When the Rebels locked in the core of their organisation as part of their ‘Super Signing Day’ last June, the re-hiring of attacking coach Ryan Martin would have gone under many radars.
However, if his vision of how he wants the club to play comes to fruition, it may be one of the more influential decisions in recent memory.
Listening to the New Zealander talk about Rugby is fascinating viewing.
From the way he breaks down the Reds' rush defence to his thoughts on new laws and properly exploiting the 50-22, his knowledge and love of the game make it instantly clear why so many players at the Rebels are already waxing lyrically about him.
Martin comes over from MLR club New England Free Jacks, as well as serving time as Otago head coach, winning the Ranfurly Shield twice during his stint in the Mitre 10.
Having served as skills coach in 2019, Martin comes into this stint with the club with a refined view of how the Rebels need to play if they wish to be successful.
Whilst many players and coaches have expressed their frustration with the prolonged pre-season, Martin saw it as a ‘unique’ opportunity to rebuild the Rebels in his mould.
Coming from a teaching background, the up-skilling of players was a straightforward process, with experienced veterans like Matt To’omua eager to learn and grow.
“It was a unique situation for me in terms of an attack coach to strip all the layers back and put in some of the key skills that you don’t get a lot of time to spend on in pre-season,” he told reporters during the week.
“Footy (head coach Kevin Foote) let me strip it back and go into huge detail around our skills because everyone wants to play an entertaining brand of Rugby but where it falls over is the skill set not allowing it.
“I think the big change is on the individual players' skill. I hope the time we’ve put into that allows us to take a lot more opportunities, particularly on attack and playing a uniquely different style, because we do have the ability to pull the trigger”
For the players, Martin’s passion and excitement around the game is infectious, with each drill and training session designed with a purpose.
“I think everyone believes in the style he wants to play and everyone has bought in, it’s an exciting brand,” lock Matt Philip said.
“He’s so passionate about it. He lives and breaths the game, he’s always thinking about it and trying to pull you aside to talk a bit of code.
“The boys have really appreciated his help and we’ve all bought into what he’s selling us.”
“Ryan is a very detailed guy. He leaves no stone unturned in preparation in his detail and systems,” outside back Lachie Anderson notes.
“The boys can clearly see the time and effort he’s put into the work behind what he does. Everything he does is done with a purpose, particularly in his training and drills.”
The Rebels’ base at AAMI Park centres them in the middle of the sporting capital of the world.
This provides unique opportunities to learn from some of the best teams in the world, something Martin was quick to take up informally with the Melbourne Storm, arguably the most successful rugby league side in the NRL era.
Martin sought out their coaching staff initially in 2018, taking lessons from the legendary club to develop his own style in-between stints with the Rebels.
“It’s funny because back when I was here in 2019, one of my favourite parts of the day was watching the Melbourne Storm train on the field we share with them,” he revealed.
“I actually stole a lot of concepts from their attack and took it back to Otago in the NPC and used some of their principals successful in winning the Ranfurly Shield twice using concepts they used around their running lines and passing. I then developed that and took it with me to the New England Free Jacks and it helped me shape my philosophy and thinking, especially around line speed.
“Being able to practice and use those two teams (between Rebels stints), I believe I’ve come to an end product I can implement into the Rebels.
“The game is so defence focused so the attack has to be innovative and you have to deal with line speed and inside to outside defenders so some of those concepts I’m applying now.
It’s a partnership Martin is looking to build heading forward, recognising similarities in the exploitation of defensive patterns that can translate between codes.
“I’ve built some informal relationships with (New Zealand Rugby League legend and Storm assistant) Stephen Kearney who I speak to regularly and their S and C come over and explain what and why they are doing certain drills,” he said.
“I’m hoping they see how keen I am and I can get into some team meetings and formalise that relationship a bit more.
“The big thing for me is what they do between tackle three-five and how they train and the amount of reps they put into running lines and attacking space.
“I had an epiphany that once the ball is actually rolled between the legs of the attacker, I was watching the defence and it’s very similar position to where it is at a ruck position…they’re basically the same position and the way the defence acted coming from out to in, staying connected and trying to get to their back doors.”
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After a disappointing 2021 season, the Rebels were quick to recognise the need to move away from their ‘one-dimensional’ game plan.
“In the past, we might have been guilty and heavily criticised for being too one-dimensional in an attack where Ryan has stripped everything back and really given us all the tools for us to fire,” Anderson notes.
This ‘pull the trigger’ attitude in attack is a hallmark of the multi-layered, ever-changing attacking style Martin brings to the club.
“My big theme is being a triple threat: having an accurate running, kicking and passing game,” he explained.
“I think if you look through my time as a professional coach, a lot of my teams score off kick strikes so the ability to use your short kicking, kick passes, in swing/out swing grubbers to create opportunities. That’s the best way to mix up defences because they have to mark field space as well as players.
“That’s what I hope to showcase in what I’m doing. Even against the Drua (in their final trial), we scored a nice try off a short kick that was pre-planned. That’s a big area for me.”
With a plethora of Wallaby weapons at his disposal as well as one of the brightest young playmakers in Australia, Martin and the Rebels are eager to build a game style to bring exciting rugby back to Melbourne.
