US ASSOCIATION OF RUGBY LEAGUE OFFICIAL

Brent Richardson named Hawks assistant coach

Newly appointed USA Hawks head coach Sean Rutgerson has taken an initial step in putting together his coaching and medical staff by making his first appointment since taking on the new role.
Brent Richardson named Hawks assistant coach

Brent Richardson, who coaches the Brooklyn Kings, has been named assistant coach with the national team.

Rutgerson says appointing Richardson was a no-brainer as he brings a lot to the table.

“Brent brings an ideal combination of experience, strategic intelligence and communicative ability to the team, which is particularly important as a lot of our communications with the team are conducted online,” he said.

“He will be able put together the tech stuff for me and help with implementing our programs via the Facebook page.”

That’s a reference to the training guide Rutgerson developed for national team players in the lead up to last year’s Rugby League World Cup. It sets out programs for players to follow on their own when not in camp.

As Richardson is based in New York and the head coach is in Jacksonville, FL, a big chunk of their communication will be via email and phone, but Rutgerson believes as long as they’re organized it will go smoothly.

“I was fortunate to work with Brent last year and we got along very well. “We have a similar approach to the training and tactical skills programs and are on the same page when it comes to our goals for the team and future vision for the USARL. I feel very fortunate to have Brent agree to take on the position.”

As for the man himself, Richardson says he’s excited about the role. “I have been working with the US squad for two years in a domestic assistant coaching capacity and it has been great to see the progression of some of the players who represented their country in the World Cup last year and now the new crop we will need to bring in, with a longer term view to the next World Cup and then the North America World Cup in 2025,” he said.

Being assistant coach with the national team will be an all-encompassing role.

“A lot of the work at the moment centers around the identification of talent and ensuring we have a clean database on current USA players.

“Sean and I will sit down around how we want to train once we get closer to games, but at the moment a large focus of his is strength and conditioning with everyone being so far apart.”

Coaching isn’t new to Richardson. He coached junior teams in Australia before moving to the US and is about to go into his fourth season as a coach of the Kings.

He has also been the North All-Stars coach for the past two years.

One of the first things he will be doing is finding players to add to the USA Hawks train-on squad.

“With the international games falling in the second half of the year, a lot of the work I am doing at the moment centers around identifying quality USA talent around the world and most importantly across our domestic competition. We have scouting profiles on all USA hopefuls and want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to represent their country.”

LISTEN TO BRENT RICHARDSON ON THE USA RUGBY LEAGUE SHOW PODCAST

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