FORMER Great Britain halfback Mike Ford has paid a warm tribute to Darryl Van de Velde, the former Castleford, Huddersfield and Warrington coach who has died aged 72 in his native Australia.
Ford says Van de Velde – who signed him for Castleford from Oldham ahead of the 1991-92 season, when he led the Wheldon Road side to a second successive Yorkshire Cup triumph and also the Challenge Cup final – was a major influence on him both as a player and in shaping his own coaching philosophies.
The pair formed a strong relationship, with Van de Velde, who later took Ford to South Queensland Crushers when he was chief executive of the former Brisbane club, the godfather of his youngest son Jacob, now 25.
And they remained in regular contact when Van de Velde returned Down Under after leaving Warrington in July 2001 as Ford was forging a successful coaching career, initially in Rugby League with Bramley and Oldham, where he is now managing director, then union.
The ex-Saracens, Bath, Toulon and Dallas Griffins team chief, who has also worked with Leicester, Ireland, England and the British and Irish Lions, told League Express: “Darryl was a real mentor for me, both in terms of my rugby and life in general. You could talk to him about anything, and he’d listen and give you a valuable bit of advice.
“He was a real deep thinker, not just about tactics, but also the psychology side of both playing and coaching, and took a lot of inspiration from studying not just Rugby League but American Football too.
“I arrived at Castleford having played for Wigan, Leigh and Oldham and at the age of 25, thinking I knew all about the game. Working with Darryl made me realise that I didn’t, and that there was still an awful lot to learn.
“He’d take you into his office after a game and give you a mark out of ten. Often it would surprise me, sometimes it was higher than I expected, sometimes lower, but when he explained his reasoning, it made sense and the things he said were constructive and stuck with you.
“You would go away thinking about what he’d said and feel inspired to act on it.
“He certainly altered the way I thought about playing rugby and certainly helped shaped my ideas and methods as a coach.
“He was the sort of bloke who immediately commanded your respect – when he spoke, you definitely listened – but he was also a bit of a father figure to many players, most notably (Australia and Queensland halfback) Alfie Langer.
“They had a really strong bond going way back to when they were both in Brisbane, and of course Darryl took him to Warrington.
“Alfie had his demons, and I think he’d be the first to say just how much Darryl helped him enjoy such a great playing career.”
Ford continued: “Our two families got on really well, and it’s not long since Jacob (the head of rugby at Ipswich School in Suffolk and director of rugby at nearby union club Bury St Edmunds) had four weeks over in Australia staying at his house.
“Darryl arranged for him to spend time at both Brisbane Broncos and Dolphins, and he learned a lot from both clubs.
“He was just an all-round terrific bloke, and I really hope he knew just how much he meant to just so many people.”
