Back in 2010, Exeter Chiefs won promotion to the top flight by beating Bristol in the newly introduced play-off final, marking their first ever promotion to the Premiership, a title crown they would lift in 2017.
The new Head of Performance Analysis for the Dragons, Simon Norris, was a key part of the Premiership journey for the Devon club, having joined the Sandy Park outfit in 2011. After three weeks in to his new role, he sees the Dragons journey as one that can emulate Exeter’s rise to the top. When asked about how the two teams compare as he settles into his new surroundings at Ystrad Mynach, he identifies the most important components in achieving success.
“It’s very similar to what Exeter was,” notes Norris, “Bernard has a young coaching group with a lot playing experience behind them and I strongly believe there’s good coaches here with some really great ideas, I can see that already it is going in the right direction.
“There’s a good knowledge base amongst the coaches with Barrie bringing things from his time at Bath and from other clubs as well, Ceri has the knowledge from Quins and Worcester and Hendré brings some great ideas too, whilst Alan has got stuck in with the skills side, so it’s exciting that there are a young group and we can start to build something here to go in the right direction.
“The key thing is having the right people. We’re driving each other and the coaches. The new faces joining us amongst the playing squad are pushing everyone else. Bernard has done well in recruitment in terms of Rhodri Williams, Aaron Jarvis, Ross Moriarty, Hibbard. They are the people that can drop in quickly to the culture we’re building, but not just accept it, but help drive it to create this Dragons identity.
“There’s huge positivity around the training camp and that’s evident all over. It has to be driven by the players and they are starting to do so and when your internationals drop back in that will drive us on another step from their experience to get us into a good place.”
A WRU level 3 coach, Norris (or ‘Chuck’ to those who know him) grew up in Porthcawl, gained an MSc Performance Analysis Masters Degree from Cardiff Met University in 2009. He brings extensive experience not just from his time with Exeter, but also from working with WRU age grade teams, regional academies as well as BBC to the Men of Gwent. Norris sees the Dragons early start to pre-season as vital in building the foundations of how the team perform on the field and behave off the field.
“The big thing for us this year is to build that culture and we’re working hard on that, as it’s vital to build team spirit early in pre-season,” he added.
“We’ve got to get the Dragons back on track, which I firmly believe will happen, we have the right coaches in place and we’re getting the right players to create the right culture so we’ve now got to come together as a region to drive this forward because there is a lot of hard work going on.
“If I compare to where Exeter were when I joined, we’re slightly ahead in some areas and behind in others. They had a talented group of youngsters, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie, and at Dragons it’s similar with a group of young players who were very much on par with the Exeter group, plus we’ve added Ryan Bevington, Aaron Jarvis, Ross Moriarty and Jordan and Rhodri Williams so there’s a very good squad and I seriously think we’re not far off.”
Reflecting on his Exeter experiences, Norris explains the key role he and his team of analysts play to achieve success, with analysis bringing evidence and insight to the development of individuals and teams.
“The key thing with analysis is building relationships. Building a relationship with the coach, so you learn from him exactly what he is looking at, like a second pair of eyes, as well as the relationship with players so they know they can trust you and can have that conversation with you, which sometimes they are more comfortable having with an analyst than with a coach.
“At Exeter that’s what they were really good at, from player to coach, coach to player, anyone in that organisation had the same kind of relationship and there was no hierarchy in the changing rooms, everyone sat together so there wasn’t little pockets of friends.
“We would drive each other forwards, driving the standards without any hidden agendas, with everyone on the same page and cause, which was to get better every week, every month, every year. That was the philosophy and you can see that philosophy is already here, so as coaches and backroom staff we just need to help growing that. We are getting there at the Dragons.
“At Exeter we knew eventually we’d get to our end goal and credit to Rob Baxter for doing that, it was a clever approach.
“(At Dragons) we need to follow that in pre-season and in-season and as long as keep seeing that progress and improvement we’ll get to the goals where we want and where this group of players is capable of achieving.
“With analysis we are working on our shape of how we are going to play in pre-season and we want to be a good attacking side at the Dragons, sticking to our core values of what people want to see in playing good rugby, so it’s important that we get the shape nailed down through analysis, but it’s important we also put them in scenarios where it’s not perfect because that’s 100% going to happen in a rugby game, so that the players are confident to deal with that.
“It’s important to belief what you see in the video footage and stick with it and help people learn from it, rather than getting influenced by other factors. In games, there are already things we’ve discussed we’re going to look at to judge our progress and there’s about five key areas which we think if we get right we can drive our on-field performance.”
After the disappointment of last season, there’s determination with in the squad of players and coaches to deliver improvement in the new campaign ahead.
“We’re in a result driven business, we’re not scared of that, that’s why we are in this job to look forward to the challenge every weekend and I’m really excited about seeing some of our boys pitching themselves against the likes of Munster, Glasgow and the other Welsh regions.
“The fans come to watch games and they want to see good rugby, so it is important we do stay humble and respect where we come from. Another reason why I joined is most of the good young talent here are local Dragons boys, so they actually do care about their region and you can see that, which is a big thing for us.”
As well as developing good players and good people connected to their roots, Chuck is also impressed by the leadership skills in the squad he’s seen in training, as well as the performances of the Dragons players he’s witnessed on tour with Wales, so with the countdown to the World Cup now on there’s motivation for turning development into success.
“Cory and Elliot have been fantastic. Last year wasn’t a successful season in the table, but if you look at the development those players have had, players like Cory have had to step up and be a leader, and likewise Elliot, in a tough environment and they have learnt a lot. Wainwright has come from nowhere to be capped within a year and that’s fantastic, but they’ve got that experience now and they can keep building on it, so little things like that show we are going the right way.
“Gavin is giving input to their younger players all the time and it’s invaluable, Brok Harris and Tavis Knoyle the same, and that’s really important. We’ve got plenty of players that have something to play for this year with a World Cup coming, the chance to play for their country is massive for us, as it’s a huge carrot for them and their career.”
Norris and the other coaches in Jackman’s coaching team know the challenge in front of them. However, he also wants to give back to the region he’s adopted and has offered his services to a club in the region to give them support.
“I’m looking for a Dragons regional club to adopt me to go and see a club and build a relationship with that club in terms of what support I can give, if a club thinks I might be able to help drop me a line.”
Clubs should contact simon.norris@dragonsrugby.wales if you would like to contact Chuck.
The new Head of Performance Analysis for the Dragons, Simon Norris, was a key part of the Premiership journey for the Devon club, having joined the Sandy Park outfit in 2011. After three weeks in to his new role, he sees the Dragons journey as one that can emulate Exeter’s rise to the top. When asked about how the two teams compare as he settles into his new surroundings at Ystrad Mynach, he identifies the most important components in achieving success.
“It’s very similar to what Exeter was,” notes Norris, “Bernard has a young coaching group with a lot playing experience behind them and I strongly believe there’s good coaches here with some really great ideas, I can see that already it is going in the right direction.
“There’s a good knowledge base amongst the coaches with Barrie bringing things from his time at Bath and from other clubs as well, Ceri has the knowledge from Quins and Worcester and Hendré brings some great ideas too, whilst Alan has got stuck in with the skills side, so it’s exciting that there are a young group and we can start to build something here to go in the right direction.
“The key thing is having the right people. We’re driving each other and the coaches. The new faces joining us amongst the playing squad are pushing everyone else. Bernard has done well in recruitment in terms of Rhodri Williams, Aaron Jarvis, Ross Moriarty, Hibbard. They are the people that can drop in quickly to the culture we’re building, but not just accept it, but help drive it to create this Dragons identity.
“There’s huge positivity around the training camp and that’s evident all over. It has to be driven by the players and they are starting to do so and when your internationals drop back in that will drive us on another step from their experience to get us into a good place.”
A WRU level 3 coach, Norris (or ‘Chuck’ to those who know him) grew up in Porthcawl, gained an MSc Performance Analysis Masters Degree from Cardiff Met University in 2009. He brings extensive experience not just from his time with Exeter, but also from working with WRU age grade teams, regional academies as well as BBC to the Men of Gwent. Norris sees the Dragons early start to pre-season as vital in building the foundations of how the team perform on the field and behave off the field.
“The big thing for us this year is to build that culture and we’re working hard on that, as it’s vital to build team spirit early in pre-season,” he added.
“We’ve got to get the Dragons back on track, which I firmly believe will happen, we have the right coaches in place and we’re getting the right players to create the right culture so we’ve now got to come together as a region to drive this forward because there is a lot of hard work going on.
“If I compare to where Exeter were when I joined, we’re slightly ahead in some areas and behind in others. They had a talented group of youngsters, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie, and at Dragons it’s similar with a group of young players who were very much on par with the Exeter group, plus we’ve added Ryan Bevington, Aaron Jarvis, Ross Moriarty and Jordan and Rhodri Williams so there’s a very good squad and I seriously think we’re not far off.”
Reflecting on his Exeter experiences, Norris explains the key role he and his team of analysts play to achieve success, with analysis bringing evidence and insight to the development of individuals and teams.
“The key thing with analysis is building relationships. Building a relationship with the coach, so you learn from him exactly what he is looking at, like a second pair of eyes, as well as the relationship with players so they know they can trust you and can have that conversation with you, which sometimes they are more comfortable having with an analyst than with a coach.
“At Exeter that’s what they were really good at, from player to coach, coach to player, anyone in that organisation had the same kind of relationship and there was no hierarchy in the changing rooms, everyone sat together so there wasn’t little pockets of friends.
“We would drive each other forwards, driving the standards without any hidden agendas, with everyone on the same page and cause, which was to get better every week, every month, every year. That was the philosophy and you can see that philosophy is already here, so as coaches and backroom staff we just need to help growing that. We are getting there at the Dragons.
“At Exeter we knew eventually we’d get to our end goal and credit to Rob Baxter for doing that, it was a clever approach.
“(At Dragons) we need to follow that in pre-season and in-season and as long as keep seeing that progress and improvement we’ll get to the goals where we want and where this group of players is capable of achieving.
“With analysis we are working on our shape of how we are going to play in pre-season and we want to be a good attacking side at the Dragons, sticking to our core values of what people want to see in playing good rugby, so it’s important that we get the shape nailed down through analysis, but it’s important we also put them in scenarios where it’s not perfect because that’s 100% going to happen in a rugby game, so that the players are confident to deal with that.
“It’s important to belief what you see in the video footage and stick with it and help people learn from it, rather than getting influenced by other factors. In games, there are already things we’ve discussed we’re going to look at to judge our progress and there’s about five key areas which we think if we get right we can drive our on-field performance.”
After the disappointment of last season, there’s determination with in the squad of players and coaches to deliver improvement in the new campaign ahead.
“We’re in a result driven business, we’re not scared of that, that’s why we are in this job to look forward to the challenge every weekend and I’m really excited about seeing some of our boys pitching themselves against the likes of Munster, Glasgow and the other Welsh regions.
“The fans come to watch games and they want to see good rugby, so it is important we do stay humble and respect where we come from. Another reason why I joined is most of the good young talent here are local Dragons boys, so they actually do care about their region and you can see that, which is a big thing for us.”
As well as developing good players and good people connected to their roots, Chuck is also impressed by the leadership skills in the squad he’s seen in training, as well as the performances of the Dragons players he’s witnessed on tour with Wales, so with the countdown to the World Cup now on there’s motivation for turning development into success.
“Cory and Elliot have been fantastic. Last year wasn’t a successful season in the table, but if you look at the development those players have had, players like Cory have had to step up and be a leader, and likewise Elliot, in a tough environment and they have learnt a lot. Wainwright has come from nowhere to be capped within a year and that’s fantastic, but they’ve got that experience now and they can keep building on it, so little things like that show we are going the right way.
“Gavin is giving input to their younger players all the time and it’s invaluable, Brok Harris and Tavis Knoyle the same, and that’s really important. We’ve got plenty of players that have something to play for this year with a World Cup coming, the chance to play for their country is massive for us, as it’s a huge carrot for them and their career.”
Norris and the other coaches in Jackman’s coaching team know the challenge in front of them. However, he also wants to give back to the region he’s adopted and has offered his services to a club in the region to give them support.
“I’m looking for a Dragons regional club to adopt me to go and see a club and build a relationship with that club in terms of what support I can give, if a club thinks I might be able to help drop me a line.”
Clubs should contact simon.norris@dragonsrugby.wales if you would like to contact Chuck.
