In a groundbreaking example of cross-sport knowledge sharing, an eight-person high-performance delegation from New Zealand Cricket has spent an entire week embedded within Victoria’s elite Australian Rules football and cricket systems, capping off the study tour with an in-depth deep dive into one of the AFL’s most modern training hubs.
Led by two of New Zealand cricket’s most respected figures — former Black Caps head coach Gary Stead and current national high-performance director Dave Keelty — the group kicked off their visit this week with a stop at Cricket Victoria’s renowned Junction Oval, before shifting focus to Hawthorn Football Club’s cutting-edge Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley for multiple days of immersive learning.
Stead, who stepped down as New Zealand’s men’s national cricket coach last year on a historic high, is now working as a high-performance strategy consultant after a decorated tenure that included leading the Black Caps to the inaugural ICC World Test Championship title in 2021, followed by a landmark 3-0 Test series whitewash over India on home soil that cemented his legacy as one of the country’s greatest ever cricket coaches.
During their time at Hawthorn, the New Zealand delegation gained exclusive behind-the-scenes access to every layer of the AFL club’s operations: they sat in on senior strategy meetings, observed first-team training sessions, studied Sam Mitchell’s game planning framework as head coach, and examined the off-field operational structures that power the club’s new facility. A key takeaway that has impressed the visiting group is the remarkably smooth and efficient flow of Hawthorn’s internal strategy meetings, a benchmark they hope to adapt for New Zealand Cricket.
The cross-code connection that made the visit possible was forged by Hawthorn assistant coach David McKay, who completed a professional development stint across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand during the AFL off-season, laying the groundwork for the knowledge exchange.
The study tour comes as New Zealand’s men’s Test cricket team prepares for a busy end to 2024, with a scheduled Test tour of England followed by a four-match Test series against Australia on home soil. For many members of the visiting delegation, the week of learning will end with a new experience: their first ever live AFL match, where they will watch Hawthorn take on Melbourne at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground this Saturday.