“Trust the next generation”: Neil Barnes’ faith in Taranaki talent pays dividends

Taranaki left Trafalgar Park on the final day of the NPC’s regular season with the Ranfurly Shield in their grasp, defeating the Tasman Mako 42-29 to book a new summer home for the Log ‘O Wood.

Neil Barnes is no stranger to winning the shield, now doing so on three occasions – the head coach joined SENZ’s Scotty & Izzy on Monday as celebrations continued.

“You can't say it's just another game, but we don't put too much emphasis on the actual shield – but it was about us getting back to our best,” the coach said with a home quarter-final against Waikato up next.

“The exciting thing was you're actually playing one of the best teams in the country and they consistently have been. So, they're the games you look for. The easy thing is to play teams that you know you can get over with a half average performance but when you play the best, you know you've got to be at your best, and that part is exciting. So yeah, I was really pleased with the all-round effort, to be honest.”

While some fans of the amber & blacks were hopeful that more of their All Blacks would return for the challenge, they did have Stephen Perofeta return to the squad as an impact player, adding to the playmaking firepower seen by Adam Lennox and Josh Jacomb.

Barnes is a firm believer that the NPC can be fit for purpose and prepare young players for a career in professional rugby, if you give them the opportunity.

“I don't get too excited when I see people bringing in players from overseas, bringing back retired players and all that sort of stuff,” Barnes said.

“Trust the next generation – put them out there and give them a crack, and you'll be surprised by what opens up. Give them a little experience and confidence, all of a sudden, you’ve got another good player there.

“We've been decimated this year with freaking injuries, but I just keep going to the next cab off the rank. We do the work with our club players, so we know them all and reward them.”

The 2024 NPC season has been full of excitement, one that the Taranaki coach describes as a “perfect competition” because of its unpredictability – however, Barnes does have a couple of gripes that appear to be falling on deaf ears at NZ Rugby.

“The only part that's probably got to go is the storm week. I went and apologised to the Tasman coaches afterwards, I really felt for them playing two shield games in the middle of a storm week. It's not respectful to the Ranfurly Shield,” he said.

“I've been beating on NZR's door for three years about this, and I think three years is long enough for them to make a change.

“At the end of the day, we've got a system that I think focuses too much on the top end and will shovel the boys at the bottom end into whatever window they can so they can keep functioning.

“If you buy into the pathways and keep the whole thing in balance, we'll all be happy. But at the moment, (there is) way too big a focus on the very top end.

“I'm a bloody farmer, for Christ's sake, when you stop building things and only focus on what's on top of the ground instead of the foundation under it, it topples over the first big wind you get.”

Listen to the full interview below: