match fitness is different again to position fitness. An area to improve on.

Acceptance
I observed you all adjust to having almost the same number of non-team members playing as you, the core players.

We need to accept the things we cannot control. Umpire calls, who we are playing, the team members of the other team, the weather, the whitenoise on the sideline and the SWOT in our team.

I expect that we accept and work on the things we can control. your own reactions, responses, preparation and body language.

Locking in
To put this in perspective, we have 1.5 hours on Thursday and 1 hour on Saturdays together, to learn, implement, iron out the wrinkles and embed structures, non-negotiables and key messages. Can we all work to improve this, so that when we are locked in at practice and game day – we do just that - Lock in.

Homework
Captain qualities
Key words – Prepare, Deliberate, Adjust, Lock in

Tēna tātou e te whānau,

Please add:
Kelly
Bec F
Wiki