As the saying goes, two heads are better than one.
As the MPL Season 12 regular season is coming to a close, Jaycee “Link” Nieles has been brought in as assistant coach to aid the struggling RSG Philippines. While he may seem like a newcomer to some, Link already has a wealth of coaching experience under his belt.
He previously coached a number of Wild Rift amateur teams before moving on to MLBB. There he continued to coach amateur teams. He even coached a team in Cambodia, Chaotic Samurai, which almost qualified to play in MPL KH. His most recent gig had him coaching UP’s MLBB team in the very first UAAP esports event.
While coach Link made his MPL debut last weekend, he was already in the trenches with RSG for two weeks. “Tumutulong na ako sa mga preparations,” said coach Link. “Tapos yun yung naging tryout period ko para matansya ko yung dynamics ng team.”
“Madali naman yung transition period ko kasi very empowering si coach [Brain “Panda” Chang-rok]. Basta maging vocal ka at may sense yung sinasabi mo, sabihin mo para may discussion. Sinasabi din ni coach Panda ano yung preference niya. So yun yung ginagawa ko tapos binibigay ko yung input ko para may connection kami.”
As for handling professional tier players, coach Link felt that it wasn’t that big of a leap from amateurs. “Expected ko naman yung discipline. Ang importante talaga ay nag ma-make sense yung sinasabi mo kasi kung wala, paano kang paniniwalaan ng mga players mo?”
The Final Piece?
Of course, the big challenge right now is ensuring that RSG makes it to the playoffs. It’s here where coach Link’s role becomes invaluable to the team.
“Tumutulong na ako sa drafting at pag-review ng mga games. So the more na aaral namin ni coach Panda yung mga games namin, the more naa-address namin yung dapat namin i-focus sa mga sumusunod na araw.”
Maybe with coach Link’s support, RSG may finally be on the right track in the second half of the season.
Banner photo from UAAP Season 87 media team.