"I'll never coach through fear" - Doncaster's Joe Ford plots Championship charge
Joe Ford is out to show how a rugby league background, a stellar family tree and modern day thinking can prove a winning mix and help Doncaster Knights realise their ambitions.
The 34-year-old has been at the Yorkshire club in some capacity since 2020 following several years in the Premiership as a fly-half for the likes of Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints. Whilst brother George is gearing up for a World Cup semi-final, Joe is readying for the visit of Hartpury to Castle Park in their Championship opener.
Embarking on his first season as Doncaster's head coach, Joe has already had his appetite wetted by the Premiership Rugby Cup, which showed how the Knights can put 40 points on top flight outfits whilst also mixing it with the best in the Championship.
Joe served as backs coach for several years before stepping up to work with Director of Rugby Steve Boden, who has put huge faith in the young coach. The former fly-half sees his age as a real point of difference, determined not to coach through fear, his recent playing days give him an insight into how best to connect with his players.
He told Mirror Sport : "I do (see it as a point of difference). Players are different now and maybe back in the day coaches used fear to motivate and people these days understand there are different ways to motivate.
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"Get to know the player, understand what they want. I will never be a coach who coaches through fear and a lot of players don't reach well to it nowadays. With my age I find it a bit easier to connect with the lads, definitely the mental side."
Doncaster finished sixth in the second tier last season, but in the years prior to that had produced second and third place showings, pushing the likes of Ealing Trailfinders particularly close. Boden has given Joe huge license to be the coach he wants to be as a big part of his focus is taken up with the club's forwards, allowing Joe to be his own man.
"Steve is really good, selection will always come down to him at the end of the day but we'll always have a discussion," he said. "He'll always listen to me and rarely do we disagree, we have a few times but it has got to be his call at the end of the day. He's taken on the forwards this year, which is a big job, so he's let me run it and put a lot of trust in me."
The former fly-half arrived at Castle Park as backs coach in 2020Spending 20 plus years as a fly-half programmed Joe to think like a playmaker, always trying to get the most from those outside him. That mindset continued in his role as backs coach, but now that he oversees the whole operation he admits to a new found appreciation for what those up front do.
The saying in rugby goes that forwards decide if you win games, backs decide by what margin. With that in mind Joe is determined to fill in any gaps in his knowledge, which only aids the club's game plan and system.
"That's one thing I do really appreciate (what forwards do)," he admitted. "Look I'm still a young coach so I try and go to as many forward meetings as I can, just do understand the intricacies of lineout, what they're trying to achieve. As a 10 you're just like give me the ball, but it is not always that simple. As a head coach, when it comes to selection, you've got to have the knowledge and a lot of it comes down to set piece."
That game plan stems from an education that began with dad, Mike, who led Bath to the Premiership final in 2015 with George as his fly-half. His rugby league background, which saw him play for Wigan, Warrington and Castleford during the 1980s and 90s, has massively shaped his thinking which, as a result, has influenced both Joe and George.
The Ford family, including dad Mike and brother George, has a rich rugby pedigreeIQ has often crossed-codes with union benefitting from the attacking structures regularly found it league. Ireland, arguably the best nation in the world over the past two years, have seen their attack dictated by Andy Farrell, a man who enjoyed huge success with Wigan in the 1990s.
The Irish attack has been lauded in recent times, resulting in high scoring affairs and Joe sees it as the perfect example of a rugby league attack making an impact in the 15-man game.
"Certainly the execution, how the forwards and backs all play. If you could put a rugby league attack into union that's how it would look," said the Doncaster head coach. "That's why they're having so much success. It is so hard to defend, you've got so many options at the line, and it literally is at the line, no one is playing early so the defence has so little time."
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Joe also has the luxury of being able to pick the brains of, arguably, the finest fly-half in the land in brother George. The pair own a coffee shop together in Oldham, the town they were born in and Joe still lives in, named after Joe's son Kobe. It is over a brew that the two minds come together, sharing best practice with Joe eyeing early coaching success and George determined to land his third Premiership winners' medal now he's at Sale.
"All the time (we talk). Midweek we'll try and get in the coffee shop, have some food and discuss what they're doing, they do some brilliant stuff with England," added Joe. "He wants to try and come into Doncaster to see how it is and weekly we're talking about how it's gone, different ideas and getting the message across."
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