Shute Shield: Two Blues coach Sailosi Tagicakibau’s plan for rugby success

He’s the coach tasked with helping this famous rugby club turn their fortunes and he has plenty of ideas on how it can be done - and the players needed for the job.

The new Two Blues coach during his days with the Warringah Rats. Pic: Karen Watson.

New coach Sailosi Tagicakibau is on a mission to attract the “best from the west” back to the Western Sydney Two Blues ahead of the 2022 season.

Happy to fly under the radar as he works to restock the club with top talent across four grades and Colts, Tagicakibau said “success is the end goal” of his new campaign as coach of the Shute Shield club. .

And he believes he won’t have to look far for the players who can be part of the club’s eventual resurgence.

Sailosi Tagicakibau is the new Two Blues rugby coach.

“Success is the goal. If we don’t have ambition to be a success people won’t want to be part of a rebuild,” Tagicakibau said.

The former Samoan international, who joins the Two Blues from Gordon where he was director/coach of Colts, is on the search for around 100 players to run out for the club in 2022.

In 2021, prior to the season being cut short by Covid-19, the Two Blues were last on the Shute Shield ladder and without a win in their nine games.

“I have no doubt that Two Blues can be great again,” said Tagicakibau, a former Shute Shield player with Warringah Rats.

Coach Losi at the RWC2003 pic.twitter.com/oABtjz3Dis

— Two Blues Rugby (@WSTwoBlues) September 6, 2021

Tagicakibau is tasked with turning the fortunes of the club and its Shute Shield side as the Two Blues prepare to unveil their new home - the Eric Tweedale stadium at Granville Park.

“I want to try and make a difference. I am sure we can turn the results around. I am really looking forward to the challenge,’’ said Tagicakibau, who has played for Samoa, the Waikato Chiefs, in the UK with London Irish and Australian club football.

“In more recent times they haven’t been as strong as they have been in the past but they have a proud history and they wear their hearts on the sleeve.

“There is a lot of potential, they have a unique group so it’s a matter of tapping into it.’’

He said he thoroughly researched the club before he made the decision to join the Two Blues and he’s already nutting out a recruitment program which includes enticing top coaches to the club, along with players who had moved across to rugby league due to a lack opportunity.

The Two Blues in action against Eastwood in this year’s Shute Shield. Pic: Karen Watson.

“There are a lot of good players who are ex union players who have gone back to league,” he said.

“I want to make sure they have an opportunity to come back in.

“The talent is there in western Sydney and it’s now about tapping into it and knowing where to look and creating a program they all want to be a part of.

“The plan is to enticed the best from the west back to us.

“Club rugby is very tribal. Recently the Two Blues haven’t had a club that has been dominant or doing so well in the comp. We want to show that is light at the end of the tunnel.

“My first goal is to get stability in the rugby environment and off the back of that it will bring results. I’m recruiting players and coaches to be pushing hard and being competitive.’’

He said pre-season will start in or in November and is looking to attract as many players as possible to the club.

“We want four grades and three Colts,” he said.

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Originally published as Shute Shield: Two Blues coach Sailosi Tagicakibau’s plan for rugby success