Graeme Moody - Head Coach

After being involved in an assistant role with the squad in previous years and taking over the head role last year, Graeme is back for another season and this time he brings with him a host of support coaches to assist in the run at the playoffs, he has worked hard to build success and his recruitment of assistants can attest to that. 

We look forward to having him go around again after a playoff spot was secured last year and we are excited to see what he can produce with the talent he has at his disposal for season 2023. 

His support crew looks like this:

Kevin Harding - Technical Adviser

Kevin was head coach of Burnside when they went through to the Premier final. He is also experienced at first XV level having coached successful St Andrews College and Burnside High School team. He is very well connected within the wider rugby community. His expertise and knowledge from being involved in the NZR high performance system will be a massive asset. 

Tom Houghton - Forwards Coach – Lineout Specialist

Tom brings his experience coaching at youth level. He will step up and take the successes from coaching Shirley Boys 1st XV and Lincoln Colts over the last few years and overlaying that to the Division One team. He is a great young prospect (the first recommendation from CRFU !) and will be primarily responsible for lineouts. Tom has a young family and will continue his involvement with Shirley Boys High School so we may not see him often at the clubrooms but he will be an integral part of our weekly preparation.  

Matt McLachlan - Forwards Coach – Scrum Specialist

The whole club rugby scene knows of Matt, and we are excited to continue to be able to use his wealth of knowledge, Matt will return in a role that centres around our scrum.

A fantastic club man and we are honoured to have him come back again for another round.

Brendan Laney - Technical Adviser - Backs

A huge welcome back to Brendan, he has been involved at several levels with the club previously, a great club man and former international player with a vast array of knowledge and experience to share. Most people will know of Brendan’s vivacious personality and he is man that people like to be around. He will bring that energy to a very young and talented backline. Its exciting to think of what might be under his tutelage.

Managers 

Steven Kearns

Steven (Country) is back for another season, we love the work he does and is ever reliable and keeps the boys feed, watered and in check, a big welcome back to him. Country will do anything for anyone and is the type of guy that a club simply cannot do without ! 

Hamish Binnie 

Another returnee in the form of Hamish who has worked in the role before and brings the much-needed energy and the off-field cohesion a successful side needs, he will be assisting in harnessing our successes of the last few years.

Greg Thompson - Strength and Conditioning

Greg has been involved with The Canterbury NPC side, NZ 7's, Crusaders Academy and St Andrews 1st XV. He will be pushing the boys to another level of fitness and ensuring they hit the ground running and continue to have the highest fitness levels possible.We welcome him to Shirley Rugby along with all the new coaches in the set up, we are excited for next season and seeing how the team shapes up with so many influential characters to support our improvement. 

Article added: Tuesday 22 November 2022