Adelaide Crows in pre-season training, from left, Nathan Van Berlo, Rory Sloane and Patrick Dangerfield. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser
ADELAIDE will ramp up its emphasis on strength and power over summer under new fitness coach Nick Poulos as the club seeks to keep up with the evolution of the game.
Poulos, who joined the club under long-serving fitness man Stephen Schwerdt, has identified Chris Judd and Gary Ablett as the blueprint players of the competition because of their body types - their enormous talent notwithstanding - and Adelaide will look at further developing its players' lower body strength to help them excel in the congestion around the ball.
With Schwerdt having joined Gold Coast, it is now Poulos's turn to make an imprint onsummer training, although he said he had been left an outstanding framework by Schwerdt.
It is the shared vision of Poulos and senior coach Brenton Sanderson - who still outlifts several of the players in the gym - that the player who can run all day will never reach his full potential if he doesn't also have a bit of beef and grunt.
One of the Crows who is close to the ideal body type for the modern footballer is Patrick Dangerfield - quick, enduring and explosive.
The challenge for Poulos is to come up with a balanced program for all his players: David Mackay, a quick half back flanker or wingman, needs to keep weight on during the year; others, such as Jason Porplyzia, need to ward off persistent injuries.
Danger is a bit of a freak, actually: one of the best athletes I've worked with
"We've had this conversation with the coaches and there's still a lot of congestion around the ball," Poulos said.
"But you still have to spread (take off from the contest) very, very quickly so you need a large aerobic capacity.
"That's still your bread and butter and that's a big part of the program.
"But my gut feel is that you're still going to have to break out of a tackle, get out of that density around the ball.
"So you need to be strong and explosive but be able to run all day, and repeatedly.
"I think the trend is that you have to be able to work at high intensity - run all day, but intensity is going to be at the top of the ladder.
"They have to be extremely fit aerobically but breaking a tackle, absorbing physical contact, it's what makes the game great and such a challenge.
"Danger, Judd, Ablett - can run all day but still strong. Judd, definitively, as a blueprint.
"Danger is a bit of a freak, actually: one of the best athletes I've worked with.
"But also have to look at guys like Dave Mackay, who's super fit and ran a PB (personal best) the other day.
"He's a classic example of someone who's put on more lean muscle, got a lot stronger and is running better because he's more efficient."
It's a balancing act for clubs as to how to best prepare their players at this time of year. On one hand they need them to be stronger, on the other, fitness coaches have to worry about how much weight players carry around on the ground.
Beach weights - impressive big muscles built up on low repetitions in the gym - can make players look like Tarzan but be less effective than Jane. They still have to run.
"The focus has to be on the lower body," Poulos said.
"They have to be strong through the legs, glutes and the aim is to make them more efficient runners.
"You want them to be stronger but more efficient, so that as the game goes on, they're essentially using less energy.
"But at the same time have to be explosive and fast and there's still the upper body."
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