RLCM - St Johns Eagles · 2015. 7. 13. · Brian Smith - Parramatta Eels Head Coach 13 Empowerment as a Coaching Approach Lynn Kidman 16 Guidelines for Objectively Assessing Player

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2 Coach TalkDaniel Anderson - New Zealand Warriors Head Coach 2001

4 Structual Influence on Man MangementSteve Anderson - Warrington Head Coach (U.K.)

7 Dissecting the Player-Coach DynamicBrian Canavan - Sydney Roosters Football Manager

9 Anderson’s Galvanising FormulaChris Anderson - Australian Rugby League Coach

11 Is Dropping a Player The AnswerBrian Smith - Parramatta Eels Head Coach

13 Empowerment as a Coaching ApproachLynn Kidman

16 Guidelines for Objectively Assessing Player FitnessRudi Meir - Southern Cross University

20 Combining Skills and ConditioningAlan Wilson - Parramatta Eels Assistant CoachHayden Knowles - Parramatta Eels Strength and Conditioning Coach

22 Passing DrillsDigi League

Rugby League Coaching Manuals Page 2

Coach TalkDaniel Anderson - New Zealand Warriors Head CoachWritten by Ashley Bradnam

What are your basic philosophies with coaching?

I was the development officer and developmentmanager with Parramatta for a long time, so I thinkmy basic philosophy for the game reflects that. Iconsider myself a technical coach in many regardsand like to think that part of my ability is to bring aplayer further along the path, bettering hisunderstanding of the game as well as his physicalabilities. I don’t like to smother my players though; Iprefer to see them run with their own unique stylesbut just tweak their natural abilities by maybetightening a few areas that might be loose or looseninga few areas that might be tight. In New Zealand at themoment we’re a little undernourished as far asdevelopment is concerned – the coaches are good butthey are working above the basic elements of the game.This year with the Warriors we have gone back tofocussing on the basic core elements of the game; it’sup to the players to advance on that, they’re the oneswith the flair and the skill so they teach you a little bitabout what to do but if they’re not holding the ball orpassing correctly to begin with then they’re alwaysgoing to struggle.

What are your thoughts on ‘manmanagement’?

It’s very important at any club but particularly at minewith such a wide range of characters that come fromcross cultural backgrounds and different religions. Idon’t want to inhibit anyone’s personal style so for usto work as a team we all need to have a bit of empathyfor one another. I’ll speak to the individual to get aguide on their styles and from that work onharmonising the team. Living in Australia andwatching the Warriors before I’d been offered the jobI’d heard about the reputations of the Polynesian

players and their inability to go the full eighty minutesbut it didn’t take me long to work out that was all amyth. They are very resilient to training and to injury;they train extremely hard and often and are proudpeople. I don’t treat them any differently to anyoneelse as far as structure of training is concerned.

On the basics, what have you brought to the clubin terms of defence?

I have a bit of a penchant for tackle technique andhave done a lot of work on it in the past. We’re okayat it but a bit raw – we don’t miss a lot of tacklesanymore but our defensive system is at times looseand that goes back to the mental application of theplayers. The best sides in the competition, theBrisbane’s and Parramatta’s are very motivated whenit comes to defence and sometimes we don’t matchthat. Our players have embraced our system so it’snow a matter of players having faith in each other sothey don’t get selfish and look after their own to thedetriment of the team. But on the whole, I’m happywith what we’ve done and we’re improving all the time.

How do you harness your players attackingprowess?

I don’t. They have to do it themselves. It’s a matter ofthem knowing when the time is right to try things.Once again it comes down to the core elements and inthat regard we’re still weak – we don’t pass the ballas well as other teams or play the ball as quickly; theseare the things I’m currently focussed on. As far as therest is concerned they have a free reign to promotethe football and do whatever they can that is good forthe team so long as it’s not outside the parameters oftheir own role, like a front rower attempting to put upa spiral bomb for example. I have no problems with

Daniel Anderson has come into prominence after stepping out of the shadows of Parramatta Eels mentor BrianSmith to take over the reigns of the New Zealand Warriors. Anderson served his apprenticeship at Parramatta,coming through the ranks from being a Development Officer before the call came from across the Tasman tomake his mark in the NRL. It’s been a long steady journey for the former park footballer who began coachingwith the under 13’s at the famed rugby league nursery St Gregory’s at Campbelltown on Sydney’s outskirts.RLCM spoke with Daniel recently to discuss life as a Warrior.


players putting their hands up to try things, but theyhave to show me they’re practising it on the trainingpaddock first. Kevin Campion for example does a bitof kicking for us but he’s earned that right because heputs in the effort at training to improve the chances ofit actually coming off in the game. All I ask is theydon’t play outside their parameters but when they geton the field, if it’s on, I tell them to go for it. You’vegot to throw something at the opposition.

What is your approach to game plans?

We’re not extravagant in any way. I’ll provideinformation for players on opposition teams andinformation from our game last week. I actually try toget the players to scheme together. The boys arescheming together anyway, when they’re playingcards or trying to get to the showers first so I toldthem they should be doing that with their football aswell. So they get together and try things at trainingwhich is great because they come up with a lot of theideas and therefore they own them. I might tell themabout an opposition player who has a problem withdefending an overs line and then they’ll come up witha scheme to make something out of that. We’ve onlyjust embraced that ideal but it’s been effective so far.I mean, the thinking is they are scheming together inlife anyway for fun, just trying to gee each other up,so why not use that for the betterment of the team. Onthe whole though we don’t have a drastic change fromweek to week but you adjust minor things dependingon what your opposition is doing.

Can you coach vision?

You can enhance it by doing things like simulationsand role-play. A lot of teams are playing aggressivestyles of training games in-house now to see whatplayers have the right nerves and composure underpressure. There are some good young players that havevision but because of the hierarchy in the team theyhave to wait until their time comes to get the ball beforethey can show it. The reason so many older playersare considered the visionaries in their team is becausethey’ve had to bide their time; even when AndrewJohns first came into the top grade he never got theball as often as he does now. Time spent by theindividual thinking about the game can improve visionbut a lot of it is intuitive as well as trial and error.

How do mentally prepare your team to play?

It changes week in week out. Sometimes you start asunderdogs and other weeks as favourites and I’vefound that changes the way the players approach thegame. A lot of people say to me ‘how come you playso well at the back end of games, in the final 20minutes’, and I think that comes down to their mentalapproach. Sometimes we seem to get so wound up

and then all of a sudden we’ll let in a couple of softtries and the opposition skips 12 points clear and thenwe relax because the pressure is off. We need to feelcomfortable within ourselves when we’re still underthe hammer. I don’t spend long sessions with playersbefore a game; I just sow a seed with a player early inthe week and then quietly bring them along so theyare ready come kick off. It’s no good if they’re readyon Thursday because they’ll be burnt out on Sunday.The veteran players play a big role in the team’spreparation as well – Stacey Jones and Kevin Campionusually take us for our final training run before a game.

What are your thoughts on ball control as opposedto field position?

There are a lot of variables in ball control and fieldposition. Here in New Zealand the players grew upwith Gilbert footballs and not Steedens, and theGilberts are like soccer balls so the players don’t holdthe ball properly because they can’t; it’s too big. Andthis is why we drop simple balls sometimes; it comesdown to the players’ historical teachings. Weatherwise, it rains a lot more in New Zealand – if we playa night game we pretty much know it’s going to bewet so we have to consider this in preparing the team.As far as the field position is concerned, it dependson the possession ratio in the game; if we have a highratio we might chance our arm but if we’re in front onthe scoreboard we might be a little conservative. Thereare countless variables that change the way youapproach your thinking but you need to be able tomodify rapidly even in the game depending on theseconditions. But the critical element is the possession ratio.

What for you is a good finish to a set of six?

A try ultimately but outside of that I’m looking for a40-20 or a goal line dropout. I don’t mind a mid-fieldbomb either; basically an attacking kick as opposedto a defensive one.

Can you coach patience?

I haven’t found a good method yet to teach patienceso it’s trial and error for me at the moment. I encouragethe boys to try things away from the game, like golfand tennis for example. Good teams and individualsmaintain composure and can therefore take advantageof opportunities when they arise rather than pushingfor them when they’re not really there. When a mistakeis made I’m looking to see the player doesn’t makethat mistake again – if he does, to me that illustratespoor patience, poor composure. The teams leading thecompetition have enormous patience and composureand when the pressure is on they won’t stray fromtheir original plan. We’re still looking to do thatconsistently at the moment.


Structural Influence onMan ManagementSteve Anderson - Warrington Head Coach (U.K.)Written By David Haynes

Man management reflects the capabilities of youroverall management structure where individualmanagement is only a small portion of your approach.The system that you facilitate will ultimately influenceand dictate how you manage your players and staff.Setting in place that system and it’s approaches is whatI will be discussing.

Broadly these approaches will be discussed in threemain areas:

1. Considerations in your structure2. Macro and Micro levels and3. Review processes.

These are what I consider instrumental in any approachto managing not only the athlete but also theenvironment in total.

What then are the basic principles involved inmanaging elite environments and what are theconsiderations in the implementation of thoseprinciples? Possibly the easiest way to identify andanswer these questions is to draw comparisons andcontrasts between two highly successful clubs, LeedsRhinos and Melbourne Storm and discuss the variouscommon occurrences and differences that are evidentin the assessment of these principles. It must beremembered that these assessments are purely basedon my observations and should not be considered thesolution or ‘blueprint’ for handling elite sportingenvironments.

The key ‘tools’ I will use in discussing these areas areprimarily professional skills I have obtained in bothSocial Psychology and Human Resource managementfields and examples from the various cases which Ihave studied in the internal workings of clubs and suchover my time in professional rugby league.

Considerations in Your Structure

I have always considered my role as a professionalcoach as one of a manager and mentor and have alwaysapproached players as employees within theframework of the organization’s design. Designmeaning the determined nature and culture of yourworkplace and identifying what constitutes your‘culture’ is so vitally important when constructing aframework that is suitable for both player and staffmember. Within this design both intent and purposerequires consideration but underlying this intentpriority must be given to the system and it’s capabilityto ‘self-manage’. Let me explain.

Today rugby league is very much a business-orientedenvironment and as such we must approach all aspectswith a deliberate approach of making the ‘workplace’conducive to learning but more importantly gettingthe desired result. At Melbourne consideration to‘result’ was approached in various manners butoverridden by setting in place a winning culture whichwas promoted by a structure that was dynamic in statebut could ‘self manage’.

So how did we approach this scenario at Melbourne?

The first step was to look closely at the selection ofpersonnel both players and staff and ask the mostobvious questions such as, what are their individualneeds both within the workplace and in a socialcontext? Who are the leaders and who can best fit thebill as a middle management, to name a few.

These questions aren’t new but discovering newprocesses and applications to meet the designexpectations of the structure was challenging.Basically we set in place criteria demands for boththe structure and the infrastructure and were strongenough to adhere to set design processes.

Steve Anderson was Assistant Coach with Chris Anderson at the Melbourne Storm (1998-2000),Assistant Coach with Anderson again with the Australian Kangaroos and Performance Director withthe Leeds Rhinos before taking up his present role as Head Coach with Warrington.


Head Coach Chris Anderson was very quick to noticethe credentials of his staff and what each member hadto offer in terms of assessing the structure and whobest fits what area in the make-up of his coachingenvironment. As an example, Chris applied myexpertise in specific areas of the original ‘setting- up’in much the same way as he approached our playersin coaching terms. Suitability to positional playdoesn’t always mean fitting a player in to a setframework. Use the ability of the player to promote a‘change’ in your framework or coaching strategy.Chris has always advocated ‘you are only as good asyour front office’ and I don’t think any organizationwould argue with this statement irrespective of thebusiness nature or industry.

My role at Melbourne as Assistant Coach was reallyjust a nametag to fit the ‘norms’ in general coachingcircles. Although I filled the traditional role in termsof football field practice and such, we explored a wholehost of areas in terms of technical and professionalchange for the players. The initial period of myemployment was about change because of a completeoverhaul of traditional coaching application, which Ihesitate to suggest, ‘we got it right’. The trick was toboth isolate and manage the dissemination ofinformation relevant to the individual needs which wasgoverned by the system processes. My job initiallywas to identify a communication base with each playerto enable the transference of this ‘new’ information.A large project in itself but an invaluable asset overour three years at Melbourne.

So the approach to the ‘Considerations’ was primarilybased on a ‘Needs based assessment’ of both staffand the players and to identify the applicationprocesses needed to meet the findings of theassessment. Managing these ‘consideration’ in ourcoaching to meet the criteria from our initial designprinciples was the real challenge.

‘Macro’ and ‘Micro’ approach

A common enough phrase in rugby league ‘speak’but it is primarily a conditioning term used to planseasonal phases in our team and player preparation.When applied to managerial principles you canachieve the same outcome to redefine your overallpriorities in your workplace.

What I am referring to here is the basic application ofmanagement and you must have completed some formof ‘needs based assessment’ first to adequately applyyour approach. All environments regardless ofindustry are different and similar for that matter inmany divergent ways. You cannot apply a commonprinciple as an ideal consistently to all environments

because of the ever-changing factors around you andfrom within.

What remains consistent are what I call the ‘MacroApproaches’ or the broad based ‘tools’ you use suchas yearly planning, goal setting frames, seasonalconditioning programs etc. All are planning phasesor structures that you can carry and apply in anyenvironment but what always changes are thepersonnel and the characteristics and capabilities thateach bring to your operation. Identifying these andhow they best suit your business is what counts andapplies. These are what I call the ‘Micro Approach toManagement’.

For example at Leeds in my role as ‘PerformanceDirector’ I did not come in and made wholesalechanges to approaches or strategies as considerationhad to be given to existing programs and the overall‘Macro Approach’ to their work. Determining whatconstitutes a Macro level within the confines of theexisting environment has to be determined as theseobviously influence the Micro level areas.

Consultation with all existing staff and to theirprograms must be established to apply the conceptsof ‘Micro management principles’. Identifying thelevels within your workplace provides a clear path tomanagement application and cannot be stressedenough in terms of ‘man management’ practice. Thispath needs to be approached from several perspectivesand questioning change is the key.

Firstly, are changes required at this level and whathas to be considered here in assessing this is to betotal objective in view and approach. Secondly, ‘microchanges’ can be both subtle and all encompassingdependant upon your assessments and observations.Micro assessment areas in my approach at Leedsincluded all the areas that influence staff approachesto their work. For example I am currently working on‘plans’ that are the ‘underbelly’ for any successfulrugby league unit, namely communication anddelivery of a coaching technique.

Management or coaching at an elite level is aboutrefining the communication process and the deliveryof your plan so understanding all the microcomponents within your approach becomes a priority.It should be noted that once various levels andapproaches have been identified it is then your job tothen further break down the individual components –it is a never-ending cycle of assessment of planningand delivery. The message for all in this area is to becompletely aware of your environment by researchingand making critical and constructive observationsbetween the various determined levels of your structure.


When discussing principles in management of elitesporting environments it is the continual revision toapproach and method that is and must be a priority inyour approach. Micro and Macro approaches tomanagement are vast and certainly provide methodto the management of these levels. What occurs andhow the approach is implemented is what willultimately affect the management and the performanceof the player.

Review Process

A key term in any manager’s workplace and must bedistinguished from assessment or evaluation. The termreview means the periodic approach used to overhauland amend your system in a format that is bothdeliberate and acceptant to change and progress.

Assessment and evaluation are both tools in themanager’s kit but are used for more short-term fixesand should always be a key to managing your playersand your operation on a continual basis. What I havealways promoted is that your system is made up ofset processes that are continually changing due to themany factors that are encountered in the workplacethat can never be identified accurately in a ‘single’process.

If we look at the player as a component of that system,a set review period must be allocated as a means tomanaging the player in terms of performance and as aprocess within the system?

Confused? Simply, both the system and the playerhave their own independent review processes whichall feed into a pool of information that is to be checkedand amended if needed.

Previously we spoke about the various levels withinthe organization and it’s these levels that make upyour system for review. As an example, contained inthe Macro levels of management we can readilyidentify with the ‘season plan’ with all its associatedphases and such. What is needed here is a checkagainst the various cycles contained within to ensurethe specificity of our work and the matching of keyconcepts of the various components of the program (e.g., offense strategy). The mere fact that a regularreview takes place is the key to this concept.

Contained within the ‘system for review’ is the‘process review’ which needs to be identified anddocumented so that a consistent approach isimplemented so accurate observations can berecorded. Without consistency in observation thevalidity of the review is obviously questionable.

Using the ‘season plan’ as an example the ‘processreview’ could be the independent checking system ofthe ‘skills program’, which is part of the ‘MacroPlanning’. The skills coach would have his owninternal checking procedure that feeds into the overall‘system review’. This approach ensures that allcomponents within the overall plan are regularlychecked and ensures practical approaches totimeframes and such are completed without pressuringthe most important part of your program- the player.

This is just an example of how review processes canassist the management of sporting environments butit also highlights the necessity for such processes. Thereview process is another arm in the structure whichhelps to manage the player and staff developmentwhich is an obvious objective in any planning at thislevel.

Summary

For the purpose of this article I have deliberatelyavoided using everyday coaching terms to ensure thata ‘clean management’ strain of thinking is conveyed.Too often sporting organizations both amateur andprofessional, adopt adhoc approaches to themanagement at their club and as a consequence theplayer and staff members suffer. Continual referenceshave been made to terms such as structure, design,procedure etc., to reinforce the need for deliberateapproaches to these areas of organizationalmanagement to meet the demands of changingenvironments in our selected fields.

I have attempted to convey in this article is that ‘manmanagement’ is and should be understood in termsof the ability of the environment’s system and itsprocesses and I have attempted to give an insight intohow successful organizations operate and haveprovided some methods in approach to how systemscan be managed for the purpose of ensuring playersand staff are collectively part of the continual growthof the management process.

Your ability as a manager or coach can be attributedto how well the processes of planning are formulatedand implemented. Effective management systems aredesigned to ensure staff and the players benefit interms of performance and individual growth.


Dissecting theplayer-coach dynamic

Brian Canavan - Sydney Roosters Football ManagerWritten By David Haynes

The player-coach dynamic has altered significantlyas the NRL continues towards full-timeprofessionalism. Unlike yesteryear, when playerswould hastily leave work to make afternoon training,the players and coaches are spending almost three-quarters of the year together. Never before has a goodplayer-coach relationship been so essential to the on-field performance of a club. So how do coachesmaintain a man management relationship with theircharges? Are certain types of players destined toperform under coaches with compatible personalities?And to what extent should a coach get involved in aplayer’s personal affairs?There have been countless

examples over the years of player-coach conflictinhibiting a side’s on-field cohesion. While a workablerelationship is paramount, the player and coach havenever had to be the closest of buddies, somethingSydney Roosters’ football manager Brian Canavanagrees with. He says the relationship between the twoparties works best if there is mutual respect. “I thinkthere needs to be a very good rapport (between playerand coach),” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a friendshipbut it often develops. That rapport is initially like abusiness rapport. Our game is a people game, socommunication is one of the main methods of ourbusiness interaction.”

Canavan even suggests a difference in personalitybetween a player and coach doesn’t impinge on thepair’s capacity to carry out team goals. He says thereis no reason why a down-to-business type coach andprankster type player can’t gel - just look at the great

relationship and success Wayne Bennett and AllanLanger shared at the Broncos during the ’90s. “Wetend to put up with different personality types, as longas there is great desire in them and they comply,”Canavan said. “You’ve got the whole range in anygroup situation, introverts, extraverts, great trainersand average trainers. As long as they’ve got plenty ofdesire and they’re there for the common good coachesaccept all personality types.”

Being in such a close-knit environment for such a largeportion of the year means many players now seek morethan football guidance from their coach. Many look

for personal advice on matters from financial concernsto family problems. “I think any relationship that isbuilt up over a period of time and in the pressuresituation that coaches and players find themselves in,you necessarily grow together,” he said. “You get toknow the players and their backgrounds simplybecause your spending so much time with them youcan’t talk football all the time.”

As Canavan emphasises however, coaches usually tryto keep the players’ football and private lives separate.He believes coaches should only intervene in players’personal lives if it is hampering their on-fieldcapabilities. “When personal problems are affectingperformance or the mood state of the players, morepersonal issues need to be examined in private,” hesaid. “Coaches have to address poor performance.”According to Canavan the same applies for a player

When personal problems are affecting performance orthe mood state of the players, more personal issuesneed to be examined in private


lacking appropriate self-management skills. “If playersare poorly managed whether it be punctuality orbehaviour, they’re not going to manage there ownperformance at training and in games,” he said. AsJack Gibson stated, ‘You can’t be a mug for six daysa week and a hero on gameday.’”

To make sure a player is not idle for the six days priorto a game, Canavan stresses the need for the coachand player to maintain a regular communication flow.If players are on the verge of being dropped, they’reentitled to know what areas need to be improved. Alsofringe top-graders require feedback on what is neededto take the next step. Similarly, Canavan believes aharmonious player-coach relationship is alsodeveloped by including players in club issues beyondfootball. “Coaches can nominate a core group ofplayers, usually senior players, with whom theycommunicate on things a little bit more beyondtraining times, things like club policy and behaviour,”he admits. “However the players have to respect andaccept that at the end of the day the head coach andclub management have the final responsibility, as inany organisation”

Players also have to be ready for a culture shift withintheir club, which comes with any new coachingappointment. Canavan says it’s a new coach’s deliverystyle, dress, discipline etc rather than personality thatcan alter the culture of an organisation. ”The initialimpression from the (new) coach is his method ofdelivery,” he said. “The coach’s personality style isalways apparent, but the delivery style produces theclub’s culture.”

For a coach looking to leave an indelible mark on aclub, Canavan cites overall coaching expectations asone of the key areas of delivery. As he explains, theseexpectations include minor to more encompassingissues. “(The coach’s expectations) can range fromsimple things like punctuality through to achievementof personal goals, team goals and the way the playersare compliant with the club’s policies.”

Gone are the days where coaches at the elite levelwould spend as little as a couple of afternoons a weekmanaging the preparation of their troops. Nowadays,the player-coach dynamic is an essential workingpartnership, relying heavily on consistent opencommunication exchange. A difference in personalityis for the most part irrelevant, as long as the player-coach alliance is punctuated by mutual respect. If itis, positive results are bound to occur both on and offthe field.

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Anderson’sGalvanising Formula

Chris Anderson - Australian Rugby League CoachWritten by David Haynes

Chris Anderson, more than anyone, understands thedifficulty of establishing a team unit quickly. At theend of 1997, he was given the task of building a sidein Australia’s AFL heartland, Melbourne. Andersonassembled a formidable team including internationalsGlenn Lazarus, Stephen Kearney and Tawera Nikauand a number of talented Perth Reds and HunterMariners discards. There was no doubting the team’s‘on paper’ potential. But what stumped even the mostoptimistic league supporters was the phenomenal earlysuccess the Storm tasted.

Under Anderson’s tutelage the club reached the semi-finals in its inaugural year. Twelve months latercaptain Glenn Lazarus proudly held aloft thePremiership trophy, as the Storm came from behindto beat St George-Illawarra in the 1999 competitiondecider. So how did Anderson mould Melbourne intoa successful team unit in such a short space of time?And how big a role did man management play in theprocess?

When he was thrust the Melbourne coaching job, theformer Canterbury stalwart says his first step was toidentify the type of football he wanted his side to play.The collapse of the Mariners and Reds, which lefttalented forwards on the market, made the decisiondecidedly easier. “I think the important thing is thatyou have a script of the type of football you want toplay, and then you put the style of players you wantbefore you put names to them,” he said. “We had abudget for 25 players so we had to make sure weweren’t spending in the wrong areas. We had toidentify the main areas that we wanted to be strongin, and make those the priority. So we spent a lot more

on forwards than we did on backs, because it wasimportant for us to set a good base. Our main priorywas the front-row and then the halfback, they werethe two important areas that suit my style of football.”

History shows it was more than just the bookends,Lazarus, Robbie Kearns and Rodney Howe, andhalfback Brett Kimmorley, who gained fromAnderson’s rugby league formula. From the outset itseemed the Storm squad adapted effortlessly to thenew brand of football, something the coach workedhard to instil. “It was a new style of football for a lot

of the players, I’d known it before so it was just aboutme imposing that style of football on them really,”Anderson said. “It was bringing them all togetherunder the one umbrella and getting them to think theone way. The thrill about going to Melbourne wasthat I could buy the players to suit by style of football,and we did that pretty well.”

Signing the right players is one thing, but as Andersonwould attest getting them to gel as a productive teamunit is another. It was even more daunting forMelbourne’s coaching staff because the players werecoming from such diverse club cultures. Although, asthe Australian mentor points out, the positive was thatthe players had to get on. ”The good thing aboutMelbourne was that it was a one-team town, so theplayers all socialised together,” he said.

Even though Anderson has gradually scaled back hisevenings out with the boys, he is fully aware of theimportance of a strong player-coach bond, and for theplayers to know their coach is unequivocally behindthem. “I believe in every player who plays for me, soI’ve got to sell them that belief,” he said. “I wouldn’t

bringing them all together under the oneumbrella and getting them to think the one way


send players out on the paddock if I didn’t believe inthem. So to get that belief you’ve got to know theperson pretty well. I use to go out with them sociallya lot more than I do now.but you spend so much timeat training, watching videos and giving feedback, thatyou do most of it (interaction) inside the footballsphere. When you go on pre-season trips and trips awayyou really get to know each other.”

Which is why Anderson is open and honest whendiscussing team selection with his players. If he dropsplayers he strives to give them ‘something positive towork with.’ “If I’m not picking a player I just try andbe fair dinkum with him,” he said. “I say: ‘you’re notin the team, but these are the reasons you’re not in theteam and if you do this, this and this, you’re a chanceof getting yourself back in there.”

Part of Melbourne’s galvanising process was also tocome up with a rigid, but fair disciplinary regime. “Theimportant thing was to set some good disciplinestandards early,” Anderson said. “I think we had afew hassles early, with a few players being a bit unrulysocially, so we had to bring them into line. They comefrom different backgrounds and different clubs andthose clubs had different standards in discipline, so Ithink the important thing was that we imposed a gooddiscipline on them to start.”

A useful tool Anderson used to ensure his playersweren’t disgruntled with the club’s disciplinarystandards was to give the players ‘an ownership overthere own discipline.’ “We got a senior group ofplayers who set all the fines (for indiscretions),” hesaid. “Players who did do anything that interfered withthe group functioning properly had to face the seniorplayers. Once we set some pretty strong standards indiscipline and fitness, the players really took itupon themselves to uphold those things.”

While Anderson says it is rare for a play not to fallinto line, he admits there are times when some playersthrough poor behaviour or attitudinal problems pushthe envelope. “If players have got chips on theirshoulders then they’re a little bit uncoachable,” heconfesses. ”They’re people who can cause a lot ofdistractions to the group. I think if you have thosetypes of players at the start you work with them, andif they still don’t come around then you’ve got to getrid of them because they will affect the group. Soanyone that you have in there that has a detrimentaleffect on the group functioning as a unit, you givethem one or two opportunities and if they don’t comearound you get rid of them, because they’ll drag threeor four other players with them.”

Given his task of establishing a competitive footballside in such a short space of time, Anderson recognisesthe role support staff play within a club. As heexpresses, it is important the head coach and hissupport network are pulling the same way, so there iscontinuity in what is being said to the players. “Mystaff is important because you can only have one voicecoming at the players, it can’t be coming from differentdirections,” he said. “There is no right or wrongdirection but there has to be a direction, and the staffneed to understand your (head coach’s) direction andbe loyal to what you’re about. If you’ve got staff thataren’t conducive to your style of football or aren’tloyal to the coach it just leads to bad undertones inthe club.”

Anderson, who will take over from John Lang atCronulla next season, believes senior players are alsointegral to the mood of a club. According to the formerKangaroo winger, if the senior players are showing agood work ethic it will filter through to the rest of theside. “When you become a senior player and you’replaying for Australia, you need some extraresponsibility,” he said. “I think you need somethingmore to play for. The senior players set the standardsfor what the club is about. They set your trainingstandards, your habits, and your attitudes. Everythingyou take on the paddock is set by your senior players,so I give them that responsibility. If they’re doing extratraining it’s easier to get the young blokes to do extratraining.”

In just one pre-season Melbourne was transformedfrom a burgeoning league entity to a competition front-runner. Sure, the ‘on paper’ side Anderson assembledwas impressive, but as he explained that was only halfthe battle. The tough part was getting 25 footballersto play his ’flat attack’ style of football - which theydid with aplomb. Anderson’s situation demonstratesthat coaches at any level can stamp their mark on aclub under even the tightest of time constraints.

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Is dropping aplayer the answer?

Brian Smith - Parramatta Eels Head CoachWritten by David Haynes

Ever had to drop a player? Ever wondered what thereaction would be? Parramatta mentor Brian Smith, aveteran of over 10 years in the coaching game, hashad to do it plenty of times. It’s arguably the toughestpart of coaching, and relies heavily on a coaches manmanagement skills.

However, the notion of dropping players hasdiminished somewhat at the elite level. Nowadays, amajority of a club’s 25 full-time players are paidhandsomely, making it difficult to justify droppingelite players down the grades when such money has

been invested. Unlike yesteryear, when players withglaring defensive frailties or poor ball control wouldbe sent back to the reserves to work on their game,the trend of current coaches is to try and communicatewith their chargers. They work on the troublesomeareas before contemplating the demotion of a player.According to Smith dropping a player through poorform or wrong attitude is almost your last resort.

”When you’ve got a small squad as all of us donowadays, compared to the old days of having threegrades and regularly seeing players go up and downthe grades sometimes within a month, that doesn’thappen any more,” he said. “You invest a fair bit ofmoney generally between your top 10 to 20 players,and if one of those players particularly in your top 10doesn’t come up, you’ve really got a wad of moneybeing wasted. And dropping them to First Division orQueensland Cup is hardly going to be the answer inmost cases.”

Even though Smith says it is not the coach’s job tokeep players in the top grade, he believes there is someonus on coaches to ‘find answers’ to a player’s formslump. “I think it has made all of us really think abouthow to turn that around, to get it (improvement) byother means than dropping a player,” he admits. “Atthe end of the day if you do have to drop him or cuthim at the end of the season, that is an indictment tosome extent on the coach, because he hasn’t been ableto find answers or help the player find answers. I wouldlike to think I’ve become a bit more understandingand thoughtful about how to deal with players whoare struggling.”

There may be a shift in the way coaches go aboutrelegating players, but from the players perspectivelittle has changed. While they are more often than nottheir own harshest critics, very few will openly confessto being in a form rut. “It would be unusual for a playerto say I’m in bad form, because that has got a bit ofperiod in it,” said Smith. “They might say thatprivately to me, but not very often. It is more like ‘Idid the wrong thing on that play’ or ‘I haven’t playedwell in that game’ or ‘I should have done this’.”

Smith will speak to a player privately if their concernsare of a greater magnitude than simply taking thewrong fifth tackle option. ”Dealing with anythingheavy, like they’ve had a really bad game or they’rein really bad form, they’ll (players) want to talk to mein the privacy of my office or in front of a video,” hesaid. “Quite often they’re wrong about themselves,and they’re playing much better than they think theyare.”

...there is some onus on coaches to ‘findanswers’ to a player’s form slump...


Naturally, Smith says experienced players are oftenmore conscious of being dropped given that theymonitor their form so closely, and take such ‘pride’in their work. “Most players who have been aroundfor a while, they (really) care, there is a real pridefactor for them,” said Smith. “I’ve had Dean Pay atthe height of his career come into my office almostshattered, because he genuinely felt he was in suchpoor form and felt he was letting himself, me, the cluband particularly his teammates down. He was justmarking himself too hard. But you occasionally meetyoung players who have only had three or four gamesup, and the fact that they’ve played poorly for two orthree weeks you’d think they would be absolutely(petrified) that they were going to get dropped, andyet they’re blase about it.”

The whole selection issue is one of the main reasonssome coaches choose not to have a watertightconnection with players outside the footy arena. Insome cases it can make the tough calls around theselection table even tougher. Smith is one coach whohas never sought a strong ‘away from football’relationship with his players, despite feeling closerthan ever to his current crop of Eels. “I’ve heard andread about coaches over the years that go to players’places for dinner and have the players around forparties,” he said. “I’m not a believer in that. I’mcertainly not knocking it if other people do it and feelcomfortable with it, it might just be my personality. Ilike to keep a little bit of distance.”

There is no question that if players fail to perform totheir optimum levels they run the risk of being droppedto the lower grades. But in a sense, coaches now realisethat dropping players is the easy option. As Smithindicates, one of the real challenges for coaches is tofind ’other means’ than simply dropping a player. Whoknows? Maybe showing unwavering faith and loyaltyin your players can give them the confidence they needto snap out of a worrying form slump. A tip or two tohelp correct the problem and the practice in trainingtogether with some reassurance to build thatconfidence is a real positive way to improve players’performance.

Freecall 1800 063 077

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What is Empowermentas a Coaching Approach?Written by Lynn Kidman

Coaching is a complex process. Coaches areresponsible for enabling athletes to learn. Like otherlearners, athletes develop understanding when theyare involved in solving problems for themselves, thusenhancing their learning (Butler, 1997). Importanttools in the learning process are to develop new ideas,knowledge and the ability to make decisions. If expertsmerely present knowledge (sometimes quiteforcefully) to those who are ‘nonexpert’ and makedecisions for them, the athletes becomedisempowered. In other words, if athletes’ needs donot influence their learning experiences, learning isminimal. The knowledge, understanding, skill anddecision-making ability that athletes learn and applycan make the difference between performance successand failure.

When coaches use an empowering style of coaching,athletes gain and take ownership of knowledge,development and decision making that will help themto maximise their performance. An empowermentapproach provides athletes with a chance to be part ofthe vision and values of sports teams.

The word empowerment has many meanings. Anempowerment approach to coaching emphasises anathlete-centred approach rather than a traditionalprescriptive (or autocratic) style of coaching. Theathlete-centred approach promotes a sense ofbelonging, as well as giving athletes a role in decisionmaking and a shared approach to learning.

Current Coaching Practices

To maximise athlete performance, coaches, likeleaders of formal organisations, combine the powerof their position with a particular leadership style.Although coaching today encompasses a wide varietyof approaches, the traditional leadership style hasgiven coaches a licence to ‘exploit’ their power bytaking the choice and control away from the athlete.When a coach takes total control and athletes have

basically no say, the approach is called prescriptiveor autocratic. Sometimes this style has been described,mistakenly, as an important element in coachingsuccess.

A prescriptive coach endeavours to control athletebehaviour not only throughout training andcompetition, but also beyond the sport setting. Aprescriptive coach tends to coach athletes as if theyare on a factory assembly line. Athletes of prescriptivecoaches are often ‘hooked’ into a limited form oflearning that emphasises memorising rather thanunderstanding or solving problems. This limitedapproach encourages athletes to be robotic in theiractions and thinking. They do not experiencethemselves as having an active role in contributing toor being a part of their learning.

In the professional era, the performance objectives ofmany coaches depend on winning. The expectation isthat coaches may be held accountable for manyuncertainties beyond the coaches’ control (e.g.injuries, exceptional play by the opposition, poorofficiating, the weather). In reacting to this pressureon themselves, coaches tend to give athletesextraordinarily gruelling training sessions that demandmore than the athletes can give; sometimes they usedehumanising practices to enforce their control (Pratt& Eitzen, 1989). Unfortunately, for coaches like these,the pressure in this professional ‘must-win’environment becomes so great that coaches ‘take over’in an attempt to ensure their athletes are winning. Thedirections become coach-centred, rather than mutualbetween the athletes and the coach.

This disempowering form of coach control actuallycontradicts why many athletes are participating insport. It can have detrimental effects on the athleteswho are controlled. The coach can also suffer whenthe athletes reject such control. In these controllingsituations the benefits of winning can be limited. If a

Lynn Kidman is a coach educator at the Christchurch College of Education in New Zealand. Lynn has coachedathletes from ages 5 to 75, in swimming, basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis and soccer. Since completing herPhD, which focused on self-reflective analysis for coaches, her main area of interest has been to determine howto enable athletes to learn best.


team is winning, the athletes smile, but if a team losesor tires of being bossed around, generally the teamenvironment deteriorates.

If athletes truly learn and take ownership of thedirection of the team or competition, there is a betterchance that success will result. Success for athletes israrely winning; it is usually focused on achieving theirgoals. A prescriptive coach mistakenly assumes thatathletes are there to win and seldom determines whyathletes participate in sport. Conversely, as part of anempowering approach, one of the coach’s first rolesis to determine the reasons why each athlete isparticipating, and to establish a vision and directionfor the season that both the athletes and the coachown.

As the above discussion indicates, the opposite ofempowerment is disempowerment. The traditionalprescriptive approach disempowers athletes, yet it isstill evident in many sports. With a prescriptive style,reading the game is largely a prescription from thecoach (like playing a chess game). Yet such a gamecan be a learning experience that encourages athletesto understand the game and choose options based oninformed decisions. The need for such an approach isobvious in many sports throughout the world (e.g.rugby, rugby league, soccer, athletics) where there areoften long periods when the coach is not directlyinvolved in making decisions on the field andcommunication with the athletes is limited. Morebroadly, informed decisions by athletes are essentialto performance success in every sport, as in every sportit is the athlete who competes, not the coach.

When coaching in tactics and skills at trainingsessions, prescriptive coaches traditionally tend to giveathletes specific directions on what to ‘fix’ or the exactmoves to perform. In some cases, coaches believe thatunless they are seen to be telling athletes what to doand how to do it, they are not doing their job properly.Some coaches believe that they are expected to winand that successful coaches are (and should be) hard-nosed and discipline-oriented. Others view their roleas one of promoting enjoyment and personaldevelopment (supportive, empowering coaches).

Much of the research suggests that no matter whatcoaching style is used, athletes respond better tosupportive coaches rather than punitive coaches(Smoll and Smith, 1989). Ironically, coaches whofollow the prescriptive approach often expressconcerns related to low athlete productivity, poorperformance quality and lack of motivation andcommitment by athletes (Usher, 1997). In contrast,athletes with supportive coaches show greater intrinsic

motivation, enjoy participating and competing insport, make informed decisions more rapidly in theever-changing game and demonstrate that trust ismutual (player–player, player–coach, coach–player,coach–coach).

Although a prescriptive approach is necessary in someinstances, traditional coaches can abuse theirinfluence. Coaches are considered the ‘power’ withina team and this status leads to an unquestionedacceptance of a coach’s leadership style amongathletes and significant others (parents, administrators,public). In this environment coaches do not and cannotlisten to their athletes, as they believe that if they listenthey will be perceived as losing their ‘power’. Suchan environment ensures that coaches do what theywant regardless of the personal and collective needsof the athletes.

Such coaches make many assumptions about athletes.For example, they may assume that because athletesare participating, they want to be champions and theywill pay the price required to achieve this end. Oftenteams with this style of coaching have short-termsuccess at the beginning of the season, but startfloundering later in the season when they are not ableto make decisions.

A very different pattern may be evident with teamscoached on empowerment principles. Wayne Smith(All Blacks coach) agrees that if teams can keep theircool, react to what they see, talk and guts it out and berelentless, they can get to the top every time. Waynesuggests that teams with empowering approachesoften tend to be:

… middling to fair earlier, butas athletes are developing ateam culture, developing a wayof learning, they are actuallygoing to be more knowledgeableand understand the game betteras the season progresses.

In the changing world of sport, the ‘prescriptive’approach has been rightly challenged. The book‘Developing Decision Makers’ by Lyn Kidman arguesthat a prescriptive coaching approach takes successaway from the athlete and emphasises the coach’s totaldomination of his or her sporting teams (and/orindividual athletes). The information here supports and


encourages empowerment as a coaching approach. Anempowerment style of coaching is one of the mostinnovative and effective approaches to coaching,enabling athletes to succeed in and enjoy their sportingparticipation. Through it, athletes can create somethingsignificant and perhaps different from current practiceswithin their sport. Athletes and teams can lead theway by using innovative ideas to make the game orcompetition more exciting. In the empowering processcoaches and athletes work for similar purposes withina motivating environment. An empowermentapproach helps to motivate athletes and gives them asense of satisfaction in being part of a common vision,so the ‘team’ can grow in the same direction.

“People will rise to the challenge if it is theirchallenge”

Wayne Smith, All Blacks Coach

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Guidelines for objectively assessing playerfitness in Rugby League

TESTING:

By Rudi Meir

Rudi is a lecturer within the School of Exercise Scienceand Sport Management at Southern Cross University.Over the past 14 years he has worked as a skills andconditioning coach with professional rugby leagueand rugby union teams in Australia, England, SouthAfrica and Japan. He is a contibuting coach to DigiSport’s CD-ROM titled DigiLeague.

The increased professionalism of Rugby League hasseen a significant increase in the expectations of allconcerned. Coaches are under ever increasing scrutinyfrom the media and various “experts” who all have anopinion on the way they coach their respective teams.Players are constantly under the microscope from theircoach, club management, fans and the media. Theclubs themselves are also constantly being subjectedto scrutiny about the way they promote and run theirfootball teams within the community by anyone thathas a passing interest in the game. Much of thiscommentary and analysis is accompanied by a verystrong element of emotion and subjectivity. This isnothing new and is a characteristic of the sportinglandscape that makes it so appealing to fans andparticipants alike.

Similarly, it is not uncommon for selection in teamsports to be based purely on the subjective analysis ofplayer performance by the coach and/or team selectors.However, this approach is no longer consideredappropriate in professional rugby league. As a result,coaches have made efforts to use more objectivemethods to assist them in their selection of teams.Game analysis by viewing post-match videos hasbecome very sophisticated and is typically used to helpthe coach analyse individual player and teamperformance.

While this kind of analysis can tell you “what” a playeris doing it can’t tell you “why”. For example, why hemissed a number of tackles, or was unable to run-down an opposing player, or successfully beat adefending player when in attack with evasive runningand speed. These aspects of a game place a relatively

high premium on the player’s level of specific fitnessand the ability to repeatedly execute the relevant skills- there is a high degree of skill in tackling but there isalso a high demand placed on the various componentsof player fitness. Fitness, if at the appropriate level,will contribute to a player’s ability to tackle repeatedly,and therefore presumably more effectively, throughoutthe course of a game. As a result, the coach needs toadopt a more suitable and objective method ofdetermining a player’s level of fitness.

Why Test?Testing helps both the players and coaching staff toidentify areas of strength and weakness. It can help toidentify areas needing greater attention or commitmentfor individual players and provide importantinformation about the effectiveness of a trainingprogramme. Results can help to identify changes inthe training programme while also acting as a sourceof motivation or goal setting for players. In additionit can also be used to help identify if a player is readyto return to play after an extended absence due toinjury.

The first series of test results, typically recorded earlyin the off-season (eg November), act as a baseline fromwhich specific goals for the individual and team canbe set. This should then be followed by testing relevantmilestones throughout the remainder of the season asa means of monitoring progress.

In keeping with the need to be objective whenassessing team performance test results can identifyif players are fit enough to play in their chosen positionand/or level of participation. To this end it can act asa means of cutting through the emotion andsubjectivity that often surrounds a team playing belowexpectations. Assuming players are producing theirbest effort when tested, the results will speak forthemselves and when used against other acceptedstandards gathered previously provide an accurateindication of just how fit a player is.


Identifying Standards

As indicated above, one of the key objectivesassociated with testing is to determine if a playerpossesses those fitness qualities consideredappropriate for their position and level of participation.Clearly the level of fitness needed to play in the NRLis very different to that required to play at Group level.Few if any of the professional clubs are in the habit ofmaking their squad results common knowledge.However, if they did this it would allow forcomparison of fitness levels between clubs andimportantly provide for a much larger pool of datarelating to the fitness characteristics of specificpositions. Coaches outside the professionalcompetition could draw comparisons with respect tothe fitness status of their players with those of moreprofessional players. Such information would also bean important measure for the large numbers of talentedjunior players involved in the various developmentand scholarship programmes offered by many of theprofessional clubs and the various academies of sport.

Test Selection

When developing a battery of tests a number of factorsshould be borne in mind. These are:

Validity - does the test measure what it is supposedto measure? To be valid the tests should measure thoseattributes considered important to play eg; strength,power, endurance, speed, agility, etc. and the energysystems involved.

Reliability - can the test be repeated and produce thesame result ie; is it consistent? Tests need to be reliableto be valid. An unreliable test would be one thatproduces one score on one day and a few days laterproduces a totally different score (assuming that allother factors remain the same eg absence of illnessand injury, etc.). For example, having different testers(eg; from one occasion to the next, etc) recording timesfor a 40 metre sprint test with hand held stopwatchescould compromise reliability. Similarly, usinginaccurate testing devices or having players produceinconsistent performances (eg; due to lack ofmotivation or injury, etc.) from one attempt to the nextcould also compromise reliability. There is a need toalso standardise all tests. In other words, ensure thateach test is conducted in exactly the same way (eg allplayers wearing the same footwear, the surfaceconditions are the same, testing at the same time ofday, etc.). In the vast majority of NRL clubs the clubstrength and conditioning coach is tertiary qualified

and therefore has the necessary expertise andknowledge to ensure that all tests all appropriatelycontrolled and administered.

Specificity - are the tests selected specific to the sportand based on observation? The closer the test is inmovement, muscle action and energy utilisation toplay the better. It may also be that certain positionsdiffer and could justify the inclusion of specific testsrelevant to that position eg; vertical jump test forfullbacks and wingers as a means of testing their abilityto compete for high balls, etc. However, it is not likelythat every position on the team differs so much thatdifferent tests should be used to accurately identifypositional differences in fitness. Increasingly themodern game of rugby league requires players to beversatile. The advent of the 10 metre rule and changesin the interchange bench sees coaches wanting 17athletes with the skill, endurance, speed, agility,strength and power to play almost any position on thefield!

Administration - is the test easy to conduct and couldit be used with large groups while utilising minimalequipment? There is a tendency to over complicatetesting and use methods that are simply too expensive(eg gas analysis to determine endurance performance),time consuming and require a high degree of technicalskill to administer and interpret. Ideally much of thetesting should be able to be administered at normaltraining and simply form part of a scheduled sessionusing equipment that is easily accessible and doesn’trequire great deals of training to use.

When to Test

In total around 4-5 test sessions should be scheduledeach season with the last taking place in the secondhalf of the competition. Testing too frequently, sayevery 4-6 weeks as recommended by many text books,is not warranted and may actually de-motivate playersbecause changes are likely to be minimal. Players mayalso become blasé about testing if done too frequentlyand therefore not as committed as they should be toproduce their best effort.

Logical times to test throughtout the season (this isfor a professional team and would be modifiedaccordingly for semi-professional and amateur teams)are:

Early off-season (November) - test a couple of weeksafter the players have returned to regular training as ameans of determining their baseline scores for the testsselected eg; body weight, skinfold, strength and powertests.


Pre Christmas (Late December) - repeat the previoustests to determine the effectiveness of the trainingprogramme. Over the Christmas and New Year periodplayers typically have some time off with family andfriends, however they will still be provided with adesignated training programme that they follow intheir own time. They will be advised that trainingvolume and intensity are likely to increasesignificantly after the New Year and that they will betested once again upon their return to determine ifthey have been doing what was required of them. Acouple of weeks of socialising and eating the “wrong”foods can quickly undo all the good work of theprevious 2-2.5 months!

Pre-season (Early January) - complete tests tomeasure all fitness qualities as identified in the nextsection (What to Test).

Pre-competition (Late February early March) - repeatall tests as above. At this stage of the year the playerswill have had approximately 4-5 months ofpreparatory training and should be at close to theirpeak physical condition. Testing just prior to thecommencement of the season, say 1-2 weeks out fromthe first game, will tell you how well everyone hasresponded to training and will act as a confidencebooster for players and coaching staff knowing thatthe ground work has been completed in preparationfor the forthcoming season proper.

In-season (Late June early July) - this period of testingshould be done ideally during the split rounds (at Stateof Origin time) and are intended to tell the coachingstaff if their programme has maintained the gainsachieved by the players during the pre-season period.

What to Test

Ideally the development of a battery of tests for anysport would necessitate some form of time-and-motionstudy (see RLCM Volume 20 pages 23-29). Usingthis approach, it has been determined that any testsselected should measure the following broad areas ofplayer fitness (examples of tests to measure thesequalities are also provided):

1. Muscular strength, power and endurance -considered essential for such playing activities astackling, scrummaging and sprinting, etc.Typically most professional clubs test strengthusing exercises such as the bench press and squat.Players are required to lift the maximum weightpossible for a given number of repetitions (usually1-3 reps max). However, it’s important to stressthat tests such as these, requiring near maximalloads to be used, should not be used oninexperienced players because of the potential forinjury.

Muscular power is most often tested using a powerclean exercise or something similar (eg hang clean;high pull, etc.). The player is required to lift themaximum load possible for a single repetitionwhile maintaining good technique. However, onceagain there is a safety consideration here and thistype of test is not to be used by unskilled and/orinexperienced players.

Muscular endurance can be tested in a variety ofways using tests such as the 60 second sit-up(abdominal endurance) and 30 second plyometricpush-up (upper body endurance and explosivepower). Players complete the maximum numberof repetitions possible within the designated timewhile also maintaining appropriate form.

2. Acceleration, speed and agility - required fortackling and the frequent periods of sprinting andevasive running conducted over short distancesthroughout the course of a game. This couldinclude a test of acceleration over 15 metres; a testof speed such as a timed run over 40 metres; a testof agility such as the L-run. There are a range oftests that could be used to measure agility butwhichever one is used it should (like all tests) berelevant to the movement patterns and durationseen during play.

3. Aerobic endurance - a player has to compete for atotal of 80 minutes during which time he will beinvolved, to varying degrees, in both maximal andsubmaximal periods of activity. A strong aerobicfoundation is essential for the replenishment ofATP and the breakdown and removal of lactic acidthereby speeding recovery from anaerobicallyinduced fatigue. The most common test used tomeasure endurance capacity is the 20 metre shuttletest or a modified version that includes tasksrelevant to play. A timed run over a given distance(eg 4 kilometres) or the distance covered within aset time (eg 5 minute run) can also measure thisquality very effectively.

4. Basic body composition - the inclusion of basicmeasurements of a player’s physical characteristics(e.g. weight and skinfold measurements) willprovide the club coaching staff with someindication of a player’s body composition. Changesto body composition will typically reflectimprovements in other measures of physical fitness(eg as endurance improves fat mass will tend todecrease). These measures might also be used tomonitor appropriate eating habits in players whoare found to have an unacceptably high ratio of fatmass to lean body mass. This test requires technical


expertise in the use of the calipers but is relativelyeasy to administer. Depending on the method beingused a range of body sites is selected, usuallybetween 4-8, and the sum of the foldsdetermined. Alternatively, scores can be used in aformula (of which there are literally dozens andmost of which producing different results!) alongwith the body weight of the player to determinepercentage body fat.

There are any number of tests that could be used tomeasure the qualities identified above. The importantthing is to ensure that these same tests are used insubsequent tests. Clearly some tests are not appropriatefor young and/or inexperienced players and those withpre-existing injuries/illness. Further, tests such as thoseidentified here should only be administered bysomeone with appropriate qualifications and expertise.

Test Order

All tests should be preceeded by a suitable warm-upwhich is standardised for all players and utilised at allsubsequent tests. Inform your players in advancewhen, where and what will be tested and advise themto avoid activity that might negatively impact on theirability to produce their best effort in the 24 hoursbefore testing. They should arrive with the requiredfootwear, etc., suitably rested, hydrated and in the rightframe of mind when they arrive to be tested.

Due to the energy utilisation demands of each testand the fatigue that is accummulated from one trial toanother and one test to another, it is important to se-quence tests in a way that will minimise the negativeimpact of fatigue on performance. On this basis a logi-cal sequence would be:

1st Do body weight and skinfold measures priorto testing and if necessary over several days;

2nd Tests of muscular strength and power shouldbe completed on a separate day to all other physicaltests and followed by 48 hours recovery prior tocompleting the remaining tests;

3rd Complete the agility, acceleration and s p e e dtests; followed by

4th Tests of muscular endurance; followed by

5th The test of aerobic endurance last or possiblyon a separate day.

For the test of agility, acceleration and speed playersshould be allowed 3 trials of each test in order to iden-tify their “best” time for each test. A suitable periodof recovery should be provided between each trial inorder to facilitate complete recovery before the next

effort. This should be standardised for all players andfor subsequent tests.

Feedback

Having tested, it is important to provide the playerswith feedback about their performance as quickly aspractical. Obviously, the players will know how theyhave performed as soon as they complete most tests.However, it is unlikely that they will be able to recalltheir result from their previous test or how they ratewith other players within their group (ie forwards andbacks). As a result, a complete summary of resultsshould be provided to all players for their considera-tion. From these results individual players can be iden-tified that need to have their training programme modi-fied in order to overcome areas needing improvement,etc. Similarly, a report (see example opposite) shouldbe prepared for all members of the coaching, man-agement and medical staff so that a complete pictureof all players progress is provided and comparisonwith previous test results is possible.

Providing feedback to all those concerned also givesthe whole process of testing meaning and serves toreinforce its importance as a tool to monitoring indi-vidual and team progress over time. It is a powerfulmotivational tool for players and timely delivery(within a week of completing the tests) of feedbackwill ensure that they approach the next test period withthe required degree of motivation and commitment.


Combining Skillsand Conditioning

Alan Wilson - Parramatta Eels Assistant CoachHayden Knowles - Parramatta Eels Strength and

Conditioning CoachWritten by David Haynes

It seems us ex-footballers that cried with despair eachand every time our coach opted for a draining fitnesssession over a skill orientated one, might have to pullon the boots again. With the onset of professionalism,which has allowed trainers increased access to players,the trend is to combine conditioning and skillssessions, so players are acclimatised to using skillswhile fatigued. Parramatta is one side to adopt thisnew training philosophy - achieving impressiveresults. Two of the Eels’ key training personnel AlanWilson and Hayden Knowles, believe professionalismhas given trainers the time to structure sessions moreintricately.

”I believe with the move towards professionalism itgives you a lot more time to do a lot more things,”Wilson, Parramatta’s assistant coach said. “I wasactually playing ten years ago, working a full-timejob and coming to training for two or three hours, andyou were probably a bit limited in what you coulddo.” Nowadays though, the trainers get a lot more timeto prepare sessions for players, which is why Wilsonbelieves rugby league players are ‘bigger, faster andstronger’ than yesteryear’s equivalent.

Knowles, Parramatta’s strength and conditioningcoach, says the quality of work you can now do withplayers is far superior to past years. “They may ofhave had the ideas ten years ago but trying to squeezeit all together, you don’t get the quality we get now,”he said. “We can get a really good quality session and

give them time to recover so their next session is goodquality again. The results therefore are increased a lotmore.”

Giving players long recovery breaks is important intoday’s training regiments, particularly when theplayers’ bodies are taking a pounding week in andweek out. As Knowles stresses, ample recovery timealso means the players will be mentally focused whenother sessions come around. “Trying to do a speedsession when they’re fatigued is a waste of time,” hesaid. “Years ago they had to fit everything into twonightly sessions a week which meant by the time thespeed session came around the players’ bodies were

fatigued. We get more time with the players now, andsubsequently our results are better than what they usedto get.”

Something that hasn’t changed too dramatically overthe years is the emphasis trainers put on skill drills.The Eels are one of a growing number of clubs whotry and incorporate as much skill work as possible.“We want to put as much time into skill as we do anyother facet of our game whether it be strength, speedand aerobic conditioning,” admits Wilson.

“Skill is going to be part of everything we do, and wenever want to change from that. Everyday we dostrength, speed or conditioning we will do skill withit. We’re probably limited to three of four weightsessions a week, but there is nothing really limitingus doing five or six skills sessions a week, because

Skill is going to be part of everything we do,and we never want to change from that


they’re not as physically demanding, and repetitiveskill drills often tend to have the most beneficialresults.”

Parramatta even employ skills into their conditioningsessions, such is the value they place on certain skillsin the modern game. “I would say at Parramatta wewould devote 90% of our conditioning to have somesort of skills factor in it, skills under fatigue,” Wilsonsaid. “Rather than introduce the ball in January, at thevery first session they turn up to at Parramatta theball is in their hands, and we get them to do 90% oftheir aerobic conditioning using skill.”

Knowles agrees: “We don’t get them to a point offatigue and then introduce the skill, we introduce theskill at the start, and they continue to do the skill aslong as they can maintain the standard.” Knowles saysif the standard starts to decline he’ll stop the drill.“We don’t like to practise it when it’s poor,” he said.“We get them doing the skill in an exercise until theyfatigue and once it becomes poor we stop it, becausewe don’t want to rehearse being bad under fatigue.”

While skill drills are a valuable commodity at all levelsof league coaching, the problem junior coaches canencounter is relying on the same drills over and overagain. As Wilson and Knowles outline repetition is akey aspect to the drills, but constant repetition moreoften than not leads to boredom amongst the players.“I don’t know if it is a thing of coming up with newdrills all the time, it is more new ways of teachingthem,” Wilson said. “ If you’ve got one skill andyou’ve only got one way to teach it you can only do itso often. When you’ve got one skill and 15 ways toteach it, it becomes whole new training because theplayers never get bored and they’re happy to do it.”

The invention of new ways of doing particular drillsis something Wilson and his colleagues commit a largeportion of time to. Not only it is keeping the playerson their toes, but encourages the coaching staff todevelop new ideas. “They’re the same drills but wejust disguise it, put it in a different suit or a differentdress so the players don’t recognise it straight up, butthey’re actually doing the same thing,” Wilson said.“We’ve done that with our conditioning aswell. Rather than doing your stock standard 200 metre,400 metre and two kilometre runs, jazz them up insome way. Make them competitive because that waythere is a bit more interest when the players turn up,they seem to have a better mental approach.”

The Parramatta staff don’t rest on their laurels whenit comes to the gym either. “It’s the same in the gym,”admits Wilson. “Hayden (Knowles) has got to keep

coming up with new ways to teach the same liftsthey’ve been teaching for thirty years. It’s all aboutfinding a new piece of equipment, putting it in a newspot every season, changing your gym around, andjust making things new.”

While the Eels’ extensive use of skill drills may becomparable with other clubs in the NRL, theirapproach to training for limited interchange must besomewhat unique. Unlike other sides, who had longruns and hefty bike rides as part of their pre-seasonprograms, the Eels felt on the main they ‘had enoughathletes not to warrant a major aerobic conditioningoverhaul.’ “I did hear some stories about some hellishlong bike rides and runs, and I think with limitedinterchange there was this thought that we need playersto play more time,” laments Wilson.

“The more 80-minute footballers you could have thebetter. We were in a position where we had athletessuch as the Hindmarsh brothers and Andrew Ryanfor instance, that were 100 kilos and could play 80minutes, and averaged in the 70 minutes last year.We didn’t really see the need to get them any fitter.They were doing 75 minutes under last year’sunlimited interchange, which was supposedly fasterand more powerful than this year.”

Even though Parramatta’s trainers didn’t alter the waythe entire player group was conditioned, they do seesome merit in gruelling fitness sessions. “I think themental aspect of a real torturous session is good, andit does have a place,” Wilson said. But as Knowlesreinforces, enjoyment is perhaps the catch-cry toParramatta’s training regime. “Enjoyment is the bigthing, full-time players need to enjoy training as muchas young kids,” Knowles said. “They have to enjoy itall the time otherwise they get bored. In the old daysyou did what you had to do and got out of there, butwe’ve really got to keep them enthusiastic, and makethem like coming to training.”

The challenge for junior coaches, as it is for those atthe NRL level, is to innovate training schedules. Justbecause your side needs fitness work doesn’t meangame related drills should go out the window. Wilsonand Knowles demonstrate that by combining the two,you can not only make your players fit but match fit.Knowles says: “In coaching kids it is even moreimportant to do the games (game-type drills). If youflog them they won’t even want to come and playfooty any more. With the games, they’re practisingthe skills all the time and enjoying it.” It comes backto that trusty old adage, ‘you play the way you train.’


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The publishers wish to thank the Australian Rugby Leagueand contributors for their assistance in compiling thispublication.

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