How do you build credibility into a brand new team? Aligning with an existing brand or club is a good start, it can give your team some identity. Reaching out to the community will help those roots take hold too. The best thing you can do though, is to build that personality on the pitch and show people who you are.
It’s the classic route of franchises in US sport, it’s even been seen recently when London Irish sought to re-establish their own identity ahead of a move to Brentford by signing Sean O’Brien. A move that said “we are proud of our Irish roots and links, we are a team built on hard work and perseverance”.
Now Sale Sharks Women have done the same by signing Katy Daley-Mclean as player-coach. Instantly we can picture how Sale will play. Katy’s vision and kicking, as well as her eye for a break, suggest we’ll see a team who are unafraid to attack from the off and take the game to their opposition.
We’ve seen Katy in action, whether it’s for Loughborough in the Tyrrells Premier 15s or acting as England’s fulcrum for the ever-impressiveRed Roses. I was even lucky enough to grab a couple of minutes of her time at England training a couple of months back.
What you see is what you get. A player who works relentlessly to improve and who, now into her thirties, continues to improve and find new facets to her game. As a person she’s a natural leader, setting the example to players while maintaining a friendly and relaxed demeanour.
So for Sale, every player they recruit now will now exactly what is expected of them, as they will need to step up to Katy’s level, to work as she does toward the betterment of the team. Head of Women’s Rugby Darren Lamon has an on field general and a coach who has been around the very best. You couldn’t ask for a better first piece to your puzzle and once rugby finally returns I’ll be very excited to see what Sale can do!
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