Former Wallaby Mark Gerrard among eight new Shute Shield coaches

The next generation of Australian rugby coaches will be looking to make their mark in the Shute Shield this year, with a former Wallaby flyer taking the reigns at a famous beachside club.

Shute Shield captains ahead of the 2019 season. Picture: Stu Walmsley/Rugby Australia

• AAC’s selfless condition for WC selection
• Crusaders to ditch ‘offensive’ name

After 18 years as a professional player, former Wallaby Mark Gerrard headlines a new generation of Shute Shield coaches for the coming season that kicks off on Saturday.

Gerrard has taken over at Warringah Rats and is among eight new head coaches being blooded in first grade in 2019.

Sydney University’s title-winning coach Rob Taylor, and Manly’s Brian Melrose remain from last season, while Darren Coleman has moved from Warringah to Gordon, opening up a spot for Gerrard at his beloved Rats.

Pauli Taumoepeau (Eastern Suburbs), Ben Batger (Eastwood), Nick Hensley (Northern Suburbs), Hadley Jackson (Randwick), Don Mackinnon (Southern Districts), Mark Gudmunson (West Harbour) and Joel Rivers (Western Sydney Two Blues) will all make their head coaching debuts this year.

Shute Shield captains ahead of the 2019 season. Picture: Stu Walmsley/Rugby Australia

“There is a fair bit of pressure, you can’t shy away from it,” Gerrard said.

“But I’m not going to let it dictate how I think or feel. It’s what we’re looking to achieve week by week.

“You’re going to see us move the ball, that’s our mentality, and that might be high risk to some people but we’ve got a particular policy around what we do, when we do it and how we do it.

“Having so many coaches throughout my playing career, learning from good coaches and so-called not great coaches, I don’t think there is a good or bad coach, I think they just have their own ways.

“I learned a lot from every coach, and I’ve taken small elements from them and implemented that into what I think a good coach should be.

Gerrard in action for the Wallabies.

“I like the way DC [Coleman] structured our attack, I like how Eddie Jones was so hard on us about perfection at training, because that correlates to how you play in a game.

“And having coached with a few Kiwis in my last few seasons in Japan, they’re really big on small detail; the bigger picture stuff like scoring tries will take care of itself in the end, but it’s how we get there.”

Taylor is well aware his side will have a target on their back after storming to win last year’s premiership.

“Last year we were probably down the ladder of people thinking Uni’s going to be a real threat, so that was a nice position to be in,” Taylor said.

“But at the end of the day, Sydney Uni has such high standards as a club that you still feel that pressure, it’s not like the weight is off us.

Eight of the 11 clubs will have new coaches. Picture: Stu Walmsley/Rugby Australia

“There is that same expectation, the feeling is the same, but we’ve probably got a few more targets on us.

“Again, Uni always has targets.

“That’s what makes the club quite successful; there is no excuses for a rollercoaster, you’ve just got to be the best.

“If you don’t have the best players, you’ve got to find a way.

“Because we’ve had quite a few changes in our team from last year, it feels like starting again.”