Sevens vice-captain Henry Hutchison has praised the influence of newly-appointed LA Giltinis coach Stephen Hoiles as he steps up as a leader of the men's side.
Hutchison and Maurice Longbottom were elevated into the leadership group alongside Nick Malouf.
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Stepping up into the role, Hutchison told Rugby.com.au whilst the position has been a learning process, he believes he has developed as a leader for the younger players coming through.
“I’ve definitely had to work on a couple of things but I think it is (leadership coming naturally),” Hutchinson said on being a leader.
“You definitely have natural born leaders but you can learn how to lead so there were definitely work ons that I’ve had to get on top of.
“I think with an extra year under my belt with Tokyo postponed, I’ve developed my approach to younger boys off the field and that’s helps me and others as a player.
“Heading into my second Olympics, I can lead by example and show them where I potentially went wrong five years ago which they could be susceptible to making errors with the majority in their first Olympics.
“I think if I can lead by example off the field then maybe a few follow, we can rectify that and go better than Rio.”
A big part of his development as a leader has been through picking up the valuable lessons past down by former coach and Wallaby Stephen Hoiles.
Hoiles, who has recently been appointed Giltinis coach after the departure of Darren Coleman, served as an assistant coach for the men's program before heading overseas.
Hutchison believes Hoiles' experiences at both ends of the sporting scale has helped change the 24-year-old's approach to being a leader and the sport.
“I think his experiences in the game,” he said on what he learnt from Hoiles.
“When you look at his career, he’s experienced the highs and the lows at such a young age playing for the Wallabies and winning a Super Rugby comp with the Waratahs. But he’s also experienced some lows, he had three or four years out of the game with injury, non-selection when he could’ve been touted as the next Wallabies back-rower.
“He’s experienced so many aspects of sport and learnt a lot from those experiences and given us the wisdom from that and teach us about the highs and lows, the unexpected rise of success and the quick fall.
“Sport can be very fickle and brutal and can change on you so I think that insight he brought into the group well and the boys responded well."
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