Winged in 2017, Hawke's Bay Magpies fly away again under the new team of coaches

Mark Ozich never embarked on training a rugby team, but when he was injured in the spine, he had to find a way to get involved in the game that he loved. Coaching seemed to be a natural progression for someone who would analyze the performance of athletes in his childhood. This season, he became head coach of Hawke's Bay Pie. His team qualified for the semi-finals and was eliminated by Otago at the last minute. Ozich thinks that there is a huge future ahead of us.

"You are useless bastards", resonates in the stands.

The fresh spring air swirls around the crowd at Napier's McLean Park on a Wednesday night. It's their province, their team and these fans will make known their feelings. The Magpies are down 14 points against Northland.

Coach Mark Ozich and his assistant, Josh Syms, cross the bleachers at half-time to get to the locker rooms, taunts pitched in their direction.

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"I do not know what's going through my head because I have to go through it, I'm just trying to stay focused on what [the team] must do, "said Ozich later.

Ozich keeps his balance and puts himself in their place.

"These are tough years for fans, so I understand, they hold us responsible."

Hawkes Bay fans have become accustomed to being the darling of the championship competition, Grade 2 of the National Rugby Competition – currently known as the Miter 10 Cup.

Since the championship division in the first division in 2011, the Magpies have had excellent performances as a championship team: they have participated in four finals, won twice and have always qualified for the semi-finals. .

That was until 2017, when they won only two games and ended up penultimate in the points chart. The province and the fans did not like. With a revamped player schedule and a new head coach, 2018 was the year the team had to prove itself to its fans.

It was Ozich who headed the charge, otherwise he was likely to slow down his coaching career.

Back in the locker room at the Northland game, the hour was critical. Ozich distributed a dose of self-confidence. Players had to know that their coach knew that they could do it.

"We do not shout, we do not shout," says Ozich.

"We propose a simple plan."

The team reversed the trend and won 14 points. They also returned the crowd to cheer and sing. "Come on the bay, Black, white, okay, come on the bay."

All is forgiven.

"Our audience at Hawke's Bay is very passionate, we have a very good public and we hold them accountable," said Ozich.

"We can not control what they say or do, what we control is how we react to it."

Ozich has not always dreamed of being a trainer. He was always interested in sports performances and loved watching Michael Jordan and understanding "what made him different from other players". So, in retrospect, coaching was a natural progression, making the most of people.

He played for Counties-Manakau, was semi-professional in Scotland while practicing his teaching job.

But as fate would have done, he had a major spinal injury, resulting in a vertebral fusion. This prevented him from playing the game that he liked, so he said that he would start coaching.

And since then, Ozich has woven his teaching career and coaching career, combining the skills of both to achieve results.

Ozich considers himself lucky to have by his side Syms, who is also a teacher. They think that a team should be managed in the same way, with two fundamental pillars to succeed: people and skills.

"It all depends on how you treat people, you know, you build relationships with the players, the staff, the community, and then make sure you continue to work on the skills.

"You have to keep the dialogue open, we need dialogue to be open, because we know we will not succeed all the time."

It's important to remember that good people drive good rugby players, says Ozich.

He has a holistic approach.

"I think that rugby is like any place of work, people fight, it's about relationships, money or whatever." What we can do, it's provide them with a supportive environment. "

That's why the management group is a diverse group, made up of players from Super Rugby, Rugby Club, Maori and Pasifika. This therefore ensures that everyone has someone in the leadership group on which he is comfortable to support him.

"We want this group to be a diverse group of players because everyone has the opportunity to talk to someone and influence them in a positive way, all of them mingle with different people and have all of them." An opportunity to express oneself. "

"We try to create an environment of honesty, responsibility and mutual trust."

Ozich wants to be with the magpies for the long term

"My priority is to do the best job possible, I do not focus on what else I can do, I have a lot to learn."

"If I improve them, they will become better players."

Brad Weber, who assumed the role of co-captain alongside Gareth Evans after Ash Dixon's season was halted due to an injury, believes that Ozich was the catalyst for the change of the team.

"He really cares about us, not just as players, but as people, I want to play for him," said Weber.

He attributes Ozich's philosophy of developing strong relationships within the team.

Under Ozich's leadership, the team spent a lot of time developing its own values ​​and figuring out what it wanted to achieve. There were group sessions, weekends spent together and barbecues – for which Weber provided cauliflower and broccoli salads, Dixon brought the crayfish that he had caught and licked them. Ben May deer hunting accessory carrying venison.

Back-half Weber found the 2017 season tough for Hawke's Bay: he had just fractured a femur that had been worth it to be ruled out of the Super Rugby season with the Chiefs and did not want to see it. was not as fit as usual.

His game was not as accurate as he had been and he sometimes had trouble making sure the team did not behave very well.

Weber finally found mental reassurance with his frustrations towards the end of the season when Dr. Paul Wood came over and spoke to the team. Wood had changed his life after spending time in jail for killing his drug dealer.

This sparked a glimmer of hope in Weber's gray matter, and he wanted to be part of the team as he turned around instead of seeing what other options he had.

Weber thinks his decisions paid off. 2018 has been a good year. He was proud of the way the team played and the way she kept her head up. In addition, Maori New Zealand are already preparing for the 2019 season and where the team can go.

"I'm very proud, we could have won more games, but our attitude has been remarkable most of the time when we play."

Ozich, like Weber, thinks the young team has a bright future in the years to come.

"I still do not think we have played our best rugby yet."