Marty McKenzie's new rugby focus
Rugby Southland has cut back its numbers in its pre-academy, and there is a theory behind it which is hoped will help the Stags of the future.
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Marty McKenzie’s enthusiasm in the quest to identify and develop Southland rugby’s emerging rugby talent is obvious.
McKenzie’s nomadic playing career has come to an end. He conceded he has no plans of being roped back in for his beloved Woodlands Rugby Club in 2025.
He has other rugby matters to tend to now.
McKenzie’s playing days included provincial stints with Southland and Taranaki, as well as Super Rugby stays at the Crusaders, Chiefs, and Blues.
On top of that, he got to pull on the black jersey in the New Zealand U20s, Māori All Blacks, and Sevens setups.
The 32-year-old’s rugby focus is now on player development. He was an assistant coach during the Highlanders under-20s recent campaign.
Although for the majority of the year his key task is identifying and developing Southland’s best young talent through his teenage lead role at Rugby Southland.
He leads Rugby Southland’s pre-academy programme, which is for school-age players from Year 11 through to Year 13 who have been identified as potential future Stags.
McKenzie said in previous years they have had a group of about 20 players involved in that pre-academy setup.
Rugby Southland has changed tact now, deciding to narrow it down to a group of seven players.
McKenzie acknowledged some won’t like that approach and it could be hard on some players who miss out on being involved.
But there is a well-thought-out theory behind it.
“We used to have a group of 20, it was probably just too many. You can't really give them a lot of attention when there's 20 kids,” McKenzie told The Roar Podcast.
“You look at how many kids come out of Southland each year out of school, would there be 20 kids that are going to be Stags? We're lucky if we get one or two each year.
“It can be unfair, but we're like, right, we'll just cut it back and let's hone in on half a dozen, seven people. This year we've got seven [in the pre-academy].”
That small pre-academy group have been training over the summer months, which has included four gym sessions a week.
They have been training as part of Rugby Southland’s high-performance programme, which is effectively a wider Stags contenders’ group.
“They were getting that exposure… The progress that we've seen from those seven guys from November to now is massive.
“They've been training with men for three months. So now you put them back into a school grade, hopefully they go back into there, and they just dominate.
“Then you might reap the rewards when they leave school, instead of getting one out of the 20, you might get two or three out of the seven,” McKenzie said.
“Sometimes it can be a little bit harsh, but I think if you're looking at the future that might be a more sustainable way to go about it and more effective from us when we're using resources.
“You might hit the mark a wee bit more than you previously did.”
“It will be interesting to see because this is the first year we've actually narrowed it down so much. In that [pre-academy] group, there are three Year 13s and then there are four Year 12s.
“So those Year 12s will then go to Year 13 and then we'll maybe fill it with a couple more guys who we think, yeah, we can invest some time into that person. And try to get them as young as we can, like at that Year 11 age,” McKenzie said.
Jimmy Taylor and Presley McHugh have been part of Rugby Southland’s pre-academy programme since Year 11. Taylor and McHugh - now in their third year in that setup - are looming as potential New Zealand Secondary Schools contenders in 2025.
McKenzie said while they have narrowed the pre-academy programme down to seven players, they still keep tabs on other players and the pathway has not closed for others.
“We had a muster on Monday night for kids from 15 to 18. And then we'll pick a group of maybe, 12-15.
“We'll give them resource outside of that [pre-academy] group. So, then they're still getting something else, but we're not having a massive group in there and they're not getting bugger all.
“We're trying to still give resource to as many people as we can, but at the same time cutting it back and really honing in.”
Once players depart school they then potentially enter Rugby Southland’s main academy programme which is led by Pathways Manager Scott Eade.
At the moment that programme includes Mika Muliaina, Thomas Jennings, Jayden Broome, Jackson Hughan, Sam Mustchin, Lachlan Stevens (all Year 1), and Tayne Harvey, Gregor Rutledge, Josh Augustine, Shaun Kempton, Justin Shaw, Luca Fuller, Louis Lepionka, JJ Fisher, Henry Scott (Year 2).
Those players a split between Southland and the recently introduced satellite programme for those players now based in Dunedin.
“You're not guaranteed to be put in the next academy. And those [pre-academy] boys are well aware of that.
“But they will have discussions with those three Year 13 boys once they get to the end. Like, right, what's your progression from here?
“Are you going to go to Dunedin, or are you going to stay in Invercargill? If you're going to be in Dunedin, yep, you can go into that academy. If you're going to be down here, yep, you can go in that one.
“If they decide that we're going to go in a different direction, then just fall back into going to play club or go to uni.
“There's still that Southland under-19 stuff so there's boys who are up in Dunedin who aren't in the academy that will still play for the Southland under-19s, because obviously you can't have the whole team in the academy.
“But even though you're not in the academy there's still a pathway there for you if you really want it. You just got to go a different route to get there.”
On tip of McKenzie’s work in the teenage space he has worked with the Stags in a as a skills coach and can often be seen running the water on game days at Rugby Park in Invercargill.