December 2, 2022 • 24 mins
We talk to Blues' Performance Analyst, Troy Webber, about business transformation using modern workplace tools. Troy gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how the Blues used technology to improve processes, data analysis and reach a winning performance. Have you ever wondered how sports teams stay on top of their game? Technology plays a big part. Tune in to learn how rugby teams collect massive amounts of data from each game and how this information is analysed to boost performance and prepare for the opposition.
Troy Webber
Performance Analyst - Blues
Troy Webber is the technical expert providing the Blues coaches and players with video footage and analysis of their own and the opposition's game performances.
Troy spends countless hours breaking the game down into numerous aspects to identify any advantages or weaknesses and to give the Blues an edge over opponents.
Holding a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Information Technology at Bond University, Troy has previously been a video analyst for the Auckland Storm, Counties-Manukau Air New Zealand Cup team and Auckland ITM Cup video analyst. Troy has been the Performance Analyst at the Blues since 2010.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:05):
Welcome to Lifting the Lid on Technology, a podcast series
brought to you by Soft Source in association with New
Zealand's leading IT vendors and experts. I'm Barry White, the
CIO principal consultant at Soft Source. In this series, we
explore opportunities and challenges in the world of it. And
(00:28):
today I'm joined by Troy Weber, performance analyst from the
2021 Super Rugby premiers, the Auckland Blues. In this episode,
we'll talk about business transformation using modern workplace tools with
insights from Troy Weber about how the blues use technology
to improve their processes, data analysis and to reach a
winning performance. Welcome, Troy. Thank you very much, Barry. Thanks
(00:54):
for joining the podcast. I've got to say, I've been
looking forward to this all week, actually. There's I'm really
fascinated by the work you're doing, particularly around data and
player analysis. And I'm hoping this afternoon we can have
a good chat about that. But I guess to kind
of kick things off, do you just want to give
a little bit of background to what it is you do,
maybe give us a bit of an insight to a
day in the life of At the Blues and I
(01:17):
guess in particular what your role involves. I'm the team analyst,
so basically my role is to watch a lot of rugby. Um,
so I, we get a lot of video from games,
multiple angles, um, video from training. And my role is
(01:37):
to package all that together. And then we do a
lot of data on that footage. So we look, um,
at everything a player does, everything a team does, and
we've got certain benchmarks that we measure ourselves against. Um,
so to give you an example, one game we would
(01:57):
have probably around 2000 coded events. Wow. So there's a
lot of data in that. Um, and then my job
is to pick through it and provide information to the
coaches and the players and, um, making sure that we're
doing what we say we're doing. I think some of
the people listening to this will be interested to know
that the types of sources, I mean, we sit there
(02:18):
on television and we, we see this single frame of
the game. But of course, there's a lot more, a
lot more information in the background that's been recorded there.
Can you give us a bit of an insight into
perhaps the amount of that? And, and, you know, with
Sky sports, for argument's sake, how many feeds they actually
work with those sort of things. So each game we
end up with six different views from a game. So
(02:40):
we get the broadcast view that everyone sees on the TV.
But we also get, um, a wide view that's we
can see the wide angle all the time, um, an
end on view so the coaches can help show where
space opens up. Um. Close views. Our forwards coach is
used to that quite a bit. And, um, we also
(03:00):
do an opposite side and we have another end of
view that's a lot wider. So when you put them
all together, there's no hiding. We see everything. Um, and
it's I guess for us it's what you do with information. Mhm. Um,
so everyone all teams have the same amount of feeds. Um,
we actually have quite a good relationship with the other analysts,
(03:21):
and we share footage wherever we go. Um, and then
it's really up to us how we analyse it, analyse
the opposition and make it work for us. That must
be pretty hard for the players. They'd be pretty conscious
about not doing so potentially on film. And, uh, I
guess you have to be careful not to pick your nose. Yeah.
The players are brilliant. They understand it's a professional world.
(03:44):
The amount of growing from when I first started with
where analysis has gone is immense. Um, and the players,
they spend countless hours reviewing footage along with the coaches
and obviously reviewing their performances, but also preparing for the opposition. And, um,
they spend a lot of hours a week sitting in
(04:05):
front of a computer and looking at numbers, I think,
is it true to say, I guess, you know, I
guess from a, you know, public's point of view and
I put myself in that seat, you know, we just
we just don't appreciate the amount of work that goes
on in the background. You know, that'd be that'd be true. Yeah.
There is there's a lot of work. There's no it's
not the old school, you know, rocking up to training
(04:27):
Tuesdays and Thursdays and playing on Saturday. Um, these guys
spend a lot of time coaches. They are often have
to know how to explain the amount of footage that
they go through, but they're spending endless times on their
computers in the office, at home, getting the guys ready
for the following game. So can we talk a bit
(04:48):
about the data? Because obviously this is a technology podcast and, um,
that's kind of the video aspect of it. What about
what about the data itself? And can you tell us
more about the tools and the platform you use for that?
We use a software platform to code our games. Um,
and uh, we use a company called Sports Code, and
we go through and we code a lot of data.
(05:08):
We also get data from third parties as well, which
we link in. So, um, sports analytics provides us with
some match data as well, which we utilize. And um,
we basically package all that information into the footage. Um,
then it's really once we do that, it's trying to
(05:28):
make use of that data. So, um, it's extracting that
information out and utilizing tools like power BI, um, which we, uh,
import the data into power BI and then that spits
out all the, uh, information for the coaches and a
nice pretty, um, format. That's a good segue, and probably
what's going to be my next question was, why do
(05:49):
you need a tool like power BI? Because you and
I met each other. What would have been before Covid,
I guess. Yeah. And we'll get to that. Uh, where
you attended one of our workshops and we did some
workshops at the Blues as well. And and that started
you on your journey down, down the path with power BI.
But but perhaps before today, I didn't fully appreciate the
(06:10):
fact that you weren't just dealing with one platform we
used to use just Excel before I came across power BI. Um,
and we did have some other um, software platforms that
we use utilize, but it wasn't until I saw the
power that we can get from power BI. I guess
it's if you look at Excel, it's just text it
to the next level. You're right. We've got I've got
(06:32):
different data sources coming from different providers. So I was
trying to find a way where I could link those
different data sets together. I remember coming to chatting with
you guys about, um, you and Chris about it and saying,
you know, I've got this information and we're, we're moving
away from our old provider. And, um, then you guys
mentioned power BI to me and Microsoft Teams, and that was, um,
(06:55):
it was pretty much the start of kicking me off
into this, uh, area. Don't give us a bit of
a I mean, you've a little bit about your background
from a technical point of view, because I know when
we meet our customers and we talk to people about
these new low code, no code tools, you know, it's often,
you know, some people are, for example, with a lot
of experience with Excel and, and so moving to something
(07:16):
like power BI, as you've described as the next logical transition.
But your, your dashboards are on a on another level again.
And this is obviously an audio podcast, not a video podcast.
So we can't show them to the to the audience. But, um,
one of the things that motivated this podcast was, uh,
looking at the, the quality of the dashboards that you
produce are absolutely fantastic. And obviously, Chris and I here
(07:39):
at Soft Source, we get the benefit of seeing a
few of these. And, uh, you've put a lot of
time into these dashboards and they're pretty sophisticated tools. So
do you want to just to help people get an
appreciation of what these things take? Well, before my life
in rugby, um, I had a, I had a software
company with my brother. So I have a IT background.
It was something I put on the back burner, but it's,
(08:00):
you know, I still have the understanding of some of
the code and being able to view stuff. It made
sense to me. So look, a lot of the dashboards
I've designed, there's also some dashboards that we utilize which
have also been designed by some third parties as well,
like the one in front of myself, which I'm talking
about now. It's a, um, player report dashboard that we utilize. Um,
(08:23):
so when a player plays a game or the starter
comes in, and basically when coaches want to sit with
a player and go through their footage and so go
through their numbers, they've got a dashboard here, which they
can bring up the player, and all that information is
given to the coaches so they can review the player's performance. Um,
using this information, it's fair to say that you've done
(08:45):
some collaboration out there with other people in the rugby
world or in the sports world. Yeah. As I mentioned before,
we have a pretty close relationship with other analysts in
the area, and particularly with Jamie Hamilton, who's the All
Black analyst. He's he's been extremely helpful in this area
as well. Um, and, uh, Jason Healey. So they, they
all in New Zealand rugby. So I guess it's a
(09:07):
beauty that we have in this environment where we have
a close relationship with other people. So, um, when I
have a question, I can contact them. Or like I
did the other day, I was stuck, um, trying to
link two data sets together, and I caught up with
yourself and Chris and just that meeting there. I mean,
(09:27):
it was was a little trick that, um, you guys
showed me how to do, and it was, uh, that
really helped. So just having the ability to have, um,
people that you can go to and, you know, when
you get stuck on a small problem, they, they most
likely have come across something like that and they can,
you know, put you steer in the right direction. So, um,
(09:48):
from my point of view, it's a it's a great
asset for us to have you guys. Soft source is
the ability to just pick up the phone or quick
flick an email through. And um, you guys always willing
to help us out. So I really appreciate that. And
thanks for sharing that too. Because, you know, when we
when we talk to customers, one of the things we, we,
we share with them is we say, well, look, you know,
(10:09):
if you're new to power BI, it is a massive
community and there is a lot of people out there
using the tool set and not just here locally, but,
you know, it's got a massive YouTube channel and and
it's such a broad range of skills. And so for
people who are perhaps listening to this and are new
to power BI or keen to sort of explore it further,
there are just so many different avenues that you can
(10:31):
tap into, right? There's heaps like, um, just utilizing Google
and doing a Google search on something. There's heaps of
videos that pop up, um, and there's a big, um,
power BI and teams environment out there, um, community out there. Um, which,
you know, people, it's amazing how willing people are to help. Um, um,
(10:54):
it's just knowing where to ask and who to ask. And, um,
you know, it's a beauty of, um, this type of platform. Yeah.
I think people listening to this might be interested to
know how the data gets from the players into the system.
Do you just want to give a little bit of
insight to that? Because it's this data is collected, but
how does it get from the player who's on the
(11:15):
field and into the into the platform? Yes. So a
lot of the data this gets done manually. So it's um,
there's there's no magic bullet out there that will just
spit out the data that you want. I mean, we
we do get things through with GPS data and information
that's automatically generated, but coded data, that's people sitting in
(11:35):
front of a computer coding instances. And um, then that's
we export that out into, um, a CSV file, which
then we. put the CSV files together. And that is
important to power BI. Um, so for me it is
I'm still new to power BI, so it's um, I
(11:56):
know I have to start creating better data warehouses and
better places to store data to make it easier to access. Um,
and that's probably one of my next steps in my
off season. So, yeah, trying to find a data warehouse
to store it all. Yeah. Because you're starting to build
up a repository of. So at the moment it's all
stored on, um, OneDrive in Microsoft OneDrive where data is
(12:18):
linked up. But I know I'll get to a point
where I start to get datasets which are getting quite
large and probably need to be housed in a, a better,
a better system. What are the types of data that
you're collecting? Like? I took a few notes and I'll
just couple them like individual collisions was one of the
ones that stuck out and returned to statistics I thought
was an interesting one. Can you just give us a
(12:39):
bit of a background to just what data you're actually collecting?
Because again, I think it's fascinating. So we've got different
areas and um, I've got a good analysis team which
works with me. And so we look at all the
all areas. Um, and so the, I guess the key
areas we look at our defense, um, and how how
(13:00):
we're doing in that area. Um, you mentioned collisions. So
we measure our collisions. Um, so that's basically making sure
that we, we get the person behind the gainline and
we're dominant in our tackles. And then, uh, we're making
sure that we get back in the game. So that's, um,
that's a big part for us is you can't defend
when you're on the ground. So once you make a tackle,
(13:21):
you have to get back up and get, us on
the ground. And that's all measured. So there's as as
I mentioned before, there's lots of different angles. So we
have a look at people going into the contact, making
the tackle, what type of tackle it is and then
how quickly they able to get back up on their
feet and back in the defence system. Um, and also
(13:42):
with our attack and all that we look at, it's
pretty much the flip side. So we're making sure that
we get the gain line, we get quick ball and uh,
get yeah, put other teams under pressure. Um, and then hopefully, uh,
score a few tries from it. I should say we're
recording this podcast a few days after the end of
the season. And congratulations. Thank you very much. On a
(14:03):
fantastic end to the season. I think you made a
city proud. And, uh, uh, and without giving away any
trade secrets on this front. Um, um, what difference did
some of this data make? Can you give us a
feeling for the impact of that? As I said, without
giving away any trade secrets? Well, yeah. Thank you. And
it was great having that victory in the weekend. And
(14:25):
as you mentioned before, it was great for the blues community. Um,
it was a long time coming for us, and, uh,
we're just thrilled with how our team performed and how
hard they work. So as mentioned, they work extremely hard. But, um,
we also we also look at a few key KPIs
when we play a game. So we've got a style
(14:45):
that we want to play. Um, and we know when
we play that style we're, we're, we're really good. And,
you know, it would be hard to stop us. Um,
and it's just trying to get that style going for
80 minutes. And, um, we're getting we're getting there. And
the teams, the exciting thing for us is we know
there's still a lot of growth in this team. Um,
(15:07):
and so, you know, there's it's rugby's about pressure. And
if we're executing our play and certain parts of the
field executing our game plan, and that's all. And we
after every game, we have all these measures that we
look at and making sure that we if we tick
those off and, um, we know we'll get the result.
(15:29):
It's it's obviously not the, the main factor, but it's
a significant factor in being able to collect that data
and then review it and then rinse and repeat for
the next game and say, well, look, we didn't tick
these boxes. Yeah, that's right. We know when we tick
those boxes nine out of ten times or win the game,
and the players understand that and the growth in the
understanding of that is immense. Over the over the last years.
(15:51):
So we've been we've been working hard the last few
years looking at changing the way we play the game. Um,
and that guy's understanding of the, of the game that
we want to play. And that's the only way you
can do that is having a tool of measuring it.
So that's where our work comes in every week. We'll
see how we're going in those key areas. And if
(16:14):
we keep on track, then, you know, good things come.
And that's. That's what we saw last weekend. I'm starting
to think, Troy, I'm not a member of the tab,
but I'm starting to think after talking to you, I should, uh,
perhaps take that up and, uh, have a regular weekly
phone call to you. Yeah. Um, I don't know if
I can give too much away, but it's, uh. Yeah,
we're we're confident in ourselves and the team, you know,
(16:38):
they know to to do what we do. We know
it's hard work because it's what all the other teams
out there are working just as hard. But we just
have to make sure what we're doing fits what we want,
how we want to play the game. So if we
could switch gears a little bit, obviously this this is
we've talked a lot about data and a lot about
power BI. But of course you've also been enthusiastic um,
uses and embraces of the broader sort of Microsoft Suite
(17:02):
as well. You're using Microsoft Teams now and office 365,
of course. Do you want to tell us a bit
more about that journey? And so I guess I guess
the biggest step was for us, we were we had
a software platform that we used to utilize, which was
a sports software platform, but we found we it wasn't
quite the right fit for us. Um, and it wasn't,
(17:22):
it wasn't the right fit for over the whole organization. Um,
so we, we were looking for something that could link
us all together. Um, and in one package. Um, and
with Covid hitting, it pretty much accelerated our path, our pathway. And, um,
I was out there trying to look for different options
(17:43):
out there that we could utilize. And I remember making
the phone call with you and Chris and Pablo and
you guys mentioned, have we thought about using Microsoft Teams?
And I had heard about teams, but I didn't I
wasn't fully aware of it. But chatting with you guys more,
I realized that we actually had the backbone of teams
(18:03):
already there. We just weren't utilizing it. So we obviously
had the Microsoft Suite, um, office 365, and part of
that office 365 is Microsoft Teams. And, um, just looking
at teams and what it could do and um, understanding that,
you know, you can create different teams, different channels and um,
(18:24):
being able to link the people that you need in
those channels was quite was, you know, quite beneficial for us. Um, we,
we use teams for all our training. Um, so everyone
has access to viewing the training platform that, um, all
our trainings, um, team selection, um, uh, or SNC use it,
(18:45):
medical staff use it. So it's, uh, it's really become a,
a place where, you know, we can share and collaborate
all our information together. Um, um, and it's also we
put all our players onto Microsoft Teams as well. So
a way for us to communicate to our team, our players. Um,
I'm only using mobiles, they're using mobiles. Um, and the
(19:08):
players live on their, on their phones. So the best
way to get to the players is through the phone, um,
and through chats because emails and that they won't, they
won't open up their emails and read emails. So it's um,
so the, uh, chats on Microsoft Teams, we found very beneficial. Um,
(19:28):
the big thing that I also want to point out
is the security of Microsoft Teams. Yeah. So it's for
for our business. One important factor was security. Um, and
there's other platforms out there that provide you with with
the same type of stuff. But for us, it was
the security. Um, and the ability. because with rugby we
(19:51):
get we get players in and we get players out
and it's ability to if a player comes in as
a replacement player for two weeks, while we've got a
player injured, that replacement player that can then be picked
up by another team. So it's quite important that their
history that they had doesn't go from our team.
S2 (20:11):
To the.
S1 (20:11):
Opposition team. So with Microsoft having the ability to turn
that person off and completely stop them from accessing any, um,
team that they're involved in was higher. Because I know
in the past our manager would have to go through
trying to remember what team they were in and switching
them all off. But it was, you know, it was
(20:32):
high chance that they'll forget something or slip through. So
the security of teams is very, very helpful because we
share a lot of information on teams like our game
plans and our and our our structures that we use
and things like that. So knowing that we can actually
switch that off and stop that from going anywhere else
(20:54):
because players, they go to different teams, they, you know,
if they're off contract.
S2 (20:58):
They.
S1 (20:58):
Can be picked up. And we just don't want that
information picked up and taken with them because it's it's
our it's our property, really. Just to finish up, I mean,
what are some of the things you're thinking about now?
You've just had a fantastic end to the season. I
guess for me at the moment. I know we're only
just scraping the surface of what we can do with
Microsoft Teams. Um, and we've we've only been really utilizing
(21:21):
it for the last 12 months, if that. Yeah. So
it hasn't been long. So it's and it's just trying
to make sure that everyone gets on board and is
utilizing it to its full potential. And um, I know
we've still got a way to go there. Um, but it's,
you know, it's just trying to making sure everyone follows
(21:42):
the same protocols and procedures there. Um, and, oh, there's,
there's heaps of things that you can, we can utilize. Um,
I won't be spending a lot of time playing around
more with power BI and getting my head around that and, um,
and making sure that, you know, I can like, I
know I build reports, but then I look at it, um,
(22:03):
a few months later and go, oh, I can do
that at a better way, or this is a this
is a simpler process. So streamlining things is, um, in
my off season. I'll be looking at that.
S2 (22:11):
Yeah.
S1 (22:12):
Now certainly for, uh, you know, Chris and I here
at Soft Source I think, and the whole team, you know,
one of the things that we feel very passionate about
and we try to do with, with customers is try
to help them to get that real extra value out
of the out of the platform. Because, as you say,
most people are only using a tiny little piece of
it or a little corner of it, and they just
don't realize a lot of the time just how many
(22:33):
different things they can do with the tool set. But
it does come down to people like you having the passion,
you know, on behalf of the team here at Salesforce,
it's very satisfying to see the outcome at the other
end of it and see somebody like yourself prosper from that.
And it's we get a lot of enjoyment out of
that and, you know, well done and keep up. Keep
up the great work. If I can say that on
behalf of all of Auckland, I appreciate it. Oh, look,
(22:56):
I'm from from where I am. It's soft.
S2 (22:59):
Sauce.
S1 (22:59):
You know, has opened my eyes to a lot of this. Um,
it's I think I've been to three of your workshops now. Just.
And I had a I came to one of the
workshops where we had other customers in here, and it
was it was also good to see, you know, how
they looked at things as well. And, um, you know,
you might pick up something there. And it was it
was I thought it was it was just a good
(23:19):
time as we talked about all the stuff, you know,
a bit a bit of a.
S2 (23:23):
Community.
S1 (23:23):
Community thing and, um, being able to share ideas and
have a look at what people do. It's quite exciting.
We'll try. There's probably a good place to stop. I
really appreciate your time and coming to see us today
and congratulations again. And, uh, we'll hopefully see you again
real soon. Thanks very much, Barry, I appreciate it. Cheers.
(23:47):
What a great session. Hearing from the 2021 Premier Team.
Thanks for joining us as we explored some of the
ways technology has transformed the Auckland blues, enabling greater value
from their data and ultimately improving business performance. We hope
you enjoyed Troy's insights and we look forward to bringing
you more tips and insider knowledge in our next episode.
Welcome to Lifting the Lid on Technology, a podcast series
brought to you by Soft Source in association with New
Zealand's leading IT vendors and experts. I'm Barry White, the
CIO principal consultant at Soft Source. In this series, we
explore opportunities and challenges in the world of it. And
(00:28):
today I'm joined by Troy Weber, performance analyst from the
2021 Super Rugby premiers, the Auckland Blues. In this episode,
we'll talk about business transformation using modern workplace tools with
insights from Troy Weber about how the blues use technology
to improve their processes, data analysis and to reach a
winning performance. Welcome, Troy. Thank you very much, Barry. Thanks
(00:54):
for joining the podcast. I've got to say, I've been
looking forward to this all week, actually. There's I'm really
fascinated by the work you're doing, particularly around data and
player analysis. And I'm hoping this afternoon we can have
a good chat about that. But I guess to kind
of kick things off, do you just want to give
a little bit of background to what it is you do,
maybe give us a bit of an insight to a
day in the life of At the Blues and I
(01:17):
guess in particular what your role involves. I'm the team analyst,
so basically my role is to watch a lot of rugby. Um,
so I, we get a lot of video from games,
multiple angles, um, video from training. And my role is
(01:37):
to package all that together. And then we do a
lot of data on that footage. So we look, um,
at everything a player does, everything a team does, and
we've got certain benchmarks that we measure ourselves against. Um,
so to give you an example, one game we would
(01:57):
have probably around 2000 coded events. Wow. So there's a
lot of data in that. Um, and then my job
is to pick through it and provide information to the
coaches and the players and, um, making sure that we're
doing what we say we're doing. I think some of
the people listening to this will be interested to know
that the types of sources, I mean, we sit there
(02:18):
on television and we, we see this single frame of
the game. But of course, there's a lot more, a
lot more information in the background that's been recorded there.
Can you give us a bit of an insight into
perhaps the amount of that? And, and, you know, with
Sky sports, for argument's sake, how many feeds they actually
work with those sort of things. So each game we
end up with six different views from a game. So
(02:40):
we get the broadcast view that everyone sees on the TV.
But we also get, um, a wide view that's we
can see the wide angle all the time, um, an
end on view so the coaches can help show where
space opens up. Um. Close views. Our forwards coach is
used to that quite a bit. And, um, we also
(03:00):
do an opposite side and we have another end of
view that's a lot wider. So when you put them
all together, there's no hiding. We see everything. Um, and
it's I guess for us it's what you do with information. Mhm. Um,
so everyone all teams have the same amount of feeds. Um,
we actually have quite a good relationship with the other analysts,
(03:21):
and we share footage wherever we go. Um, and then
it's really up to us how we analyse it, analyse
the opposition and make it work for us. That must
be pretty hard for the players. They'd be pretty conscious
about not doing so potentially on film. And, uh, I
guess you have to be careful not to pick your nose. Yeah.
The players are brilliant. They understand it's a professional world.
(03:44):
The amount of growing from when I first started with
where analysis has gone is immense. Um, and the players,
they spend countless hours reviewing footage along with the coaches
and obviously reviewing their performances, but also preparing for the opposition. And, um,
they spend a lot of hours a week sitting in
(04:05):
front of a computer and looking at numbers, I think,
is it true to say, I guess, you know, I
guess from a, you know, public's point of view and
I put myself in that seat, you know, we just
we just don't appreciate the amount of work that goes
on in the background. You know, that'd be that'd be true. Yeah.
There is there's a lot of work. There's no it's
not the old school, you know, rocking up to training
(04:27):
Tuesdays and Thursdays and playing on Saturday. Um, these guys
spend a lot of time coaches. They are often have
to know how to explain the amount of footage that
they go through, but they're spending endless times on their
computers in the office, at home, getting the guys ready
for the following game. So can we talk a bit
(04:48):
about the data? Because obviously this is a technology podcast and, um,
that's kind of the video aspect of it. What about
what about the data itself? And can you tell us
more about the tools and the platform you use for that?
We use a software platform to code our games. Um,
and uh, we use a company called Sports Code, and
we go through and we code a lot of data.
(05:08):
We also get data from third parties as well, which
we link in. So, um, sports analytics provides us with
some match data as well, which we utilize. And um,
we basically package all that information into the footage. Um,
then it's really once we do that, it's trying to
(05:28):
make use of that data. So, um, it's extracting that
information out and utilizing tools like power BI, um, which we, uh,
import the data into power BI and then that spits
out all the, uh, information for the coaches and a
nice pretty, um, format. That's a good segue, and probably
what's going to be my next question was, why do
(05:49):
you need a tool like power BI? Because you and
I met each other. What would have been before Covid,
I guess. Yeah. And we'll get to that. Uh, where
you attended one of our workshops and we did some
workshops at the Blues as well. And and that started
you on your journey down, down the path with power BI.
But but perhaps before today, I didn't fully appreciate the
(06:10):
fact that you weren't just dealing with one platform we
used to use just Excel before I came across power BI. Um,
and we did have some other um, software platforms that
we use utilize, but it wasn't until I saw the
power that we can get from power BI. I guess
it's if you look at Excel, it's just text it
to the next level. You're right. We've got I've got
(06:32):
different data sources coming from different providers. So I was
trying to find a way where I could link those
different data sets together. I remember coming to chatting with
you guys about, um, you and Chris about it and saying,
you know, I've got this information and we're, we're moving
away from our old provider. And, um, then you guys
mentioned power BI to me and Microsoft Teams, and that was, um,
(06:55):
it was pretty much the start of kicking me off
into this, uh, area. Don't give us a bit of
a I mean, you've a little bit about your background
from a technical point of view, because I know when
we meet our customers and we talk to people about
these new low code, no code tools, you know, it's often,
you know, some people are, for example, with a lot
of experience with Excel and, and so moving to something
(07:16):
like power BI, as you've described as the next logical transition.
But your, your dashboards are on a on another level again.
And this is obviously an audio podcast, not a video podcast.
So we can't show them to the to the audience. But, um,
one of the things that motivated this podcast was, uh,
looking at the, the quality of the dashboards that you
produce are absolutely fantastic. And obviously, Chris and I here
(07:39):
at Soft Source, we get the benefit of seeing a
few of these. And, uh, you've put a lot of
time into these dashboards and they're pretty sophisticated tools. So
do you want to just to help people get an
appreciation of what these things take? Well, before my life
in rugby, um, I had a, I had a software
company with my brother. So I have a IT background.
It was something I put on the back burner, but it's,
(08:00):
you know, I still have the understanding of some of
the code and being able to view stuff. It made
sense to me. So look, a lot of the dashboards
I've designed, there's also some dashboards that we utilize which
have also been designed by some third parties as well,
like the one in front of myself, which I'm talking
about now. It's a, um, player report dashboard that we utilize. Um,
(08:23):
so when a player plays a game or the starter
comes in, and basically when coaches want to sit with
a player and go through their footage and so go
through their numbers, they've got a dashboard here, which they
can bring up the player, and all that information is
given to the coaches so they can review the player's performance. Um,
using this information, it's fair to say that you've done
(08:45):
some collaboration out there with other people in the rugby
world or in the sports world. Yeah. As I mentioned before,
we have a pretty close relationship with other analysts in
the area, and particularly with Jamie Hamilton, who's the All
Black analyst. He's he's been extremely helpful in this area
as well. Um, and, uh, Jason Healey. So they, they
all in New Zealand rugby. So I guess it's a
(09:07):
beauty that we have in this environment where we have
a close relationship with other people. So, um, when I
have a question, I can contact them. Or like I
did the other day, I was stuck, um, trying to
link two data sets together, and I caught up with
yourself and Chris and just that meeting there. I mean,
(09:27):
it was was a little trick that, um, you guys
showed me how to do, and it was, uh, that
really helped. So just having the ability to have, um,
people that you can go to and, you know, when
you get stuck on a small problem, they, they most
likely have come across something like that and they can,
you know, put you steer in the right direction. So, um,
(09:48):
from my point of view, it's a it's a great
asset for us to have you guys. Soft source is
the ability to just pick up the phone or quick
flick an email through. And um, you guys always willing
to help us out. So I really appreciate that. And
thanks for sharing that too. Because, you know, when we
when we talk to customers, one of the things we, we,
we share with them is we say, well, look, you know,
(10:09):
if you're new to power BI, it is a massive
community and there is a lot of people out there
using the tool set and not just here locally, but,
you know, it's got a massive YouTube channel and and
it's such a broad range of skills. And so for
people who are perhaps listening to this and are new
to power BI or keen to sort of explore it further,
there are just so many different avenues that you can
(10:31):
tap into, right? There's heaps like, um, just utilizing Google
and doing a Google search on something. There's heaps of
videos that pop up, um, and there's a big, um,
power BI and teams environment out there, um, community out there. Um, which,
you know, people, it's amazing how willing people are to help. Um, um,
(10:54):
it's just knowing where to ask and who to ask. And, um,
you know, it's a beauty of, um, this type of platform. Yeah.
I think people listening to this might be interested to
know how the data gets from the players into the system.
Do you just want to give a little bit of
insight to that? Because it's this data is collected, but
how does it get from the player who's on the
(11:15):
field and into the into the platform? Yes. So a
lot of the data this gets done manually. So it's um,
there's there's no magic bullet out there that will just
spit out the data that you want. I mean, we
we do get things through with GPS data and information
that's automatically generated, but coded data, that's people sitting in
(11:35):
front of a computer coding instances. And um, then that's
we export that out into, um, a CSV file, which
then we. put the CSV files together. And that is
important to power BI. Um, so for me it is
I'm still new to power BI, so it's um, I
(11:56):
know I have to start creating better data warehouses and
better places to store data to make it easier to access. Um,
and that's probably one of my next steps in my
off season. So, yeah, trying to find a data warehouse
to store it all. Yeah. Because you're starting to build
up a repository of. So at the moment it's all
stored on, um, OneDrive in Microsoft OneDrive where data is
(12:18):
linked up. But I know I'll get to a point
where I start to get datasets which are getting quite
large and probably need to be housed in a, a better,
a better system. What are the types of data that
you're collecting? Like? I took a few notes and I'll
just couple them like individual collisions was one of the
ones that stuck out and returned to statistics I thought
was an interesting one. Can you just give us a
(12:39):
bit of a background to just what data you're actually collecting?
Because again, I think it's fascinating. So we've got different
areas and um, I've got a good analysis team which
works with me. And so we look at all the
all areas. Um, and so the, I guess the key
areas we look at our defense, um, and how how
(13:00):
we're doing in that area. Um, you mentioned collisions. So
we measure our collisions. Um, so that's basically making sure
that we, we get the person behind the gainline and
we're dominant in our tackles. And then, uh, we're making
sure that we get back in the game. So that's, um,
that's a big part for us is you can't defend
when you're on the ground. So once you make a tackle,
(13:21):
you have to get back up and get, us on
the ground. And that's all measured. So there's as as
I mentioned before, there's lots of different angles. So we
have a look at people going into the contact, making
the tackle, what type of tackle it is and then
how quickly they able to get back up on their
feet and back in the defence system. Um, and also
(13:42):
with our attack and all that we look at, it's
pretty much the flip side. So we're making sure that
we get the gain line, we get quick ball and uh,
get yeah, put other teams under pressure. Um, and then hopefully, uh,
score a few tries from it. I should say we're
recording this podcast a few days after the end of
the season. And congratulations. Thank you very much. On a
(14:03):
fantastic end to the season. I think you made a
city proud. And, uh, uh, and without giving away any
trade secrets on this front. Um, um, what difference did
some of this data make? Can you give us a
feeling for the impact of that? As I said, without
giving away any trade secrets? Well, yeah. Thank you. And
it was great having that victory in the weekend. And
(14:25):
as you mentioned before, it was great for the blues community. Um,
it was a long time coming for us, and, uh,
we're just thrilled with how our team performed and how
hard they work. So as mentioned, they work extremely hard. But, um,
we also we also look at a few key KPIs
when we play a game. So we've got a style
(14:45):
that we want to play. Um, and we know when
we play that style we're, we're, we're really good. And,
you know, it would be hard to stop us. Um,
and it's just trying to get that style going for
80 minutes. And, um, we're getting we're getting there. And
the teams, the exciting thing for us is we know
there's still a lot of growth in this team. Um,
(15:07):
and so, you know, there's it's rugby's about pressure. And
if we're executing our play and certain parts of the
field executing our game plan, and that's all. And we
after every game, we have all these measures that we
look at and making sure that we if we tick
those off and, um, we know we'll get the result.
(15:29):
It's it's obviously not the, the main factor, but it's
a significant factor in being able to collect that data
and then review it and then rinse and repeat for
the next game and say, well, look, we didn't tick
these boxes. Yeah, that's right. We know when we tick
those boxes nine out of ten times or win the game,
and the players understand that and the growth in the
understanding of that is immense. Over the over the last years.
(15:51):
So we've been we've been working hard the last few
years looking at changing the way we play the game. Um,
and that guy's understanding of the, of the game that
we want to play. And that's the only way you
can do that is having a tool of measuring it.
So that's where our work comes in every week. We'll
see how we're going in those key areas. And if
(16:14):
we keep on track, then, you know, good things come.
And that's. That's what we saw last weekend. I'm starting
to think, Troy, I'm not a member of the tab,
but I'm starting to think after talking to you, I should, uh,
perhaps take that up and, uh, have a regular weekly
phone call to you. Yeah. Um, I don't know if
I can give too much away, but it's, uh. Yeah,
we're we're confident in ourselves and the team, you know,
(16:38):
they know to to do what we do. We know
it's hard work because it's what all the other teams
out there are working just as hard. But we just
have to make sure what we're doing fits what we want,
how we want to play the game. So if we
could switch gears a little bit, obviously this this is
we've talked a lot about data and a lot about
power BI. But of course you've also been enthusiastic um,
uses and embraces of the broader sort of Microsoft Suite
(17:02):
as well. You're using Microsoft Teams now and office 365,
of course. Do you want to tell us a bit
more about that journey? And so I guess I guess
the biggest step was for us, we were we had
a software platform that we used to utilize, which was
a sports software platform, but we found we it wasn't
quite the right fit for us. Um, and it wasn't,
(17:22):
it wasn't the right fit for over the whole organization. Um,
so we, we were looking for something that could link
us all together. Um, and in one package. Um, and
with Covid hitting, it pretty much accelerated our path, our pathway. And, um,
I was out there trying to look for different options
(17:43):
out there that we could utilize. And I remember making
the phone call with you and Chris and Pablo and
you guys mentioned, have we thought about using Microsoft Teams?
And I had heard about teams, but I didn't I
wasn't fully aware of it. But chatting with you guys more,
I realized that we actually had the backbone of teams
(18:03):
already there. We just weren't utilizing it. So we obviously
had the Microsoft Suite, um, office 365, and part of
that office 365 is Microsoft Teams. And, um, just looking
at teams and what it could do and um, understanding that,
you know, you can create different teams, different channels and um,
(18:24):
being able to link the people that you need in
those channels was quite was, you know, quite beneficial for us. Um, we,
we use teams for all our training. Um, so everyone
has access to viewing the training platform that, um, all
our trainings, um, team selection, um, uh, or SNC use it,
(18:45):
medical staff use it. So it's, uh, it's really become a,
a place where, you know, we can share and collaborate
all our information together. Um, um, and it's also we
put all our players onto Microsoft Teams as well. So
a way for us to communicate to our team, our players. Um,
I'm only using mobiles, they're using mobiles. Um, and the
(19:08):
players live on their, on their phones. So the best
way to get to the players is through the phone, um,
and through chats because emails and that they won't, they
won't open up their emails and read emails. So it's um,
so the, uh, chats on Microsoft Teams, we found very beneficial. Um,
(19:28):
the big thing that I also want to point out
is the security of Microsoft Teams. Yeah. So it's for
for our business. One important factor was security. Um, and
there's other platforms out there that provide you with with
the same type of stuff. But for us, it was
the security. Um, and the ability. because with rugby we
(19:51):
get we get players in and we get players out
and it's ability to if a player comes in as
a replacement player for two weeks, while we've got a
player injured, that replacement player that can then be picked
up by another team. So it's quite important that their
history that they had doesn't go from our team.
S2 (20:11):
To the.
S1 (20:11):
Opposition team. So with Microsoft having the ability to turn
that person off and completely stop them from accessing any, um,
team that they're involved in was higher. Because I know
in the past our manager would have to go through
trying to remember what team they were in and switching
them all off. But it was, you know, it was
(20:32):
high chance that they'll forget something or slip through. So
the security of teams is very, very helpful because we
share a lot of information on teams like our game
plans and our and our our structures that we use
and things like that. So knowing that we can actually
switch that off and stop that from going anywhere else
(20:54):
because players, they go to different teams, they, you know,
if they're off contract.
S2 (20:58):
They.
S1 (20:58):
Can be picked up. And we just don't want that
information picked up and taken with them because it's it's
our it's our property, really. Just to finish up, I mean,
what are some of the things you're thinking about now?
You've just had a fantastic end to the season. I
guess for me at the moment. I know we're only
just scraping the surface of what we can do with
Microsoft Teams. Um, and we've we've only been really utilizing
(21:21):
it for the last 12 months, if that. Yeah. So
it hasn't been long. So it's and it's just trying
to make sure that everyone gets on board and is
utilizing it to its full potential. And um, I know
we've still got a way to go there. Um, but it's,
you know, it's just trying to making sure everyone follows
(21:42):
the same protocols and procedures there. Um, and, oh, there's,
there's heaps of things that you can, we can utilize. Um,
I won't be spending a lot of time playing around
more with power BI and getting my head around that and, um,
and making sure that, you know, I can like, I
know I build reports, but then I look at it, um,
(22:03):
a few months later and go, oh, I can do
that at a better way, or this is a this
is a simpler process. So streamlining things is, um, in
my off season. I'll be looking at that.
S2 (22:11):
Yeah.
S1 (22:12):
Now certainly for, uh, you know, Chris and I here
at Soft Source I think, and the whole team, you know,
one of the things that we feel very passionate about
and we try to do with, with customers is try
to help them to get that real extra value out
of the out of the platform. Because, as you say,
most people are only using a tiny little piece of
it or a little corner of it, and they just
don't realize a lot of the time just how many
(22:33):
different things they can do with the tool set. But
it does come down to people like you having the passion,
you know, on behalf of the team here at Salesforce,
it's very satisfying to see the outcome at the other
end of it and see somebody like yourself prosper from that.
And it's we get a lot of enjoyment out of
that and, you know, well done and keep up. Keep
up the great work. If I can say that on
behalf of all of Auckland, I appreciate it. Oh, look,
(22:56):
I'm from from where I am. It's soft.
S2 (22:59):
Sauce.
S1 (22:59):
You know, has opened my eyes to a lot of this. Um,
it's I think I've been to three of your workshops now. Just.
And I had a I came to one of the
workshops where we had other customers in here, and it
was it was also good to see, you know, how
they looked at things as well. And, um, you know,
you might pick up something there. And it was it
was I thought it was it was just a good
(23:19):
time as we talked about all the stuff, you know,
a bit a bit of a.
S2 (23:23):
Community.
S1 (23:23):
Community thing and, um, being able to share ideas and
have a look at what people do. It's quite exciting.
We'll try. There's probably a good place to stop. I
really appreciate your time and coming to see us today
and congratulations again. And, uh, we'll hopefully see you again
real soon. Thanks very much, Barry, I appreciate it. Cheers.
(23:47):
What a great session. Hearing from the 2021 Premier Team.
Thanks for joining us as we explored some of the
ways technology has transformed the Auckland blues, enabling greater value
from their data and ultimately improving business performance. We hope
you enjoyed Troy's insights and we look forward to bringing
you more tips and insider knowledge in our next episode.
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