NORTH HARBOUR RAYS - PRESS RELEASE

THE North Harbour Rays have appointed PHIL BLAKE to guide them through the first two seasons of the National Rugby Championship, Australian Rugby’s much-vaunted and needed third tier.

Blake will head up an all-star coaching team that draws on the resources of the four Shute Shield clubs in the franchise and includes SCOTT FAVA (forwards), HAIG SARE (backs) and GEOFF TOWNSEND (skills).

The North Harbour Rays are the joint venture in the nine-team inaugural National Rugby Championship of the four north of the bridge Rugby clubs – Manly, Warringah, Gordon and Northern Suburbs.

Fava (Norths) will have responsibility for the forwards, breakdown and restarts, Sare (Warringah) will take care of the backs and attack while Townsend (Gordon) will have a roving role as a skills coach and overseeing defence.

All four have either played or coached at Super Rugby or international level – Blake and Sare’s teams are sitting at the top end of the Shute Shield table and clash this weekend at Manly Oval. The Rays are the first of the NRC teams to announce their coaching structure and in coming weeks will unveil their logo and playing strip as well as a major partner and venue for their home games.

“We’ve come a long way in a short space of time and the appointment of Phil and his coaching team is a major step in the right direction and lays the foundation for our success in the inaugural seasons of the NRC,” Rays chairman Gary Flowers said.

“Right from the get go all four clubs felt that they needed to be part of this new competition and a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes since the competition was announced.

“The time frame to get this venture up and running and making sure that we touch all levels of our (Rugby) community has been tight, but with these appointment I feel that a major building block has been put in place.”

World Cup winning coach Rod Macqueen and former Wallabies scrumhalf Peter Carson as well as chairman Flowers sat on the coaching selection committee that came up with the exciting structure. Macqueen’s input was particularly useful after his experience in the formation of the Brumbies for the first seasons of Super Rugby in 1996 and more recently in the formation of the Melbourne Rebels.

Blake says he is honoured to take up the role and is excited about the quality of players and the coaches that he will work with when the NRC seasonkicks off on August 23.

“I’m the guy that has the head coach title, but this is very much a team effort on the coaching front and we are all excited about bringing all the elements together that make a successful Rugby team,” Blake observed after a workshop on Thursday that was convened by Macqueen.

“It’s funny working closely with guys that you are coaching against like I will be against Haig (Warringah first grade coach) this weekend, but we’re all excited about the opportunities that this competition offers.

“We’re keen to stay one step ahead and in coming weeks we’ll be working hard on where we feel the Rays can find a sustainable competitive advantage.

“The hard yakka has only just begun.”

Blake was one of the most prolific try scorers in his NRL playing days, with his great speed and his general reading of the play, turning out for Manly with some distinction as well as South Sydney, Warrington in England, North Sydney, St George and the Auckland Warriors.

He announced his retirement at the start of the 1998 season. He finished his career having played 271 NRL games, scoring 138 tries. Blake was appointed sprint coach at South Sydney for their return to the NRL in 2002 and was appointed temporary head coach in 2003.

In 2006, Blake switched codes coaching at Southern Districts before taking over as head coach at the Manly Marlins in 2007, a role he held until 2010 and highlighted by being named Shute Shield coach of the year in 2009.

He was signed to the Western Force in 2010 as Assistant Coach and knowledge and experience, combined with his popularity amongst players, saw him earn a start on the Wallabies coaching panel for their 2010 Spring Tour.

So impressed was Robbie Deans, he brought Blake on board as defence coach of the Wallabies for their Rugby World Cup campaign in NZ where they made the semi-finals. The Wallabies had the best defensive record of any team at RWC 2011, conceding less tries than any other nation. They only conceded one try against four of the top playing nations at 2011 World Cup (Italy, Ireland, South Africa, and NZ).

Blake continued his defensive duties with the Wallabies at the end of 2011 on their Spring Tour of Europe before taking on an assistant coaching role with the Western Force in 2012. In the second half of 2012 Blake took over as caretaker head coach after Richard Graham left early to take up his duties in Brisbane for the Queensland Reds.

THE COACHING TEAM’S CREDENTIALS

PHIL BLAKE (Manly)

ARU Tier 3 Accredited

Manly rugby league Skills and Conditioning Coach – 1998-1999

South Sydney rugby league Skills and Conditioning Coach – 2002-3

South Sydney rugby league Director of Coaching - 2002

Shute Shield Assistant Coach – Southern Districts - 2006

Shute Shield Head Coach – Manly – 2007-2010

Wallabies Defence Coach – 2010- 2011

Super 15 Skills Coach – Western Force - 2011-2012

Super 15 Interim Head Coach – Western Force – 2012

Shute Shield Head Coach – Manly – 2013 to present



SCOTT FAVA (Northern Suburbs)

ARU Tier 2 Accredited

Eastwood Forward Coach 2009

Northern Suburbs Rugby Forward Coach 2010

Northern Suburbs Rugby Head Coach 2011 to present

National Academy Forward Coach 2011

Waratahs A Head Coach 2013



GEOFF TOWNSEND (Gordon)

ARU Tier 3 Accredited

Smart Rugby Accredited

Co-Coach – NSW Under 19s – 1997-99

Shute Shield Co-Coach – Manly 1999-2000

Coach/Technical Advisor – Kobe Steelers (Japan) – 2001

ARU Smart Rugby Program - Educator/Presenter – 2001-2

Coach/ Technical Advisor – Teikyo University Rugby( Japan) – 2002-2004

Shute Shield Head Coach – Southern Districts – 2004-06

Super Rugby Academy Head Coach – Western Force – 2007-09

Super Rugby Assistant Coach – Western Force – 2009-10

Shute Shield Consultancy Coach – Sydney University 2011-2012

Shute Shield Head Coach – Gordon Rugby – 2014



HAIG SARE (Warringah)

Shute Shield Head Coach – Warringah – 2013 to present

Junior Gold Cup Assistant Coach (North West)

Western Force Player 2005 - 2010

Australia A Player 2007

Biarritz Player 2005 (French Top 14)

http://www.gordonrugby.com.au/indexb...ing-Team%60245



A distinctive Western Force flavour to this coaching team! C