Here’s to you, Mr Robinson: Trent’s coaching rise from French graduate to the 300 club
French players used to call Trent Robinson at the crack of dawn and sing Simon & Garfunkel’s famous hit Mrs Robinson.
Robinson was just 28 when he took over from Justin Morgan as head coach of Toulouse Olympique in 2005.
Because most of the players were his teammates less than a year earlier, Robinson knew there had to be boundaries, so he avoided late-night activities.
Robinson brings up 300 games as an NRL head coach against the Wests Tigers on Sunday, all at the Sydney Roosters. Coincidentally, Robinson made his first-grade debut at the Wests Tigers in 2000 – the first player to do so at the joint venture.
His coaching milestone is quite the achievement. Of the current NRL coaches, only Wayne Bennett (928), Craig Bellamy (564), Ricky Stuart (506), Des Hasler (472) and Ivan Cleary (438) have overseen more.
Three NRL premierships have obviously helped Robinson’s longevity.
St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan also celebrates a milestone on Sunday, bringing up 200 NRL games.
Robinson refers to France and Toulouse Olympique as his “anchor point”. It reminds him why he started coaching.
He says he has barely changed in nearly 20 years. There is still that drive to see young men fulfil their potential.
The only thing that has probably changed is the number of players brave enough to sing down the line at an ungodly hour. Millennials don’t leave voicemails.
“It’s my home base,” Robinson says of Toulouse. “It doesn’t matter if there are 500 people in the stand, or 80,000, it’s still coaching 13 guys to play footy.
“It’s where my partner [Sandra] is from, it’s where I started coaching, it’s where [French rugby league legend] Carlos [Zalduendo] gave me my opportunity.
“It’s my anchor point to coaching. That’s what it is. When it all gets busy, it’s nice having a memory to go back to about why I do this.
“I’ve made so many mistakes. I got started on some things I’m still doing now, and some things I decided to never do again. I am exactly the same as I was then.
“I love the game, I love coaching rugby league, I love coaching footy players. I want to see what is possible, what a player can do, and what a player is capable of doing.
“There are just a lot more bells and whistles now.”
Robinson said “never in my wildest dreams” would he have believed “an average player coming from France” would enjoy such a long and enjoyable run in the NRL.
Several officials and friends in France, who were there when the journey started all those years ago, were not surprised when told Robinson is about to reach a marvellous milestone.
They spoke about Robinson’s love for his players, how he wanted them to be proud of the club they represented, and how he even learnt French so his message was always clear to local players.
Robinson also knew when to crack the whip or have a laugh.
Sylvain Houles recently celebrated 250 games as head coach of Toulouse, and played under Robinson during his first year at the club.
Houles runs a dairy farm that provides milk for the world-famous Roquefort blue cheese.
But back to Robinson.
“Trent was a players’ coach,” Houles says. “He understood players, was always open, very passionate, and I loved playing for him.
“When I first started coaching, I was interviewed and asked who the best coach was I played under, and I said, Robbo. They said, ‘But he only coached you for one year, so why?’ I said, ‘I loved playing for him’.
“Trent liked a good time. Because it was his first year as coach, he didn’t want to go out with the players late at night. So we’d call him at 5am or 6am and start singing, Mrs Robinson. He was never impressed.
“We’d go out on a Friday and he’d start playing our voicemails while doing fitness on the Saturday.
“Trent was tough; he’d get angry. Maybe things have changed with the TV cameras. He got angry one day when we lost a game after a few of us had bought new cars the week before. He went off in French about how we needed to focus on football rather than cars.
Trent Robinson brings up 300 games as Roosters coach against Wests Tigers on Sunday.
“But he would get over it, and was always fair.”
Zalduendo, the club’s long-serving president and a former French forward, recruited Robinson as a player in 2002 after asking former star Tas Baitieri to scout fringe players keen on a move to France. He rated the blond Australian as one of the best coaches he’s had at his club, even though it was for just 12 months.
Morgan accepted a job with Hull KR, but after a chat with Zalduendo, the club was more than comfortable appointing the untried Robinson.
“When he was a player, Trent was very clever and helped Justin Morgan – he was involved in fitness, and was just curious and interested about everything,” Zalduendo recalls.
“He was one of the first players to learn French when most players don’t even try. He wanted to explain things to the players so they understood. He was very good with communication.
“He took us to the semi-final [of the Challenge Cup in 2005; the first French side to reach that stage]. He was only here the one year, but he was one of the best coaches we have had.”
Morgan, now an assistant coach at North Queensland, says of Robinson: “I remember I spoke to Carlos about replacements and I said, ‘Robbo is your man’. After our convo, Carlos spoke to the 15 vice presidents that you have at every French rugby league club, and they quickly gave it the seal of approval.
“Everyone also talks about the great connection he has with the area and what a jersey means and stands for. He’s clearly done that at the Roosters, and certainly did it at Toulouse. He may have been slow as a player, but he was never slow between the ears.”
As the French would say, “bonne chance, mon ami”.
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