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Nick
Marden
When
2nd XV backs' coach Bruce Reekie stepped up to the first team
to fill the void left by Sean Lineen’s departure to Glasgow Rugby, there
weren’t many who anticipated Nick Marden’s return to the club. The
former ’Muir full back, from Dingwall in Rosshire, left the club back in
1996 when he was offered the chance to play professional rugby league for
the London Broncos. And, though he had intended to return to Meggetland to
finish off his playing days, early retirement because of a back injury
meant that he had to wait until a coaching opportunity presented itself to
renew his association with the club.
 “I
was at a game, against Peebles I think, and mentioned to Bruce Hay that I
was interested in getting back involved with the club. So when Bruce
Reekie was moved up to the 1st team, I got offered the chance
to take over as backs coach for the 2nds. It had always been my
intention to return to Boroughmuir. I had wanted to finish my playing
career here as I felt that after my time at the Broncos, I was a much
better player and I never felt I’d shown my best at Meggetland. I wanted
to show the fans what I could really do.”
And
coaching is certainly something he had always planned for his later years.
“I always thought I would come to it, but ideally at the moment I’d
still be playing. I’m only 32, so if I hadn’t had to retire I’d
still be out on the pitch, but it just means that I’ve had to come to
coaching earlier than I had planned, really. In some ways I think it would
be easier if I was a player/coach, but that’s obviously not possible.
I’ve always felt that I wanted to help other players achieve what they
can in the game and so coaching was the right route. And give me a bit of
time and I think I’ll prove myself.”
Perhaps
the major drawback of coaching in the amateur game is the time commitment
it requires on top of an ordinary working life. “It does impinge
quite a lot on your family life. It’s difficult now with one child and
my wife’s studying for a PhD, but next year it’ll be even more so as
we’re expecting another baby. Although, to be fair, my wife encouraged
me to get involved. She could see that at weekends I wasn’t myself and I
was looking for an outlet. If you’ve been a full time sportsmen or spent
a lot of your life doing a certain thing then it’s very difficult to
step back from that and find something else to fill the void that it
leaves. So she actively encouraged me to go for it, she probably knows
I’m a less tetchy person for it but it is quite difficult being away two
nights a week and on a Saturday as well, where an away match can take up
almost all the day.”
Perhaps
inevitably as well, Nick is finding the coaching world harder than he had
expected. “Because I don’t really have any training in PE or
teaching I’m finding it more difficult than I thought I would. And
having been out of the game for a good while now I have to work my way
back in to the routines of it. But it’s possibly a good thing that I’m
finding it harder because it means I really try to get the basic things
right and I’m improving the way I get things across to the players.”
 With
the retirement from the second team of forwards coach Jerry Dryburgh over
the close-season, Nick has found himself having to try and forge a new
coaching partnership. Former Forrester, Royal High and Currie coach Stuart
Dennis was recruited by the club to join the 2nd XV staff. “Things
with Stuart have been going well so far. I think we’re dovetailing quite
well. With the way the holidays worked we’ve only been together for just
over a month so it’s still quite new, but Stuart’s brought in some new
ideas and I think we’re definitely already seeing the benefit of that. I
think for the players to have those fresh ideas and approaches from time
to time can only benefit them. I’ve certainly learnt from him
and I would hope he’s learnt something from me and the two of us
are more experienced and better coaches as a result.”
And
like anybody in any sporting field, Nick isn’t looking past the short
term. “I’d like to think long term, but at the moment I’m finding
it difficult to think more than a year or two ahead with the baby coming
up." he said. "But I guess my long term commitment to
rugby depends on whether I prove to be any good at it. If I take to it and
prove myself to be someone who can develop players and lead a team to
success then I would expect to be in it a long time, but if I find I’m
not making the progression and development I would expect then I’d have
to look seriously at why I was doing it.”
As
with players, many coaches have ambitions to get to professional level in
the sport. “Being a professional coach is a precarious job. For the
foreseeable future I have no plans to go to that level because my family
absolutely comes first. Maybe in a few years time but that’s too far to
be thinking about at the moment. And I also have a career outside of
rugby. I have my job as an accountant and that pays the bills and I’m
not ready to step away from that at the moment.”
 With
the 2nd XV having won their title two years ago, and then
having suffered the disappointment of not retaining it last season, Nick
knows how much his side want that crown back, and he is adamant that it is
within the realms of possibility. “I definitely think we can win the
title this season. The squad we have is certainly good enough. We’ve
beaten Hawks so far and that was a start. I think the problem last season
was that we got off to a poor start and it was really December before we
started playing, but after that there was hardly a team in the league
could live with us. We’ve started this season off well and another
couple of wins will just breed the confidence and hopefully we can keep it
going throughout the season.”
And
that, when all said and done, is what Nick’s job is. To get the second
fifteen winning games and titles, providing the opportunity for players to
try and force their way into the reckoning for the 1st XV. And,
though he doesn’t have a wealth of experience as a coach, it is a job
that those around the club have every confidence he can do. As long as he
continues to develop his own skills as well as those of the players he
coaches, there could well be a long and fruitful partnership between
Boroughmuir and Nick Marden.
Simon Furnivall |
