THEMING – BRINGING STORY TELLING TO YOUR TEAM
How do you craft stories or ideas into your environment? Theming in a sporting sense is weaving an idea or a subject through a campaign that will help to bring unity and connection through symbolism whether verbal or visual.
In the history of Super Rugby, one team has stood above the rest in their use of Themes. That team is the standard setting Crusaders. This side has won 10 titles since their inception in 1996. Yet the first two seasons were a struggle for the then Canterbury Crusaders. New Zealand Rugby had five sides enter Super Rugby and they created five franchises where provinces would join together. Player movement around the franchises was also new to the fledgling professional competition. The Crusaders had an identity problem. They didn’t know who they were or what they stood for.
Enter Wayne Smith. The coaching guru who would eventually earn the nickname “The Professor” has a knack for bringing teams together, finding out what they stand for, the “why” they exist, “why” they will dig a little deeper than the opposition in the contest.
Themes that Smith adopted were Arete and Kaizen. Arete is a Greek concept where excellence is king. Kaizen is a Japanese concept which means continuous small improvements. These themes may seem gimmicky and if not delivered in the right way can be lost in translation.
After Smith laid the foundation for the Crusaders to surge into significance, he won positions in the All Blacks as Head Coach in 2000-2001 where he resigned after failing to regain the Bledisloe Cup. He then left New Zealand shores for Northampton Saints in England.
In 2004, the All Blacks came calling and Smith aligned with Head Coach Graeme Henry and fellow Assistant Steve Hansen. It’s no secret that a disastrous 2005 Tri Nations campaign bought the All Blacks hierarchy to ask what the team stood for. With Smith in the room, his knack and belief in theming to the fore, the scene was set for the side re-set its values and reasons for being and over a 7 year run build to World Cup glory on home soil.
Following the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Smith embarked on a two-year cycle with the Chiefs franchise. Constant under achievers, the Chiefs tapped into the Maori heritage of their region and preseason activities included hitch-hiking across the width of the area in order to build a stronger connection with the community. Super Rugby Titles in 2012 and 2013 added to Smith’s Legacy before the All Blacks called him back to claim further glory at the 2015 World Cup.
Meanwhile, at the Crusaders, current Head Coach Scott Robertson has learned his lessons off Smith well and now has completed a hat-trick of titles as a player and now coach. Robertson divulged on The 1014 Rugby YouTube channel that he had chosen the Rumble in the Jungle Muhammed Ali vs George Foreman fight as the theme for their 2017 season. Ali had last held the World Heavyweight Title 10 years prior. The Crusaders had not won a Title for a decade. Ali upset the boxing world. The theme was set.
Theming works at community level sports as well as the elite end of the spectrum. I have successfully used a theme for a final’s series. In the AFL code, our team wanted to dominate the size of the field on opposition possession – we wanted a small field. Our theme was Shaka Zulu. The great Zulu War Chief employed a Bullhorns tactics in his warfare. His best and most experienced warriors were the head. The young warriors were the horns. On opposition ball our team was able to make the field small and our most experienced players – mainly positioned in our midfield, were a constant of pressure around the ball.
I encourage coaches to employ theming in their season plans.