Williams sorts the selection talk by two things, fitness and form. With both in place, the conversation is about other factors like the balance of the team. With neither, it becomes how to fix them, and dominating a second team game is one way to show form is back. How long he persists depends on what the player shows him, getting to training early, doing the extra physical work. Watch the full masterclass: Winning the relegation battle.
The Kookaburras train every day bar one, and Potter treats each session as a selection trial rather than saving his best for the four weeks before a tournament. Staff review and analyse every training, and the players hear it two or three times a week. Training badly is not the problem in itself; what matters is how you come back the next day. Watch the full masterclass: Culture relating to performance.
Asked why squads pick older players in an Olympic year, he starts with rowing, where the best reach their peak after thirty-five, and triathlon, where it is the same. So why, he asks, does hockey decide at thirty that a player is finished? Experience cannot be bought. The condition is absolute: an older player trading on seniority is out. Read the full write-up of this conversation.