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#Post#: 88676--------------------------------------------------
"New Harlequins documentary could be a gamechanger for club
rugby"
DIR By: Jedzi
Date: April 15, 2022, 8:21 am
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Just published in the Guardian:
HTML https://bit.ly/3xrRp0j
"New Harlequins documentary could be a gamechanger for club
rugby"
Prep To Win, created by Bath and England prop Beno Obano, offers
a behind-the-scenes look at the Premiership champions
Robert Kitson
Fri 15 Apr 2022 13.38 BST
For years rugby clubs barely considered their wider profile. As
long as their captive audience of season ticket holders and
local sponsors were happy, everything else was a bonus. Even for
prestigious London sides like Harlequins it was less about the
scattering of customers at their games than ensuring there was
enough ice and lemon for the committee’s gins and tonics.
Sometimes we forget the huge difference professionalism has
made. These days a packed house will be in full cry at the Stoop
for the European last 16 second leg fixture against Montpellier,
hoping to see last Sunday’s 14-point deficit thrillingly
overturned. After last season’s Premiership final, when Quins
were memorably crowned domestic champions, there should
hopefully be a sizeable lunchtime TV audience on Channel 4 as
well on Saturday.
Professional club rugby, though, remains a commercial speck on
the horizon behind the Premier League, the NFL and the NBA.
There is even a quantum leap to be made before it can hope to
compete with the international game. Which is why Quins’ biggest
promotional platform this month is arguably not the Montpellier
fixture but a revealing three-part documentary series about the
club made by the Bath and England prop Beno Obano’s company,
Sinnybaby Media.
Prep To Win, coming soon to Amazon Prime, is an intriguing
project on many levels, not least Quins’ willingness to place
their trust in an active player from a rival team. Nor was the
club permitted full editorial control which even Obano describes
it as a major “leap of faith” by their senior management. “We
spoke briefly to a lot of other people and initially I found it
quite weird how many blockades there were. But Quins were just
so helpful. They were like ‘Yeah, let’s get it done.’ They
really wanted it.”
Quins’ chief executive, Laurie Dalrymple, confirms it was “a bit
of an easy decision” with the club already looking to capitalise
on their title success with an inside-the-camp production. Like
everyone else Dalrymple has watched Drive to Survive transform
perceptions of Formula One and, rugby-wise, is keen for Quins to
stay at the front of the grid. It did no harm, either, that
Obano is friendly with Marcus Smith, was previously coached by
Tabai Matson at Bath and has already cut his directorial teeth
by making the well-regarded Everybody’s Game which explored
rugby union’s attitudes to social and cultural diversity.
The 27-year-old Obano, capped three times by England and a
cousin of Maro Itoje, also argues he has an inbuilt advantage
over other would-be rugby filmmakers: the ability to deliver a
truly authentic end product. “When you’re actually in the game,
you’re able to go to topics you know are interesting that
another director wouldn’t be privy to.” By doing so, he hopes to
open the audience’s eyes to aspects they might not fully
appreciate. “You can focus on the people involved, rather than
just hoping the viewers will enjoy it.”
An unintentional creative plus – “Divine timing is what I call
it” – is that Obano has been injured for several months, giving
him more time to work on his latest creation. Although he could
not snoop around everywhere – “Obviously that’s a huge conflict
of interest” – and some tactical details had to be withheld, he
had three cameramen shooting footage for him and was on hand for
all the keynote interviews.
Stitching everything together was a challenge but Obano believes
people will swiftly develop a new-found appreciation of unflashy
players like James Chisholm – “I couldn’t have made this film
without him” – and gain a deeper insight into recognisable stars
such as Smith. “When you stick a camera in front of someone’s
face, some people are better at being honest than others. But I
think we’ve got a good diverse group who were able to speak
quite candidly. I’ve know Marcus for a while and been close to
him. Marcus is hot right now and he’s a proper nice person. His
whole family are in the documentary as well.”
There is also a cameo appearance from the ubiquitous David
Flatman – “Flats is very good in it – he’s proper funny” – but
above all Obano is desperate to demonstrate there is more to
rugby than just the international arena. “We cling on, as a
country, to England players. People’s perception of whether
somebody is good is only defined by who the England coach is at
that particular time or who the commentators are on BT Sport.
“A lot of rugby players finish their careers and if they haven’t
played for England they feel like a failure. That was in my
mind. Let’s try and promote these guys, let the fans understand
the game a bit more and make a decision for themselves rather
than who Ben Kay or Ugo Monye tells them is really good.”
Not quite so glamour-soaked as Drive to Survive, perhaps, but
Obano deserves substantial credit simply for getting the series
in the can and for his ongoing mission to enlarge the sport’s
footprint. Quins, coincidentally, have hosted the England
football manager Gareth Southgate at their training ground this
week and Dalrymple, previously chief executive of Wolverhampton
Wanderers, can clearly sniff a commercial half chance. Obano’s
view, from the outset, was that the exposure would so obviously
benefit Quins and, potentially, the wider game that he
“struggled to see the downside.”
Of course it would also help all involved if Quins, 34-0 down at
one point in France, could now complete a remarkable Easter
resurrection but Obano has longer term goals. “It’s not easy
making a series. You get days when you wonder if it’s going to
be as good as you want it to be. But I created this to make good
content around rugby. The sole purpose is not just to create a
wider audience. I feel like that’s a by-product of good content.
“Rugby fans, players, staff – I hope they all connect with the
people they see on screen and understand and admire those
stories. Rugby players don’t always come across that well. A lot
of them aren’t that cool. They’re just good at sport. But what
if we’re able to show some of their personalities? There are so
many themes in it but I want people to feel ‘I’m now really
connected to this sport.’” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Obano has
already had messages from other Premiership sides keen to
feature in series two. Club rugby could just be on the brink of
a game-changing innovation.
#Post#: 88678--------------------------------------------------
Re: "New Harlequins documentary could be a gamechanger for
club rugby"
DIR By: Captquin
Date: April 15, 2022, 9:39 am
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Can't wait for the series and I hope it is a great success!
Premiership rugby really needs more of this if it is to grow the
game etc. etc.
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