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BY ROSS HEPPENSTALL
STEVE MCNAMARA'S reputation has soared during his time in charge of Catalans Dragons and he will bid to guide the French club to victory in their maiden Super League Grand Final when they face St Helens at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Behind the former England boss, though, stands a tight-knit team of backroom staff who have played similarly pivotal roles in the Dragons’ dramatic rise.
Central to McNamara’s managerial team is his highly-regarded head of performance Richard Hunwicks, who was part of Brian McDermott’s performance department when Leeds Rhinos won back-to-back Super League titles in 2011 and 2012.
Hunwicks has since worked at Salford Red Devils and as head of performance at the Rugby Football League, where he served under McNamara and then Wayne Bennett.
Following England’s World Cup final defeat to Australia in 2017, Hunwicks shook hands with Bennett, said his farewells and flew to France to join McNamara at Catalans for what he calls a crusade.
“I was at Leeds Rhinos for seven years and was lucky to win the Grand Final in 2011 and 2012,” Hunwicks told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“This will be my third Grand Final so I’m hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins and I see similarities between that Leeds side and this Catalans outfit in terms of having proven winners in the team.
“After Leeds, I went to Salford with Brian Noble and then to the RFL as head of performance with England.
“That’s where I first worked with Steve and that transitioned into being involved with Wayne Bennett with England at the World Cup in 2017.
“I literally then say thank you and goodbye to Wayne before flying straight to France to begin this crusade with Steve at Catalans Dragons, which has been four seasons now.
“We’re a small backroom team – Steve is head coach, Thomas Bosc is assistant coach, I am head of performance, Rob Parkinson is head physio and Alex Chan is our football manager. I must say, I’m loving it here.”
That is with good reason.
For the Dragons have breathed fire since narrowly avoiding relegation in 2017 at the end of McNamara’s first year in charge.
Since beating Leigh Centurions in the 2017 Million Pound Game, the Perpignan-based outfit have been on the up.
They became the first non-English side to win the Challenge Cup by beating Warrington Wolves in the 2018 final at Wembley.
The following May, the Dragons showed daring and ambition to move a home game against Wigan Warriors to Barcelona’s iconic Nou Camp.
They were rewarded with a record crowd of 31,555 for a Super League fixture and now, having won their first League Leaders’ Shield, Grand Final glory beckons.
Hunwicks’ job centres on ensuring McNamara’s players are in peak physical condition for the rigours of Super League combat.
Not surprisingly, the pair have built a close bond, especially as McNamara’s own family have remained based in England during his four years in the south of France.
Hunwicks explained: “I often laugh that I spend more time speaking to Steve than I do my own wife.
“He’s Uncle Steve to my kids and he’s at our house for Sunday dinner every other week.
“Because we live overseas, we spend a lot of time together.
“When I initially moved here four years ago, Steve and I lived together before my family arrived.
“We had four months together in an apartment, sharing a food budget and cooking for each other.
“To say we know each other inside out is not far from the truth. We all try and look after each other here.”
McNamara’s reputation took a pounding during his first head coach’s role at Bradford Bulls and again during his tenure in charge of England.
But there was a feeling that he was shown the door too soon by the RFL, just as he was starting to build something.
Experiences working as an assistant in the NRL, at Sydney Roosters under former Catalans boss Trent Robinson and then at New Zealand Warriors, saw him land the Dragons job when Laurent Frayssinous was sacked in June 2017.
Hunwicks reasoned: “I think all coaches get a very hard time from the general public.
“If you were a fly on the wall in a coach’s life, it’s incredible how much time you would see Steve spend on video, analysing opposition and preparing for games.
“That attention to detail which he has is outstanding and we discuss a lot of areas of the business and the rugby department to see where we can try and improve.
“The level of commitment these coaches like Steve put in is far removed from what might be perceived as actual fact.
“It’s a tough, tough job and high pressure and his level of detail and commitment to role has been exceptional.
“I thoroughly enjoy working with Steve because we know that if we apply that level of detail then we have a chance of being successful.
“Steve is close to being a sponge – he’s smart and he absorbs so much.
“I know he’s experienced a lot and talks to a lot of external coaches and gets their take, as we all try and do.
“Steve will take the bits he feels will fit our environment and utilise those.
“I’ve no doubt that some of those experienced coaches he has worked with will have had an influence on him.
“Then he’s forged his own style, there’s no doubt about that.
“I think he’s always been a very good coach, but the skill set is being a good man-manager.
“Having the CV he has built has enabled him to work with some of the best players in the world in the northern and southern hemispheres.
“When you’re dealing with those players at the top level, you get a certain understanding of the professionalism you need and how they prepare and motivate themselves to play.
“That can only improve you as a man-manager. Steve is not adverse to saying ‘maybe we could have done it better that way’.
“That level of critical reflection is what stands him apart from others because you will always get better if you do that.”
Hunwicks says being open to new ideas and allowing his players a voice has been crucial to McNamara’s success at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
But the Covid-19 pandemic brought them closer together than ever before as Hunwicks explained: “I think the biggest point is the amount of time we have spent together travelling.
“While other teams would be at home with their wives and families, historically we have come to England a day or two before the game.
“This year we have travelled on the day of the game but it’s meant that we eat together before we depart.
“We travel closely together and we usually arrive home at about 3am-4am.
“When you get into those unsociable hours, it’s amazing the bonds you forge with each other.
“When you’re doing it week and week out, and spending time with each other when you’re emotionally high after winning a big game, is great.
“But when you lose a game it’s difficult and you’re emotionally low.
“It’s managing each other during that time that forges a strong bond.
“It’s not massively spoken about, it’s just a look in the eye of knowing what we do as a group.
“I think that’s the big factor which has connected us all and then we do get home, we have a high number of players with young children being looked after brilliantly by their wives and girlfriends while we’re off travelling.
“We spend time apart, but the strength comes from that time spent together during travel.
“It’s certainly different to any Super League environment.
“There is a trust which has been created between players and staff that we know what we need to do – how we need to prepare and also how we relax.
“If one player likes to have a drink, that’s okay. But you know you’re preparing for the next game.
“If another players chooses not to, that’s fine. But it’s the trust about doing what we need to do to get ready for the next game.
“That trust has grown enormously with results and with everyone understanding the process and the expectations which has been laid out by Steve and the senior staff.
“We’ve just instilled a consistency in everything we do and that comes from the top through all of the staff to all the players.
“That’s every small detail and there is nothing erratic about it.
“We have a plan and we stick to that plan. It doesn’t mean that we don’t absorb new things or try and develop.
“But every detail across the rugby side and physical performance side, we look at closely.
“Giving the players a consistent message allows them to be clear about how the team want to play, how the opposition may play, and that gives us great clarity as we prepare to go on the field week in and week out.”
Now Catalans can write the greatest story in Super League history by being crowned champions at the Theatre of Dreams.
