Hawks old boy in coaching role

BY ALAN APTED

The once-proud Mangere East Hawks rugby league club has turned to old boy and former Warrior Tea Ropati to help pull it out of the dumps.

The 44-year-old veteran of 11 internationals and 203 first grade games in Britain, Australia and New Zealand is seen as one person who can help give mana back to the premiers and at the same time help lay the foundations for future success.

Ropati has been offered a coaching role with the club before but only now has he been able to commit himself fully.

"I’m really excited," Ropati says.

"I’m passionate about my rugby league and always intended coaching but I couldn’t get involved because I was committed to my sons Bradley, 16, George, 13, Wendall, 12 Harris, 11, and their rugby league."

Things changed when Ropati bumped into Hawks coach Charlie Brothers just before Christmas.

"Charlie first asked me to join him at the Hawks two years ago. I had too many things on my plate and wasn’t ready then. But when I bumped into him before Christmas I told him I was ready."

Ropati says he spoke to his sons about the job and got their okay before finally agreeing to the offer.

Being co-coach fits in perfectly with his family commitments, he says.

"The attraction of my appointment, and I’ve spoken about this with Charlie, is that as co-coach I have far greater flexibility than I would had I been solely in charge."

Brothers can’t believe his luck.

"This is great news for us," he says. "I’ve been trying to get Tea on board for the last two years and finally it’s happened.

"The club hasn’t been performing in recent seasons and we’re making concerted efforts to change that. We want to establish a new culture where respect for the club, the jersey and the game is paramount.

"Tea can help with that. He has been a professional for 14 years and played at the highest levels."

Ropati played for the Otahuhu Leopards before moving to the Hawks.

When he and his brothers Peter, John, Joseph and Iva were with the Hawks, they set a club record for the most brothers to play in a premier club match.

They only ever played that one premier game together. Ropati says he loved it and likened it to the times they used to play in the backyard.

Ropati started his professional career with the Newcastle Knights in 1988.

He wasn’t there for long before the English club St Helens lured him to the United Kingdom.

He was there for six seasons and played 129 matches.

He returned to Auckland in 1995 to join the Warriors in their NRL debut season and played 72 games for them in three seasons.

As a coach, Ropati says he’s now better equipped than he was during his first dabble as the coach of the BarterCard Cup side the Eastern Tornadoes.

That was in his first season out of the game and he confesses he wasn’t really ready for the job.

But he was juggling so many things at the time he had to put coaching on the back-burner.

Ropati says he’s better prepared now.

He finishes a psychology degree at the end of this year and believes that’s going to help him communicate with his players and get the best out of them.

"I’d like to think that one of my strengths will be to get players to do the specialised jobs their positions require.

"Some guys think they are not as good as they really are," Ropati says.

"If I can get them to do just the specifics of what their positions require, I believe I will get them to be better footballers."

He has played under many of the game’s leading coaches and says he brings a little of each to his own style.

But the one who stands above the pack has never coached in the NRL or the Super League.

"If there’s one person I’d like to emulate it’s Wally Green, an old coach of mine at Mangere East.

"He was one of the best coaches I’ve ever played under.

"He just had a great way of being able to communicate.

"He had a great football mind. I learned a lot from him strategy- wise and being able to get the best out of your football team.

"His energy and passion rubbed off on me."

The Hawks are now in pre-
season training and Ropati already likes what he sees.

"One thing I’ve noticed at the last few training sessions we’ve had is that there have been quite a few rugby boys come over from union.

"I can’t believe how much talent some of these guys have got.

"With that kind of talent I reckon it won’t be long before talent scouts come knocking."

- © Fairfax NZ News