Brady keen to lift Harrogate both on and off the pitch

By BEN JAYCOCK

“But the progress was pretty visible through the metrics we were tracking throughout the season. You could see it getting better in performances, training, fitness scores and the players’ understanding. I knew when we were in the play-offs that we were going to be in really good shape. Winning the first one gave us a lot of self-belief going into the next one and then you win again and that carries through.

HARROGATE player-director of rugby Jake Brady insists his newly-promoted side should be looking up the National Two North table rather than worrying about an immediate return to Regional One.

Harrogate secured promotion at the first attempt after negotiating three successive away play-off victories over Alnwick, Anselmians and Rossendale, and Brady believes that run demonstrated a squad capable of making an impact at the higher level.

The second row, who will continue playing alongside his director of rugby duties, is ambitious about what Harrogate can

achieve on their return. He told The Rugby Paper: “I think we should be looking up the table, if I’m being completely honest. With the side we’ve got, the squad we’ve got and the depth we’ve got, we shouldn’t really be content with just avoiding relegation or being outside the relegation zone. We should be making it hard for any team. Anyone who comes to Harrogate, we should expect to put out a great performance and make it really difficult for them.

“We’ll be going to away games to win as well and hopefully enjoying the bus on the way back.”

Promotion completed an impressive first campaign in charge for Brady, right, although he admits his attempts to make relatively minor alterations upon taking over ultimately changed more than he initially realised.

Those ideas gradually clicked and Harrogate entered the play-offs in increasingly impressive form.

Brady said: “I thought I was making small tweaks, but when we started the season and as it progressed,

I realised I’d changed more than I thought. It took us a while to adapt, learn and understand how it worked and then be able to implement it.

“I already knew this squad was capable of playing in National Two. I’m not sure they 100 per cent believed that themselves, but I think they proved it through those play-off games.”

Returning to National Two North also means renewing several historic Yorkshire rivalries and Brady believes the level represents where Harrogate should currently be.

He added: “It’s where the club needs to be. We want those local derby games against teams we’ve been playing for many years and have a lot of history with. Being back in this league feels like where the club needs to be for now. Not only am I excited, but I think the entire club, squad and coaches are too.”

Brady’s own transition into coaching has been gradual. He has coached at Leeds Beckett University for several years while playing and jumped at the opportunity to take control at Harrogate.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m still playing, so I’m in that transition phase. I’ve done coaching for the last five or six years anyway and felt I was in the right place to take on a director of rugby job. When you’re a player, you always think, ‘I’d do it this way or I’d do it that way’. I’ve now got the chance to do it how I want to.

“Harrogate has a hell of a lot of potential and there were just a few small things I felt I could change or implement that could make big differences.”

Brady nevertheless has no intention of hanging up his boots yet and sees his playing role increasingly becoming about helping Harrogate’s younger players develop.

He added: “Where I can impart my knowledge and experience to other players, that’s more valuable than me having a really good game myself. I can use my presence on the pitch to help younger lads, show them how to communicate and how to work within a system.

“But I still play because I enjoy it. I’ve got friends my age who have had to retire through injury with no choice of their own. While my body is still able to do it and I’m enjoying it, I’m going to carry on as long as I can.”