NRL 2021: All Blacks’ Steve Hansen backs Trent Barrett for Canterbury Bulldogs rebuild

Steve Hansen opens up on how he’s involved in Canterbury’s rebuild, in his only interview since being appointed as the club’s high performance consultant.

Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is backing Trent Barrett to lead the Bulldogs back to glory.

Don’t run. Don’t hide. Own it.

This is the Bulldogs way out of the NRL cellar, according to Steve Hansen, considered by many as the greatest All Blacks coach of all time.

In his only interview since being appointed as the high performance consultant for Canterbury last year, Hansen has revealed how he has been supplying the Bulldogs with the principles of the legendary All Blacks to turn the club around after years of failure.

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The Bulldogs have endured a rough start to the 2021 season.

In the wake of the Dogs’ 52-18 loss to the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, Hansen also endorsed coach Trent Barrett as the man to lead the club out of the doldrums.

“Everybody in the Bulldogs would say they’re not where they want to be, but you can’t just snap your fingers and get there,’’ Hansen said.

“It’s not just a one-year thing — it’s about success for the rest of the club’s history.

“You’re trying to change something that hasn’t been working for a while now, going off results on the footy park.

“It’s about putting strategies in place, from the board to CEO, to coaching staff, be it in recruitment in players and staff.

“The recruitment of Trent was the first part and now it’s about supporting him.

“He’s got the patience, he’s got the work ethic and knowledge to implement what needs to happen.

“The only reason he wouldn’t be successful would be the fact that the alignment with management wouldn’t work and, from what I can see, they seem to be pretty aligned on where they want to go.”

Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is backing Trent Barrett to lead the Bulldogs back to glory.

ALL BLACKS TO BELMORE

Under Hansen‘s guidance, the All Blacks only lost 10 games in 108 matches, resulting in them being named World Rugby’s team of the year from 2012 to 2017.

He first met Barrett in 2019, when the young coach spent a week inside All Blacks camp, immersing himself in an attempt to upskill as an NRL mentor.

Their relationship led Barrett to asking Hansen to work in an overarching advisory role when he was appointed head coach of the Dogs last October.

From phone calls, text messages and Zoom chats over the past six months, Barrett and Hansen have spent every week this year working on the strategies required to pull Canterbury out of the bottom-four mire.

“With the All Blacks, it’s not about being happy where you are. It’s about trying to be better every day,’’ Hansen said.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the Bulldogs or the All Blacks, the principle is the same.

“You’ve got to want to get out of bed and work hard to get better.

“Not every day are you going to achieve that, but if you’re striving to, you’ve got a better chance to get to where you need to get to.

“He’s going through a tough time at the moment, so it’s about staying positive and making sure the processes are right.”

Trent Barrett spent a week inside All Blacks camp in 2019. Picture: Bulldogs Digital

BELIEF

Without a victory this season, the Bulldogs are a team chasing wins — and with that, confidence. Hansen says he likes what he sees in one particular area that is crucial to the Dogs recovery mission.

“People can do extraordinary things when they believe,” Hansen said.

“They can do nothing when they don’t.

“The (Canterbury) players believe in the process, they understand they’ve got things to do themselves and I think that’s part of an alignment.

“Everyone has to be aligned and heading down the same path.

“For some clubs, the path is longer than others.

“Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, who have allowed things to go the wrong way for probably longer than they should have, the road back to where they want to be, is going to be longer than what it should be.

“You can’t change that, that’s what it is. You can’t run away, you can’t hide from it.

“You’ve got to own it and there’s going to be some tough days, but out of the adversity, you’re going to build something that is going to last.

“You want to build something that’s going to last not for one year, but forever.”

For Steve Hansen it doesn’t matter if you’re the Bulldogs or the All Blacks, you always need to try to be better. Picture: Getty Images

EYE FROM AFAR

From his home in Wanaka, New Zealand, Hansen watches every Bulldogs game live.

He will send a text message to Barrett after a game, or wait a few days, depending on the message he wants to drive home.

“They’ve had a rough start,’’ Hansen said.

“When you’re trying to change something and you’ve been struggling, the positive of having these tough games is they’re getting a true reflection of where they are against the best.

“That’s the reality. You can’t walk away from reality.

“Most of the teams they’ve played this year will most likely make the top eight and certainly the Panthers, Rabbitohs and Storm will be in the top four.”

LEAGUE OR UNION

Aside from his focus on helping fix the Dogs with Barrett, Hansen has previously interacted in league circles. He says he owes a debt of gratitude to Wayne Bennett, while admitting he has great respect for rugby league players.

“I like the game. It’s never been a game I haven’t liked,’’ Hansen said. “I think the principles of it are good, it takes a lot of character to play the game and it’s not an easy game to play.

“There’s been some great rugby league players that I’ve enjoyed watching.

“You can go back to Ray Price, Andrew Johns was an outstanding player, Brad Fittler and Trent Barrett was a good player himself.

“The other guy I’ve had a lot of time with in rugby league was Wayne Bennett.

“He helped me a lot when I first started coaching.

“I met him and Craig Bellamy at a coaching conference in Australia a while ago. We hit it off and enjoyed having chats with each other ever since.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: All Blacks’ Steve Hansen backs Trent Barrett for Canterbury Bulldogs rebuild