A coach’s education is never complete, according to Trent Robinson, so the NRL premiership-winning Sydney Roosters mentor jumped at the chance to sit in on the Wallabies’ first steps under good friend Michael Cheika.
The NSW coaching counterparts were meant to embark on a worldwide fact-finding mission together this month but Waratahs mentor Cheika’s appointment as Wallabies coach forced a change in plans.
Robinson went ahead with a recent visit to the United States but accepted an invite from Cheika to join the Wallabies camp in Cardiff and Paris over the past week.
The Moore Park neighbours have shared their coaching experience and even training sessions between their sides over the past two seasons but Robinson said he was very much a fly on the wall in Europe.
“I’m just sort of looking around,” Robinson said in Paris on Tuesday.
“It’s good to hang out and spend some time here and you’re always trying to pick things up.”
Robinson said he would take away interesting technical observations and an appreciation of how Cheika and the Wallabies coaching staff communicate their message to the players.
“Cheik’s at the start of his program. It’s really good to see the infancy of that and the important things of the building blocks of his philosophy,” Robinson said.
Robinson used his time in the US visiting the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team, colleges Berkeley and Stanford, while he also met with officials from the San Francisco 49ers NFL team.
“I don’t see how you cannot continue to grow (as a coach),” he said.
“You can’t be looking for stuff, if you’re looking for stuff it means you’re probably insecure in your own philosophy, but you’ve got to be open.
“I was just looking and hoping that there were some things that would trigger little thoughts. It’s about lighting you up for the season ahead.”
Meanwhile Robinson, who will depart Paris on Wednesday to attend a sports leaders conference in London, said he was not surprised Sonny Bill Williams had made a seamless transition back into rugby with the All Blacks.
“To put him back in the side (in last weekend’s win) against England shows the confidence they’ve got in him and shows what Sonny did as soon as he got back there,” he said.