After four seasons as Head Coach of HRC 1st XV, Hadley Jackson will stop at the end of this season. He has ‘left the jersey in a better place’ and HRC is grateful for that.
Hadley’s first visit to HRC was in April 2022 as he was looking for a new coaching challenge in Europe, after various successful roles in Australia. Hadley’s grandparents came from the Netherlands and he was very eager to help improve the rugby level in the country where he has his roots, while getting to know his heritage better.
HRC had just further developed the ambitious plan to become ‘toonaangevend’ again with players who had their roots at HRC, while continuing to focus on youth development. After meeting the players, seeing the clubhouse with an infrastructure to build success and the huge potential of many years of consistent youth rugby development, Hadley and HRC came to an agreement causing Hadley decided to extend his stay.
Hadley brought another level of professionalism to our club and a winning mindset. A coach of his stature allowed players to come back to HRC again and keep talented players in the Hague. Three finals of our 1st XV in a row has exceeded everyone’s expectations and winning the national championship last season was obviously the icing on the cake.
Initially Hadley signed for 2 seasons and afterwards extended for another two seasons at HRC, while he also made a big contribution to Dutch rugby by supporting the NL XV men’s selection and Delta.
As Hadley shared with the team recently, this will be the last season at HRC where he is looking to finish on a high. We wish Hadley all the best pursuing his ambitions abroad and his next club is lucky to have him.
Sebastiaan ten Hagen (Chairman HRC) shared the following on the subject: “We owe Hadley a lot for all his contributions to HRC the past seasons. He has been exemplary at creating a successful environment for the HRC 1st XV team, as well as contributing to Rugby Netherlands with the men’s XV & Delta. He will always be part of our HRC family, wherever his future ambitions will bring him. Hadley’s ‘opa and oma’ would have been very proud of their grandson!“
Hadley Jackson (Head Coach HRC) himself mentioned: “Firstly, I would like to thank the players who I have been lucky enough to coach for the last 4 seasons. From the first phone call I had with Amir Rademaker 4 years ago I saw the potential of a great team that required some hard work and dedicated effort to turn the talent into success. Without the effort the players have put in these last 4 years would not have been as special as they have been.
To Tis ten Hagen and Bob van Raaij who have been by my side the whole way and are now mates for life, it has been a pleasure. From Robert Clemenkowff who has assisted almost daily since I arrived, and Ton van der Loos who rides every result with the same intensity and is there to support no matter if it’s a win or a loss. To the HRC board, the coaching, S&C, medical, management staff and every other person at HRC who has been there and assisted in any small way over the last 4 seasons, I say Thank You.
I will always feel part of the HRC family. It has been a great chapter of my life that meant a lot to my family and I. There is no doubt I’ll be back on the sidelines soon.
I have left a few pages of the book blank so the team can make some more amazing memories over these last few months and finish with a bang!
Tot ziens en bedankt!
Hadley
