I can only imagine what it took for you to say that.
With the limited numbers and resources he has done very well. But, in honesty, The Royal ethos has always been about the development of the young man. Kenny, just bought into that and applied it to rugby.
I don't know anything about the school ethos, but Kenny talks the talk and walks the walk.
Same right through the school Snipe and has been for years, yes they like academic results but not at the expense of turning out androids they always try to turn out a bunch of individuals that think for themselves and will try anything.
Not many schools can say they had an armed siege at one stage over a headmaster stopping the half day on Wednesdays !
“That made me feel very special and underlined to me that Ulster is more than a team, it is a community and a rugby family" Rory Best
Rooster wrote:Coaching does make a difference but so also do numbers, it will always be difficult for the likes of RSA with 700 total pupils, half are girls so you are automatically down to 350 and if you take it that school cup teams in general are composed of the last 2 years at school you finish with about 80 lads to pick a side from as opposed I'm sure to more than double that from MCB. Remember other schools also do other sports.
Yes other schools compete but it is on a more cyclical basis when they happen to have a decent batch of lads in a particular year group and is no way consistent from year to year and school to school hence you get a good couple of years from Ballymena or Limavady or any of the others for that matter
In my opinion, Kenny Hooks is the best schools coach in Ulster in the last 30 years. His entire coaching philosophy in terms of development of the player as a young man is exemplary. Therein lies the secret of RSA punching above their weight. Now that is some mouthful from a Portora man
I may never forgive you for writing that snipe......
Fermain - either the site's been hacked and someone has taken over Snipe's account, or the guy has flipped!
I won't mention DW as he strongly divides opinion (despite the fact that Methody hadn't won a thing in years until he took over), but shirley McGlock must come into some people's reckoning as a schools coach? He did pretty well with the girls at Inst, did he not?
I'm not arguing -
I'm just explaining why I'm right
Rooster wrote:Coaching does make a difference but so also do numbers, it will always be difficult for the likes of RSA with 700 total pupils, half are girls so you are automatically down to 350 and if you take it that school cup teams in general are composed of the last 2 years at school you finish with about 80 lads to pick a side from as opposed I'm sure to more than double that from MCB. Remember other schools also do other sports.
Yes other schools compete but it is on a more cyclical basis when they happen to have a decent batch of lads in a particular year group and is no way consistent from year to year and school to school hence you get a good couple of years from Ballymena or Limavady or any of the others for that matter
In my opinion, Kenny Hooks is the best schools coach in Ulster in the last 30 years. His entire coaching philosophy in terms of development of the player as a young man is exemplary. Therein lies the secret of RSA punching above their weight. Now that is some mouthful from a Portora man
I may never forgive you for writing that snipe......
It was a toss up between him and Tom Elliott until I remembered that was more than 30 years ago.
Cap'n Grumpy wrote:Fermain - either the site's been hacked and someone has taken over Snipe's account, or the guy has flipped!
I won't mention DW as he strongly divides opinion (despite the fact that Methody hadn't won a thing in years until he took over), but shirley McGlock must come into some people's reckoning as a schools coach? He did pretty well with the girls at Inst, did he not?
Wells was not a great schools rugby coach. He was a very successful schools rugby coach, but the two are not the same.
Davy Wells is a great schools coach and a gentleman . Watching him coaching first year pupils is an education in itself. DW is in his 70s now and he still turns up on a Saturday morning before anybody else with a big smile on his face and full of boundless energy. Watching how DW takes kids through drills and how he dissects every move goes a long way to explaining why his teams enjoyed so much success. Even now you will find DW on hand alongside his son at scrum drills with the current senior squad fine tuning things. DW never discourages kids if things go wrong but he gives them the mental tools to improve and make things better and most of all he tells them to enjoy playing the game. There are a few ' great 'schools coaches in the modern era and I would include Brian Mclaughlin in the same esteem. All coaches who give up their own time in schools around the province every week desrve great credit but DW...in my humble opinion.....is a true great.
Snipe Watson wrote:
It was a toss up between him and Tom Elliott until I remembered that was more than 30 years ago.
Ah, old Tom "I smell smoke' Elliott. It was a joy to run around the swamp at Portora under his coaching. We had a decent under-14s team (went the season unbeaten - bar our opening game) back in the 80s but then all the boarders failed their O-Levels, left the school - and we went back to old Portora ways of getting stuffed by everyone east of the Bann. Rowing was more the sport at Portora.
Lol..... Ya got me:-P....... I should have known better! ..... Saturday sees the Schools Cup 3rd round matches kicking in....Sullivan should be well prepped after their Portugal camp as everyone else has been soldiering through the mudbaths around the province! MCB hit Portugal in December and it appears to be an excellent set up. First up at Pirrie is Limavady Grammar so a big test against a good side with a big pack. Hope the stormy weather holds off a bit! Then it's pub time and Ireland beating Wales!
