YES, Andrew Henderson is not the head of rugby at the York Knights – he is head coach.
But, for a year in 2022, Henderson was head of rugby at the Keighley Cougars, overseeing Rhys Lovegrove as head coach of the West Yorkshire outfit.
The ‘head of rugby’ role has been one that has become more popular in the past decade, but what actually does the position entail?
Well, Henderson explained all.
“When I was head of rugby at Keighley, my primary focus was mentoring the head coach,” Henderson told League Express.
“I would be mentoring him with his personal development, being there to challenge him and give him some insight into certain things he could do to improve and improve the team. Having that influence and mentoring the head coach was a major part of it.
“The other big part was the recruitment and retention of staff and players. It would be my job to review players and staff but also make those decisions alongside the head coach in terms of our staffing operations, retention and player recruitment.
“My role would be to identify players for the head coach and, as long as he was happy with those players, I would be the one doing the negotiations with the agents and all that kind of stuff which would take all that pressure away from the head coach.”
“I also set up the performance pathways, I set up the England Talent Pathway and got that off the ground here which linked us in with the Keighley College to get a development academy based at the college there.
“To sum up, I was mentoring the head coach, dealing with the recruitment and retention and overseeing the development of the pathways within the club.”
Henderson went on to describe just how intense the role was, but that he quickly realised just how important the position was.
“It was full on, but you’re also offering your service to the club and we did business talks with the club as well.
“I would be involved in any sort of promotional activity, but there is more to it than that. I would deal with the board of the directors and give them clarity on what we are doing and why.
“It’s a big role but it’s a role I thoroughly enjoyed. What I learned form that role and the difference it makes to have a head of rugby in place, the workload it takes off the head coach so that he can concentrate on coaching the team and his players, is massive.”
The York boss believes that once clubs have more money to their name then the head of rugby role will become one that all clubs will follow.
“I think that probably at the moment a lot of clubs haven’t got that role in their locker because financially it’s another cost.
“If the coffers grow at clubs and we are hoping that it will grow within the game then that is certainly a role all clubs should consider for their performance department.
“Having a really good head of rugby that can give insight to a head coach and a club will be beneficial.”
