Hammett: The accidental coach | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Crusaders assistant Mark Hammett is talked of as a name to watch in rugby coaching, but he admits he drifted into it rather than made a conscious decision to make coaching his career.

Many knowledgeable rugby people hailed the hard as nails hooker as a coach of the future during his playing days, and the 34-year-old has forged a seamless partnership with Rob Deans.

During his last couple of years with the Crusaders and All Blacks, Hammett contributed coaching assistance, but was thinking about a teaching career.

"I was really interested with work around young men, and I'd done the odd bit out at prisons dealing with young offenders and stuff like that," he said.

"I was probably a wee bit slow to realise, well, heck, rugby is dealing with young men all the time."

In his first year retired, 2005, while his neck injury prevented normal work, Hammett assisted Deans part-time, and also co-coached Marist-Albion colts. It got him back to grass roots, and he had to teach because the players were "fresh-as in terms of not knowing a lot."

Last year he worked full time with the Crusaders with the lineout his specialty.

As an ex-player he felt he had a "foot in each camp," but this year feels part of management.

"I believe as a coach you can be friends with your players ? there's no harm in that," he said. "It's no different than parenting ? you've got to demand respect and discipline and stuff like that, but you have got to give respect as well." As a foundation Crusader, Hammett's career spans a time of extraordinary change in rugby.

He recalls in the early days of professionalism being too embarrassed to put down "professional rugby player" as his occupation.

However, Hammett doesn't live in the past and believes players work much harder today physically and mentally than when he was a young player, working hard as a concrete contractor during the day and training at night.

The values and culture of rugby hadn't changed, and good values shouldn't, he said.

But the actual game content and how the players played, their size, speed, and physical development, and also social aspects like drinking certainly had.

"I don't mind admitting when we were young players coming up, it was quite social and we didn't look after ourselves as well as we probably should."

What's rubbed off on Hammett from Deans?

"His absolutely humungous self-belief in what he's doing, what he puts across, and how he gets the players to believe as well."

He also admires Deans' ability to balance his life.

Speculation about Deans departing inevitably raises questions about Hammett's future role. He said he'd love to be a head coach when the time was right.

"If the occasion arises and I'm the right man for it, then without a doubt I'll put my hand up. But there's no better person to learn under at the moment than Deansie."