Hammett looking to build on satisfying start for Makos
Tasman assistant coach Mark Hammett, right, and head coach Leon MacDonald are steadily building their team dynamic.
No Joe Wheeler, Quentin MacDonald or Liam Squire, with Alex Ainley, Siua Halanukonuka and now Vern Fredericks all on the injured list.
That all amounts to sizeable chunk of missing firepower where the Tasman Makos' national provincial championship forward pack is concerned.
But for Tasman's new assistant rugby coach Mark Hammett, it's simply meant an opportunity for someone else to step up.
"There's obviously challenges...but we've just got to see that as a positive and really what we're trying to do as a group is learn our policies and all be able to do them well," Hammett said as the squad prepares for Saturday's fourth-round showdown with Otago in Dunedin.
Hammett's satisfied with Tasman's two-win, one-loss start to the season and despite the absence of some key tight forwards and the inevitable flow-on effect to the forwards' sometimes scratchy set phase execution, he's confident that everybody's working overtime to address any early season rust. And when you're without some of your traditional firepower, you have to play it smart.
"Tasman is traditionally a team of hard workers, as opposed to being an x-factor team - and that's not saying we don't have x-factor players - but we're more built around systems and structures and doing those passionately...and we're proud of that fact.
"One of our challenges is that, if you look at lineouts for example, that's about timing and individuals doing their job. I think we've actually got a satisfactory lineout but we've got to be a wee bit innovative.
"We don't have that genuine height that [we'd have] if say [2.04m-tall lock] Pari Pari Parkinson was available, so that just means we need to manage that. We've got young guys like Quinten Strange, who's doing an outstanding job, but that also takes time in the saddle as well."
Hammett acknowledged Tasman's tough start to their campaign, including wins over Waikato and Taranaki and a loss to Canterbury, but said they had to look past that and work even harder on improving.
"Taranaki were probably at their best in terms of firepower and we probably had at least six starters out, so it's more about having belief in yourself, whether you've been in this team for five minutes or four or five years, you've got to come in and do a job.
Hammett conceded that there was nothing in Tasman's forward play that wasn't fixable.
"There's nothing that overly concerns me, but every team's working their way around still getting a bit of a feel for the new [breakdown] laws. I think we're a team in the past where we've really liked the physical battle and that actually really excites our forwards. However, now that's not possible under the new ruck rules, so now we need to get that emotional stimulus elsewhere.
"We're only three games into it, so hopefully we get a bit more synergy amongst our group."
Tasman's spirited second half performance against Taranaki didn't go unnoticed.
"There's no lack of character, there never is. Even coming in as a new guy and seeing how they get into their work at training, there's no lack of character. It's actually about smarts and really, what we talk about, participating more often than we're spectating.
"Sometimes it's just human nature to sometimes stop on the paddock and have a look as opposed to getting into position two or three seconds earlier which makes a heck of a difference to our game."
While Hammett singled out promising young lock Strange, hooker Andrew Makalio, prop Ross Geldenhuys and even the injured "absolute team man" Ainley for some early season plaudits, there was one, he felt, that stood above the rest.
"The standout individual at the moment is [captain and flanker] Shane Christie, just in terms of leadership but moreso, I'm really big on the leaders actually enjoying their rugby and playing well first before they worry about anything else, and I think we've seen that."
