South African Rugby League Coaching Commission announced

South African Rugby League has stepped up preparations for October's IRL World Cup Qualifier in Sydney and the upcoming season with a series of workshops hosted by Darryl Fisher, a former West Magpies professional rugby league player and NRL accredited high performance coach.

Fisher was appointed as the SARL Heritage Coach in Australia two years ago and has been working with the Australian-based rugby league players that qualify to play for South Africa via the Heritage Pathway.

Her conducted coaching workshops in Cape Town at the Stellenbosch Academy for Sport and in Pretoria at the Pretoria University High Performance Centre to help bring the South African game up to standard.

The coaching workshops form part of South African Rugby League’s new coaching education pathway that aims to deliver high quality coaching courses to South African coaches. This was pre-empted by International Rugby League Educators starting the IRL Level 1 courses with all coaches as well.

In addition several coaching sessions were held with senior rugby league players in South Africa and will continue with the players that are based in Australia and some players from England.

All of the above form part of the planning for South Africa to field an exceptional team in October when they play the Cook Islands for a place in the 2026 IRL Rugby League World Cup in Australia.

If South Africa can beat the Cook Islands, they will take part in their 3rd IRL World Cup, having competed in 1995 and 2000.

An application criteria and process to appoint the various national team coaches with a view towards the upcoming World Cup Qualifier in 2025 and the IRL Under19 World Championships in 2026 will be advertised shortly.

The Commission has the following functions: 

• Overseeing coach training, education and certification across all provinces.
• To appoint and manage the national team coaches for the senior, student, women and youth national teams.
• To establish a national coaching development program for rugby league coaches across South Africa.
• The implement a high performance coaching program for experienced rugby league coaches.

The coaching commission has been selected by the coaches and from the current coaching pool in South Africa. The establishment of the commission was approved at a general meeting held in January 2025. The members are:

• Deon Kraemer, Rabbitohs
• Gideon Fick, Rabbitohs, Board Representative
• Joe Burger, Pretoria Rugby League
• Ewan Geduld, Western Cape Wizards Coach
• Richard Louw, St Helens Vultures
• Christo Louw, Harlequins
• Johan Hatting, Board Representative

South Africa first played rugby league in 1956 when they faced an Italian and a French side at home in South Africa. Since then the SARL Rhino’s have played 54 international matches, of whom 39 were test matches.

Dr Frans Erasmus, president of SARL, was extremely positive: “A huge thank you to Darryl Fisher for his incredible contribution to South African Rugby League. His experience, insight and passion for the game are deeply respected, and we’re grateful for the role he is playing in shaping our coaching pathway and preparing our players for the challenge ahead.”

Deon Kraemer from the SARL Coaching Commission commented: “Darryl was exceptional and insightful - the best education I have received so far. His attention to detail and ability to simplify plays makes it easy to transfer knowledge to players. Excited for what's to come and the future of rugby league in South Africa."

Darryl Fisher said he enjoyed the trip and is looking forward to the IRL World Cup qualifier against Cook Islands.

“We had a fantastic week delivering player and coach development sessions in Cape Town and Pretoria," he said. "The athletic talent in South Africa is outstanding, and with the right support, the sky’s the limit. The coaches were eager to learn and embrace the key principles of rugby league and modern coaching techniques. We’re committed to helping build a strong platform for long-term success."