Assistant coach Goodman key part of Makos' player development
Tasman Makos assistant coach Andrew Goodman has been instrumental in the team's development this season.
The Tasman Makos' player succession plan appears well established.
Whatever happens in Saturday's Mitre 10 Cup premiership semifinal against Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, a new crop of young Makos look set to carry the torch.
For Tasman assistant coach Andrew Goodman, that process began months before the opening whistle in mid-August and as the guiding force behind the squad's pre-season preparations, the former Makos captain has been delighted with the players' progress.
In particular, he's been enthused by the efforts of several players who have emerged from the Tasman club season to play meaningful roles in this year's campaign.
"The local boys had a pretty good pre-season campaign together and it was always going to take a bit of time to get all the Super guys back from their different sides and getting our club boys meshed in with them ... especially with the Crusaders going right through to the final," Goodman said.
"I think the depth has definitely grown this year and being able to play some of the boys through those early rounds, coming towards this end of the season we've got good depth and competition for spots, so that's good.
"I think it goes back to work ethic, specially with guys like Ethan Blackadder. He's been massive all season, not only in the gym but the individual skill work he did in his individual time around the tackle and breakdown and catch and pass, you can see the growth he's had this year in his game and he's one of our first picked this year.
"He's really made that six jersey his own and that's just credit to him personally really, the way he's trained through that whole club window."
Goodman said that young locks Pari Pari Parkinson and Shannon Frizell were others to have stepped successfully out of clubland into the representative environment.
"Just the consistent game time Pari's had over the last few weeks has been great for him. He had a bit of a disrupted club season with a couple of injuries and some concussion issues, but I think over the last few weeks with a consistent run of game time he's really stood up as lineout leader and his play round the field's been outstanding."
Young backs Alex Nankivell and Will Jordan have shouldered significant responsibilities.
"Nanks has really had to step up this year in the midfield. With Davey [Havili] obviously moving into that All Black frame, he's had to take a bit of a leadership role.
"He's only a young guy but we've got a pretty young backline this year, so I think his leadership around the defence and off the field he's really taken ownership in that and he's really grown as a player each week as well.
"For a 19-year-old, [Jordan's] awareness of the game and tactics are up there with anyone I've seen at his age."
First five-eighth Mitch Hunt had also settled comfortably into his new role.
"He's been really driving the standards around attack and around our game management really and that game time he got with the Crusaders earlier this year has been great for him.
"He's come back and has been awesome for us, he's really taken ownership of running the attack and he takes the ball flat at the line and that's creating [opportunities] for others around him."
Goodman didn't believe that last week's heavy loss to Counties Manukau would have any bearing on their semifinal performance. Instead, it gave various squad members the chance to rest and others and other an opportunity for valuable game time.
"I think it was more about making sure we had the whole squad with some really good minutes under their belts heading into this finals period.
"Taranaki's going to be a massive challenge up there. They're a great team and they've obviously got good confidence from their Ranfurly Shield victory against Canterbury.
"They're on top of their game, they've got threats across the park, but we're confident we can go up there and do the job. We know we're going to have to play our best game of the year to do so, but we're building well and looking forward to the challenge."
Discipline will be critical.
"You can't give teams easy exits out of their zone or an opportunity for points or to kick into the corner, especially with Taranaki's set piece. So we're going to have to be obviously aggressive around the tackle and breakdown ... but we're just going to have to make sure our discipline and decision-making is really good around that area."
