Sheffield head coach Anthony Posa: "This special group is on the precipice of history"
.jpg "Head coach Anthony Posa has led Sheffield to the brink of promotion to National One")
Head coach Anthony Posa has led Sheffield to the brink of promotion to National One
©Colin Fisher
On the cusp of history, Sheffield head coach Anthony Posa allows himself a brief pause. Not to dwell on what might come this weekend, but to reflect on the journey that has brought his side to this point.
Twenty-one wins from 21. One point dropped.
It has been a National Two North season that has bordered on perfection, yet has been built not on flashes of brilliance but on something far more deliberate.
"It is pretty special," he says with a twinkle in his eye. "This group, it’s a privilege to be part of it."
For Sheffield, Saturday offers them the chance to secure promotion to National One with victory over Macclesfield (3rd).
The Steel City club currently hold a 13-point lead over second-placed Tynedale, and if Posa's side win their game in hand this weekend, they will achieve something Sheffield has never managed in its 124-year history: a league title.
But to understand how they have arrived here, you have to go back to December 2021, when Posa first walked through the doors of Abbeydale Park.
"At that stage, we were fourth or fifth in the league below [Midlands Premier],” Posa recalls. "When we won promotion and came up in 2022/23, I think we were everyone’s hot favourites to go straight back down. That’s what Sheffield did. They’d never survived at this level."
Instead, they have done far more than just survive.
After finishing 10th in their first season, Sheffield then finished third, second and now sit top with another slice of history within touching distance.
Progress has been record-breaking and constant, but never rushed.
"We’ve built a squad over three, four seasons," Posa explains. “And I liken it to a cake. We’ve got the cake, and then every year we’ve added the icing with quality players and quality men.
"I know this all sounds really cliché, but everyone has added to the group, and we keep pushing ourselves for excellence."
The 'cake' metaphor used by Posa is a simple one, but it does capture something fundamental about this Sheffield side.
This is not a team that has been assembled quickly or expensively. It is a team, in Posa's words, that has been "built, not brought."
A core group has travelled the journey together. Almost exactly four years ago, 11 of the current Sheffield squad featured in a 54-12 victory over Scunthorpe in Midlands Premier.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?" Posa says. "I get tingles just when you say that.
"From very early on, I saw the potential of the side, and I saw how it could get better. I brought in key guys to play how I wanted to play whilst maintaining the good work of my predecessor [Adam Byron, who won 106 of his 169 games in charge before moving to Rotherham].
"I’m really proud of how far the group’s come, and I get to play a small part in that."
Those 'key' players - many now with more than 100 appearances - have grown with the club.
Names such as Posa's son, Callum, top try scorerChris Hooper, centre Will Smith and scrum-half Elliot Fisher have shifted from being talented prospects to leaders, with their mindset evolving along the way.
"These are the same guys that three, four years ago were daunted by playing clubs like Tynedale," Posa says, following last week's hard-fought 31-21 win over the aforementioned North-East club.
"Now, if that result didn't go our way, those guys, as well as people like Dom Parsons [player/assistant coach], George Rogers to name just some, they are the first to be really disappointed. That’s the mindset change.
"One thing I’ve always said is I don’t want to put a ceiling on this group. We know that National One, if we get there, is a massive step up and if we do get there, we’re going to embrace it and we’ll carry the same ethos."
Around Sheffield's core, a sprinkling of stardust and experience has been layered carefully.
Players have arrived not just to raise standards, but to reinforce them, and the signing of former Rotherham Titans skipper Zak Poole last summer – brought in to fill the shoes of the legendary Ryan Burrows – perhaps best encapsulates that.
“What a character!" Posa says of Poole. "He leads from the front on and off the field."
"These guys, this squad have almost become like a family to me," Posa continues. "I’m almost like the Dad to them. I want to protect them, but I also want them to express themselves and enjoy what they’re doing.
"My only issue is that they start enjoying it a little bit too much! I don't want them ever to hit that dreaded 'complacency' word because we need to remember where we came from.
"We get a balance between enjoying ourselves and enjoying each other, but then when we have to flick the switch, we know we have to earn everything that we do. Each year we have done better."
Adaptability, in Posa's eyes, has been the key ingredient as to why so much has gone right for the club.
After achieving club-record finishes of third and second, Sheffield had to abandon the underdog mindset they once thrived on and adapt to life at the summit.
"Adapting is the word for me these days,” Posa, who signed a three-year contract extension last summer, adds.
"We’ve had to embrace the different animal that is being top of the league. Everybody now probably wants to be the team that beats us.
"That’s a different mentality altogether, but we've shown we can change our game plan, adapt in adversity, and senior players, and the group as a whole, have stepped up. That adaptability is top of the list."
Strong second-half displays have been a theme of Sheffield’s season - not least in last week’s win over Tynedale - while their remarkable campaign has also been built on the best defensive record across National League Rugby.
Posa’s side have conceded just 358 points, an average of just over 17 per match, and that relentless push for excellence is something that clearly burns bright within the head coach.
Even though he guided Sheffield to National Two North in his first few months in charge, has overseen two record-breaking seasons and has won all 21 matches this term, Posa still turns the question on its head when asked about standout memories from the past four years.
"I am that much of a 'nause' that I remember the moments where we didn’t perform!" Posa chuckles.
"Against Leeds the last two years (Sheffield lost all four meetings), we let ourselves down. [Against] Rotherham too, but to be honest, those are far outweighed by the good ones. Last weekend against Tynedale was one of those."
Posa also references Sheffield’s 41-25 triumph over this weekend’s opponents Macclesfield back in October.
Despite receiving three yellow cards and a red, Sheffield scored three tries in the final 17 minutes to claim victory in Cheshire.
Overcoming a Macclesfield side determined to exact some revenge and spoil the party this weekend will be far from easy, as the visitors remain very much in the hunt for a play-off place.
However, Sheffield can take comfort in the strength of their home record.
Since a defeat to Rotherham in October 2023, the club have lost just once at Abbeydale Park, winning 32 of their last 33 league matches.
While the New Zealand-born Posa takes pride in that statistic, it is far from a burden on his team.
"Definitely not counting any chickens here," Posa says when asked about the possibility of winning the league on Saturday.
"Macclesfield will be a different challenge to Tynedale, because they are very different in the way they play. Without any disrespect, it’s about getting us right. If we get us right, not many teams can live with us. We've got to, yet again, get us right on the big stage.
"I don’t think we even talk about the record anymore. The boys enjoy playing at home. They enjoy the pitch, the environment. I think we just want to win and we just want to do well in front of our peers, our family and our club."
And yet amid all the focus and steady progression, there is excitement in Posa's eyes.
The possibility of making Sheffield history – winning their first-ever league title – has created a tangible fervour around the club.
"At the moment, the crazy thing is Sheffield, with its brilliant history and so many good rugby players before us, have never won a league title,” Posa reiterates. "We’re on the precipice of doing it.
"I just want everybody to not just enjoy the moment, but be proud of it. Be proud of the group. Be proud of our past players, the committee, families - everything that goes into creating our culture.
"I hope everyone can come down on Saturday and be part of what we’ve worked so hard for. It would be beyond special if we were to do it."
Of course, Posa and his side’s immediate aim is to secure the league title, but there’s also a future question of winning every game they play this season.
In the curtailed 2019-20 season, Caldy had won all 25 of their matches before the campaign was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before that, no side in a northern division had ever completed a fourth-tier season by winning every game.
So could Sheffield set another benchmark?
"We have to enjoy the moment if the moment happens this weekend because it will be special," Posa says, who also celebrates his birthday on Saturday.
"And only then will we try to keep going to aim for the perfect record. If we’re good enough, we’re good enough. But whatever happens, we just want to make everyone in Sheffield proud of us."
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While all eyes will be on the top of National Two North this weekend, the action at the bottom of the table is just as important, with Scunthorpe (14th) looking to strengthen their survival hopes.
Tony Wilkinson’s side sit eight points behind Rossendale (12th), who currently occupy the relegation play-off spot, but the 'Greens' do have two games in hand.
One of those matches comes on Saturday as Scunthorpe host Preston Grasshoppers (10th) at Heslam Park, a team riding a three-game winning streak.
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