Mental notes for the Currie Cup Final

It’s Currie Cup final week and along with a huge amount of excitement for all involved, comes the inevitable nerves and pressure that come with having the large prize at your grasp. What often happens in these games is that the style adopted by both sides change as the fear of making mistakes begins to overwhelm and therefore more conservative approaches are often adopted. Essentially in these games two kinds of player exists – the one who alters his style of play due to the occasion causing fear, and the one that realises that a certain style of play got him to the final in the first place and therefore tries to replicate that style with freedom. This is indeed a simplistic view of looking at things, but surely if you have been good enough in the build up to the final, you should be good enough to succeed in the final as well. A few key points are mentioned below that mentally are crucial for any side in the big game.

1. It has become a cliché that the team who wants it more wins. This is only partially true. Passion is a must and striving for the physical dominance is crucial, however, passion without accuracy is worthless. There needs to be a strong desire within the team not only to win the game, but to actually be as accurate and ‘perfect’ as they can. The process of doing the things that lead to a win are far more important than thinking about winning itself.
2. Each side will make mistakes, some worse than others, but you can be guaranteed that things will not always go according to plan – the winning side will probably be the one that reacts better to the mistakes. They will have accepted that mistakes are inevitable, and will have a plan in their minds as to how to react to errors.
3. Players need to go about their preparation in as similar a fashion to any other week. The pressure is high in these games and creating some comfort in an uncomfortable situation is vital. Players will need to visualise their best moments and follow as similar a routine as possible. This is where the home side is often at an advantage, as they have increased familiarity and comfort by virtue of them being in their own surroundings.
4. Teams need to have crucial honest conversations to ensure that all players are on the same page and have mental plans for their game. By talking through situations players can prepare themselves mentally for any eventuality and thus be more prepared in the big moments. They can also plan their own preparation in these conversations to ensure that their intensity levels are where they want them to be at training and in the immediate build-up to the match. Managing the balance here between psyching up and staying calm is imperative.
5. Lastly and it may seem a touch idealistic, but players need to enjoy and embrace the moment. They all want to play in the big games and thus need to give themselves permission to enjoy the game and get into the best mental state for them to excel. Pressure games are opportunities to be a hero, and they need to be framed as such, not as games where players should worry more about not making mistakes.
The weekend’s final should be a cracker. All the best!