Gordon’s game
By Kate Pierson
The greatest quest in contemporary science is a search for the indivisibile and the reason for this is simple – because pretty much everything is a collection of smaller pieces. And the deeper you dig, the smaller the pieces get.
Take people for example; physically and behaviourally we are all just the sum of our parts. Add human endeavour to this and again it’s the same thing – an achievement is a collection of steps down a particular path. The longer the path and the harder the steps, the more brightly this achievement shines.
And for those who have forged a profession from their passion, their career can burn the brightest of all. As the New Zealand Sevens coach, Gordon Tietjens career has been an incandescent light, burning brighter than perhaps he himself could have even imagined.
It has guided him on an incredible journey where the light of his own personality has shown others the way forward. The people whose lives he has helped shape and enrich would undoubtedly agree. And while it’s said ‘don’t let your job define you’, Tietjens wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, he defines his job.
Tietjens is a living and breathing rugby radar; detecting talent with his expert eyes and intuitive senses. Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Joe Rokocoko and many. Many more – the professional portfolio of talent he has scouted reads like the who’s-who of world-class sportsmen.
But while Tietjens’ name may be synonymous with sporting success, as a mark of his innate modesty, his legendary status and personality remain strangers, meaning you’ll never hear him indulge his ego. Humility aside however, the verbal applause that echoes in the public sphere indicates his gift certainly hasn’t escaped the attention of New Zealanders.
Ask any man interested in running rugby if he knows who Gordon Tietjens is and their quick-fire, response indicates it’s a no-brainer. And it is really. Because how could the name that has gone hand-in-hand with countless sevens victories be anything other than revered?
Tietjens may not want to list his own praises, but the facts do it for him. His New Zealand squads took all three gold medals in the sevens tournaments at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 1998, Kuala Lumpur 2002 and Melbourne 2006. Since the inception of the IRB Sevens World Series in 1999, the New Zealand Sevens rugby team won the title every year with the exclusion of 2006 and 2009.
Tietjens is uncompromising in his demand of excellence – the results don’t lie and he’s arguably revolutionised the way rugby is played. In short, he’s a sports specialist, but his words of wisdom are rich in logic, so they can be applied to your world as you see fit.
Creating the culture
We all know that there’s no “I” in team, but team is also an acronym for “together everyone achieves more” It’s a philosophy that Tietjens lives by and a mantra for every team of players he works with.
Committed to fostering a synchronised network of players who grow physically, emotionally and psychologically as an integrated force, Tietjens knows a win is not just about how the players have played on the day or how effectively the learned tactics and strategies have been applied. Winning is a multi-faceted process that starts with the creation of a culture.
“You’ve got to create a culture and to create a culture that is second to none in terms of success, there have to be four qualities that make up this culture,” he says.
“The first quality is the team itself and then there’s team unity; this is about the team becoming a family and it is the physical and mental pressures and driving through these pressures that really brings them together. Thirdly, it’s about passion – because with passion comes enjoyment and then finally, discipline – this relates to having strong work ethics.”
Creating a culture in rugby is also about setting standards, Tietjens says, because when you’ve experienced success you have set a benchmark for the future. “A big part of the New Zealand Sevens is setting standards because the game is a launch pad for future careers – the first part of their professional era.
“Standards in sevens rugby are physical and mental; they’re not just about one thing. Nutrition, work ethic and application all come into play. And while I do set the standards and put the protocol in place, the players have to buy into it themselves.”
Get your head in the game
If you have ever watched a game of rugby with bated breath, or felt the adrenalin rush yourself as a stampede of opposition closes in demanding an impulsive but calculated decision be made, you’ll know and appreciate that rugby is not just about physical strength. It’s an analytical game. A competition that demands intuition, strategy, logic and mental toughness.
“My philosophy is, ‘you play what’s in front of you, you read what’s in front of you’,” Tietjens says of the strategy involved. “You can go in with a game plan, but you have to be prepared for this strategy to dramatically change because sevens is about expressing yourself,” he adds.
Getting your head in the game of sevens is not just about how well you play the game, but how well you play the part of a true professional player. This means being the player not only on the field but in mind, body and motivational drive.
“With motivation you do have to grow it, but it also has to be there from the start,” Tietjens says. “Players have to have a hunger for it and the black jersey is always a motivation for them, because every time they put it on they have to say to themselves, ‘this might be the last time I wear it’.
“While the commitment to this sport is a massive adjustment for the players’ lifestyle, there is no real alternative if they want to be there. It’s an agreement between us all and when we assemble as a team for the first time, we give players the opportunity to have input. We create a document for them where they can outline their expectations of themselves and the expectations they have of us (management) – it’s a two way thing.”
Keeping feet on the ground
The aim of the game in rugby may be to stay off the ground, but in the social sphere, staying grounded is everything. Because while confidence is key in professional sport, there is no room for ego on Tietjens’ teams.
The New Zealand Sevens team attended a school camp in Ohope and a meet and greet session at Whakatane Intermediate, and Tietjens says these events are all about being socially and emotionally available to the people who have given them their unequivocal support.
“Humility, that is ‘the’ top quality for us all. It’s true our teams have had a lot of success, but humility and being level-headed are real qualities, as is integrity. Our teams mix and mingle with whoever – we go out to different school districts and visit the schools who would not usually get to meet professional players – it’s about remembering who we are.”
Tietjens himself says that even through all of the success, the taste of victory is savoured with as much vigour every time. “Some of my proudest moments have been standing behind the boys as they are accepting the gold medal, when our New Zealand flag is flying high and the national Anthem is playing.
“This is us truly representing New Zealand and there is nothing better than that. ”
