Stephen Larkham settled as Brumbies coach but knows match control is out of his hands

STEPHEN Larkham always felt in control as a player but it took some time to get the feel for coaching and a new Brumbies era.

Brumbies New Director of Rugby Laurie Fisher and Brumbies new Head Coach Stephen Larkham at the Brumbies announcement of their new coaching structure in Canberra.

STEPHEN Larkham always felt in control on a football field.

With George Gregan riding shotgun for most of his career — and often without the need to talk to each other — the duo always knew which chess piece to move.

“Irrespective of what was thrown out: referee, weather, opposition, we just knew we could control it on the field,” Larkham says.

“For me, there were certain things I knew I was good at and I knew the team responded well to certain plays and patterns. I would control the game.

“It was a feel thing. But it was all my own head. I didn’t necessarily have to tell anyone else what I was doing.”

It was a highly successful “feel thing”, with Larkham guiding both the Wallabies and Brumbies through the last period of sustained success in Australian rugby.

Fast forward a decade from the last Super Rugby title in Canberra, however, and on Saturday night Larkham will take his first step into a similar — but altogether different - exercise in control.News_Rich_Media: Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham admits he has a plan in place to stop Queensland Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper when the teams clash in this weekend's Super Rugby opener.

The all-time Wallaby great will sit in the Brumbies box for his first game as head coach, having taken over from the departed Jake White.

Three years as an assistant coach means Larkham isn’t going in cold, but the step up forced the 39-year-old to first face several pressing questions.

Namely, could Larkham’s glittering legacy in Australian rugby be tarnished if his coaching career fails, and more pertinently, can he get what was inside his head out, and into the minds of others?

“Some people that are great at what they do, they don’t really understand why they are great. It’s just like a gift,” former Wallaby teammate John Eales said.

“With Stephen, I think he genuinely understands why he was good. Having someone like that, who is able to impart his knowledge, is really valuable.”

A foundation member of a Brumbies culture fuelled on player power, Larkham said he always understood the mechanics of his talent, and senior players were “heavily involved” in building gameplans. It was coaching 101, and based on results, Larkham and co all got distinctions.

“The difference with coaching is you aren’t on the field, so you have to make sure the players are well prepared and have that ability to control the game,” Larkham says.

“Now you have to understand the different personalities in the team, understand the make-up of the team and understand which players can do what.

“For example, with Matty Toomua, just making sure I understand his strengths and weaknesses, and what he offers to the team and how to help him best prepare himself for the game.”

For a guy once so introverted his nickname “Bernie” was based on a dead guy, the art of sharing his immense rugby vision has taken time. But Gregan, who coaches occasionally in Canberra as well, says Larkham’s voice is now strong and effective.News_Rich_Media: Brumbies attack coach Stephen Larkham has criticised former Englishman Sam Burgess' defection from rugby league to union, insisting the 25-year-old will have a tough time gaining selection for the 2015 World Cup.

“He has just grown so much and he is very good, particularly with his messaging and getting his point across. The players obviously respect him, they listen and they play for him,” Gregan said.

Larkham didn’t plan a coaching future until a stint in Japan, as effectively a player-coach at Ricoh, first planted the seeds. He enjoyed it, and when a backs coach job in Canberra was offered for 2011, Larkham decided it was a good chance to return home; in both a geographical and rugby sense.

A turbulent first year followed, with Andy Friend fired in an ugly coup and the club scraping rock bottom on the field. Gregan believes it was the making of Larkham the coach: “Sometimes you learn the most in disappointing and difficult times.”

White’s arrival changed the club, and set a coaching course for Larkham as well. The South African’s original pitch for the job actually included Larkham taking over when White finished in 2015.

That arrived two years early, but with the feet of respected Brumbies director Laurie Fisher still under the desk next to him, Larkham felt he was ready.

Did Larkham worry a move into the dog-eat-dog coaching world could ruin shiny 101-Test, two Super Rugby title playing legacy?

“It wasn’t something I considered when I came into coaching, but I have thought about it,” Larkham admits.

“I guess for me it is achieving the most I can in whatever I do. Playing wise I had a good career, and a very enjoyable career. I guess you can say I got the most out of my body for that period.

“I want to do the same now with coaching. It’s a new era of my life.”