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@FE

Very interesting proposition that you have put forward. I’ve been the manager for the past few seasons and a training plan would certainly be beneficial, some years we’ve got all big men, some years all guards.

I’m not so sure that you would need to keep things exclusive to NZ managers, to be honest, of the ones I’ve had dealings with there are realistically 5-6 of the 13 that are active enough to make it work, if there were other Aussies etc that wanted to raise Kiwis then I definitely think you’d need them to be able to compete.

How would you intend on communicating with the local managers? Would you try and train some Kiwis yourself?

I think in theory it is very exciting, but then the actual execution may be challenging.

Hey, thanks for reading it all.

Well, i think it would be most beneficial for NZ managers because of the Merch bump you get with homegrown NT players. It certainly doesn't have to be exclusive NZ managers, but i'm not sure other managers would be as invested. I'm certainly up for training one myself.

In practice i probably only need 4 managers, 2 for each build to get the benefit to the NT.

As far as communication, most NT teams/countries have an offsite forum to organise and put scouting info.

It would be a challenge for sure. But why not try? Even if no one wants to do the training plans, i'm confident i can eek out some improvement with everything i've learned over 20+ season for some improved results.

Hey Fe,

Quick question similar to what Hoddy asked me, I know you said that Australia don’t really wanna change manager for their country position. So just a couple questions about us as a country and our players in this game.

What have you done in the past seasons of BB to improve kiwi players if any? as i see your team consists of your rookie class for australia and one older homegrown player rest is imports?
Second Q is are we just targeted as an easy nation to get votes for because of our low manager base so you can finally get a crack at a national team?
Thirdly, we have tried an offsite forum for managers but it consisted of legit myself, hoddy, colesy and teariki before he left, it’s great you have a training plan outlined but what do you do if managers don’t follow this training plan?

Hi thanks for the questions.

I'll leave the first question, because it seems more appropriate for a manager that plays in New Zealand. I obviously haven't trained any NZ NT players. I routinely provide advice when asked to managers around the BB world.

I look to New Zealand for the opportunity for a few main reasons.

1. No language barrier to explain sometimes complex concepts.
2. In the same Cup as Austrlia
3. Given the U21 team rank I think i can improve it the most
4. I thought i could gain a bit more manager involved to beat Australia given our friendly national rivalry

Yes, my older homegrown player is the result of one of the training plans. He was MVP of DIV II last season despite not being top 15 in mins played and top 13 in salary. He's versatile, being able to play PG and C/PF without a rating or production drop. Thats the flexibility you will need in the NT because it opens up alot of tactical options to be less predictable. It'll also covers up for anyone elses training plans that are less than optimal.

I think thats great activity in the off-site forum. The Australian team has two. The two managers.

If managers dont want to participate in the training plan, thats fine. I certainly am not here to tell anyone how they get enjoyment out of the game. That's up to them. But, i'm confident i can squeeze more performance out of the current crop of players because i have the experience.

Thats not a knock on the current managers, but I've played for longer and understand why i've had success.

Last edited by FE at 02/10/2023 22:47:50

Best wishes to you both, look forward to working with whichever is the successful candidate.