Wellington Representative Coaches Named for 2019

The coaching and management groups for five of Wellington’s high-performance representative teams have been named for the 2019 season.

The Pride coaching group, led by head coach Ross Bond, is in its third year together and will be aiming for the top prize in women’s provincial rugby after winning the Farah Palmer Championship last season.

Bond has been really impressed with the number of players who have been attending early morning training sessions over the past few months.

“We also had 56 girls trial for us on June 1 and you can see the excitement amongst the group who want to be part of the Pride,” he said,

“The exciting thing for us is they are putting the work in and you can really see it.”

Bond’s final squad will not be finalised until the end of the club season.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces and we have built some real depth so there is going to be some tough decisions,” Bond added.

The Under-19 coaching group, with the addition of Steve So’oialo, is in their second year together as they look to go back to back as the winners of the Hurricanes Region title and build toward a strong performance at the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Tournament in Taupo in September.

Head coach Dion Waller has stressed the importance of the wider squad being a really close group with the same collective goals.

“We want the players to have a real pathway towards making the New Zealand Under-20 squad and the Wellington Lions,” he said.

“We have a group who are already involved in high performance training with the Lions and they are getting a taste of what it is like to be involved in a professional culture.”

Waller currently has 35 players involved in the squad who will get their chance to push for a place in the final 25-man squad for the national tournament when it is named in late August.

Once again the Development side will play a major part in preparing players to step up to the Lions squad and be involved in the Mitre 10 Cup programme if needed.

Paddy Gough joins the coaching group from 2018 as an assistant to head coach Jeremy Little.

The Development team kicks off its representative programme against Wairarapa Bush before they meet Wanganui, Taranaki B, Hawke’s Bay Saracens (twice), Tasman Development and Auckland B.

Although their campaigns start later in the year our Mens and Womens Sevens management teams have also been confirmed.  After the TECT National Sevens Tournament moved from January to December in 2018, these two management groups will take their learnings and look to maximise the opportunities presented within the short representative sevens window.

The following representative management groups have been named:

Wellington Pride Head Coach: Ross Bond; Forwards Coach: Brendan Reidy; Backs Coach: Matt Poutoa; Skills coach: Aaron Jones; Manager: Mareena Conley

Wellington Development Head Coach: Jeremey Little; Assistant Coach: Paddy Gough; Assistant Coach: Kent Harris; Manager: Bryce Keith

Wellington Under 19 Head Coach: Dion Waller; Assistant Coach: Riki Flutey; Scrum Coach: Eugene Smith; Manager: Dustin Brattle

Wellington Men’s Sevens Head Coach: Dan Farani; Assistant Coach: Ryan Piper; Manager: Mike Parker

Wellington Women’s Sevens Head Coach: Charles Aliva; Assistant Coach: Greg Foe; Manager: Tala Misky