Dwayne Morgan has been working with the team since May, starting with a trip to the WAU factory in Melbourne ahead of the Perth Super440.
This weekend marks his first time actually at the circuit with the team.
Morgan brings 10 years of experience in the New Zealand Army, including a stint in its elite division, and 13 years in the police force, and now runs a new high-performance consulting company that trains sporting teams, athletes and business executives.
“[WAU] flew myself and my team down to their headquarters in Melbourne, and I did a full day session with them down there,” said Morgan, who is based in Far North Queensland.
“And then this weekend, I always go to this round, so we teed up for me to come here, integrate with the team and just walk them through some of the stuff I noticed, some finer coaching points, and that’s everything from your preparation leading up right through to how you debrief.
“If it’s all done right, it starts pumping the team up a lot.
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“These guys are obviously already athletes, and they’ve got natural raw talent. It’s taking that raw talent and getting them in the right mindset.
“You can’t have a fast pit stop without practicing to be fast. It’s making them understand that if they try and be fast, they’ll actually end up being slow. It’s an old military term that we use called, ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’.
“It’s effectively allowing your talent and your practice to make you fast, as opposed to trying to rush it.
“And then it goes into those techniques around trying to calm yourself, different breathing techniques and a bit of mindfulness, and things like that.”
According to Morgan the work is mostly focussed on the crew, although there are also “tidbits” with drivers Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood.
As for his first proper taste of Supercars, Morgan said: “I guess what has surprised me, up and down the entire paddock, but with [WAU] as well… a lot of the teams have got by on talent, a lot more than actually getting out, doing the hard work, and putting in practice and practice and practice – which is what’s required to give you your end result.
“But it’s good. They are really welcoming of the input, and are really welcoming of what myself and my team have to say about it.”
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