Rogers talks about NZ experiences
High-performance is all about perseverance
Former All Blacks analyst and Blues assistant coach Alistair Rogers has been talking about his time in the high-performance environment in New Zealand rugby.
Rogers, from Wales, shared in New Zealand's 2011 Rugby World Cup triumph and worked in the post-Cup era in which Steve Hansen took charge of the side in the run-in to a first successful defence of the World Cup.
He had experience in China, Samoa, Japan and Ireland before getting involved in New Zealand.
After the 2011 success in which New Zealand beat France 8-7 to win the World Cup final at Eden Park, Rogers recalled how Hansen turned to seek perfection in their quest to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.
Being the most dominant team in the history of the game was the goal as he told the Irish podcast Sleep Eat Perform Repeat.
"I remember sitting down with the coaching group and Steve was saying: 'We want to be able to do something that no one else has done'. I remember that moment clearly. That was the moment when I went: 'I want to be part of this'," he said.
Rogers said in the northern hemisphere where he grew up, there was a lot of caution among players about admitting to having high aspirations or big visions of what they wanted to do.
"You can get brought back down to earth very quickly. For me to be part of a team that would sit there and go: 'We want to do something that no one else has done…' We just got excited, you could feel the energy in the room and everyone going: 'Let's do this'."
Rogers defined high performance as being a 24/7 mindset.
"If you've got a young kid in school who is maybe not the brightest in school but is really pushing his boundaries and learning and discovering then who is to say that they're not high performing in that environment.
"I think that's it for me, it's to reach your potential in your environment that you step into," he said.
Rogers got involved in the analysis side of the game after completing an IT degree and from the position of a middle-of-the-road player in Wales. He got into the performance analysis side of things and acted on his father's suggestion that if he wanted to learn about rugby he should go to New Zealand.
It proved a steep learning curve.
"I thought to myself, 'I don't know anything about the game!’"
The important lesson had been to keep on persevering in advancing in the game.
"Everything is going to be okay, it'll work out, you'll find a way.
"New Zealand Rugby do a great job in coach development but they don't teach you about when it isn't going right, how are you going to be?
"I think that message to the young fellow, that everything is going to be all right would just give a bit of guidance to know that things will work out if you just keep believing and keep being authentic to yourself," he said.