Rugby feature: "I was never going to set the world on fire as a player but I could have been better with the right coaching"

A useful lock during his playing days at Oakmeadians, Ruislip and Bournemouth, the 39-year-old is now boss at Chapel Gate in the fifth tier of English rugby.

There is, to put it mildly, no shortage of ex-professional players coaching in National Three South West. And there are plenty who have impressed at a high level.

Former Bath fly-half Ryan Davis is in charge at Cleve, ex-Worcester Warriors man Lee Fortey is at Old Centralians, former Welsh international Rhys Oakley is part of a four-man coaching team at Lydney and ex-Bristol ace Jack Gadd is in the hot seat at Hornets. The list goes on.

Even Bournemouth have dabbled with big names in recent years. Budge Pountney, an experienced Scotland international, held the director of rugby role, while former Harlequins and Worcester star Tim Collier was also on board.

But, in some respects, the notion of an ex-pro taking up such a role in the bottom rung of the National Leagues sits uncomfortably with Croker.

Now in his second head coach position following an ill-fated few months at Basingstoke in 2014, the former Bournemouth colt is aware he goes against the grain at National Three level.

But the Iford resident, who in his first full campaign has steered Lions to sixth in the table with five games to go, believes clubs have in the past made mistakes in opting for big names.

“I was never going to set the world on fire as a player and I think that has helped enormously because a lot of the guys who come into coaching do so from a professional background,” said Croker.

“When they start coaching at National Three or South West One, they find the players don’t have the natural ability of professionals.

“I saw it with several coaches. They would come in, tell you to do something and expect you to do it to the standard they expected. For me, coaching is more about being able to make the players better rather than just giving them direct orders. If you can do that then players naturally buy in because they feel valued.

“I was an okay player but actually I could have been better with the right coaching.

“I think the problem is that a lot of guys come out of the professional game and are almost expecting a living. They think that what they have done at each of the clubs they have been at is sufficient for them to get a role and in some respects it gives coaches a bad name.

“So many clubs have experienced a pro coach coming in on quite big money, only to move on to pastures new within a couple of years and all of a sudden someone has to come in sort it out. That’s quite a sweeping statement. Of course there are a lot of very successful guys doing it around the country but I do think sometimes it’s easy for people to get swayed by a big name rather than looking within the club or the local area for a young, aspirational coach who might be able to offer them something different.

“I’m probably one of the few head coaches in our league not from a professional background and I think it’s good for people to see that. There are lots of guys playing within our club who may not have considered coaching as an option when they finish, because they perhaps think they don’t come with the pedigree required to get a job.

“It’s good for them to see someone making a go of it.”

Croker initially joined Bournemouth as a player in January last year and it was not long before he started to do some coaching at the club. And when Craig White and Dan Connolly left their roles last summer, Croker was handed the top job.

The former second-row had already been tasked by chairman Phil Sinkinson with conducting a full-scale review into the club’s structural organisation. And it is from that blueprint that Lions have worked this season.

The coaching team has been reshaped with Croker’s brother James and Jon Sanchez working alongside him with the firsts, while Jo Burns, Eddie Edwards, Peter Grant, Ian Moore and Simon Carkeet take care of the seconds, thirds and fourths.

Croker added: “Because the sides now have dedicated coaches, that means the players in the thirds can see a pathway to the firsts. When the first team does well, I get praised but it’s the unsung guys that allow us to be as good as we can be.”