Carl jennings Strength & Conditioning Consultancy

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                        Rugby League World Magazine UK (Published June/09) 








The Move from Superleague Europe to the NRL Australia

In my last article I spoke briefly about my five terrific years spent helping to build a championship team at the Bradford Bulls. After our tremendous Grand Final victory at the Theater of Dreams in 2001, against an out muscled Wigan team, I moved with my family  to Australia to ply my trade in the NRL at the Canberra Raiders. I knew it was a massive opportunity, but also an immense challenge to test myself against some of the best sporting minds in the game. I was the only Englishman employed as a Head Strength & Conditioning coach in the NRL, which brought with it lots of pressure, many people questioned why a “pommie” was needed to develop Australian talent, initially I was defensive but eventually I realized the only way I could build trust within the NRL community, was to work tiresly in building a reputation of quality, ability, and most importantly helping to develop a successful team. I often speak about the fact I learned my trade in the Super league but mastered it in the NRL.

I can remember sitting in the changing room at old Trafford after the grand final in 2001, when there was a brief lull in the euphoria, and just taking a moment to soak up the atmosphere, trying  to make an imprint in my mind of all the great friends, strong personalities, great athletes, great people,  that were there in the room at that time, sharing this very special moment. I had personally invested all my energy, my heart and soul into finding a way to help them achieve their full potential, and was exhausted. I remember feeling  a great personal satisfaction that these men had peaked on the day of the most important game of the year, something which as a strength & conditioning coach is the holy grail of performance, and is very difficult to achieve, especially after such a long arduous season, working with athletes that play the toughest game in world sport.

I can also remember very vividly two aspects relating to my first day at work at the Canberra Raiders, firstly when I arrived, the chief executive at the time Kevin Neal, told me the media was in the gymnasium waiting to perform an interview about my appointment, If I had any doubt of the bigger sporting profile of Rugby league in Australia  it was alleviated when I walked into the room expecting to see  a journalist with his note pad, and instead finding myself staring at 3 TV cameras, interviewers and at least 5 journalists not from the local paper but national papers, I was a bit shocked as I felt “why the big interest in me”, I would have understood the interest if it was a player, or a newly appointed head coach, but not a head strength & conditioning coach. It was at that moment that I realized I was in the A league, and this was serious business. If I didn’t feel the pressure, and expectation placed on me before that moment, I walked out of the room understanding without doubt that I had been brought in to do a job, and nothing apart from success would be acceptable.
The second thing I remember about that first day was walking into the room with the players for my first meeting,  I was charged up, fearless, ready to rip in, make my first impression on this group, players I would be working with for the next 5 years. I stood up in front of the group which was made up of a mix of young inexperienced players as well as stars of the NRL, most had never listened first hand to someone with a broad Yorkshire accent, never mind someone with a broad Yorkshire accent  streaming a passionate rally cry at them. I am sure my speech was one of my best, it was just a shame the people in the room didn’t have a clue what I was talking about!!!!. It was an introduction to the fact we spoke the same language but culturally we were miles apart. As a strength & conditioning coach you work on the coal face of performance, your principals, ideas, expertise, and personality play a massive part on not only influencing athletic ability, but also molding the mindset of the group, if you think coaching is just about numbers and training plans you are mistaken its all about delivery, and about placing your passion in the mix, immersing yourself in the group, building trust, and creating the right environment for the athletes to feel comfortable to express themselves in the gym and on the practice field. Therefore being understood was an issue for me initially but within an off season of me delivering numerous talks, and believe me I can talk! They may not have totally understood what I was saying, but they certainly got the message!.

I learned a number of important lessons the first 18months coaching the Canberra Raiders, one being that you have to develop training structures, philosophies, and routines, that suit the athletes under your charge. Over the five years working with the Bradford Bulls, I found the ideal training template, and philosophy to be successful in the Super-league competition, with the group I had, which revolved around developing a team with high Strength & Power levels, and bulked them up accordingly. I believed that the Super league was  a power based sport, therefore I developed players which were bigger, stronger, more powerful , and more aggressive than  most of their opponents. This proved very successful for that group, in that era. At Canberra I didn’t have the same type of athletes available for me to work with, they were smaller in stature, and initially I made the mistake of assuming that I could pack on the weight with a big hypertrophy and strength program, and attack the NRL in the same way the Bulls attacked the Super league, and although we had some success that first year making the final series, once the dust had settled at the end of my first year in the NRL, I realized that I had to develop a training program for the players that I had at that point in time, with all their various strengths and weaknesses. It was obvious that the NRL style of play differed to the Super league in many aspects such as, the week to week high intensity nature of the competition, there were no easy games. But what I realized was that the main difference was that to be successful in the NRL you needed to have a running based training program, focusing on fitness, speed, and  acceleration, supplemented with a more muscular endurance model of strength program, unlike the Super league which suited a much more power based approach.
My realisation of specific training driven by limitations of the genetic potential of the athletes under your charge, enabled me to develop and implement a training regime which not only suited the NRL competition, but developed a team which eventually had the reputation of having tremendous fitness, toughness, and tenacity. During my five  years at the Canberra Raiders we made the final series 4 times, with a team which was recognised as not being the most talented group, but it was definitely recognised as one of the toughest.


The following training routines were performed at the Canberra Raiders training centre, Canberra, ACT in 2004. This Pre- Season running session was part of a concurrent training micro-cycle, it was performed once a week on a Tuesday morning at 8:00am, it proved to be very successful in helping to improve the players V02 max over a 6 week period Running based fitness session, performed on a field try line to try line  

1.15min athletics warm up and dynamic stretch
2.6 X 100m on the minute, 20sec to complete the run with 40seconds recovery
3.4 X 400m on the 2:30sec, 90 seconds to complete the run with 60seconds recovery.
4.10 X 40m sprints on the minute, flat out sprints
5.3 X 300m shuttles, 10m out & back,  20m out & back,  30m out & back, 40m out  & back, 50m out & back, all shuttles to be             completed in under 80seconds, with 60 seconds recovery between efforts.
6.4 X 4 hits on tackle bag, using a 10m grid, complete the  4 hits within a min, 1min recovery between sets
7.4 X kick chase drills, kick off chase hard and make 2 defensive plays against opposition, jog back to behind the half way in               preparation for the next effort, all within 60 seconds
8.20 X 40m Phosphate sprints off the ground whistle blows on the 20seconds all runs under 8 seconds.
9.3 X 120m shuttles 10m out & back,  20m out & back,  30m out & back, all completed under the 40sec with  40se between                efforts.
10.     1 X 30sec run record maximum distance achieved.
11.     15min static stretch


The Pre- Season strength program complemented the running based fitness program, had a cross energy system theme, and used a circuit training format.
 

Mon                               Tue                                Wed                                      Thu
Bench  press 3 X 12    Shoulder press 3 x 12       Incline Bench press 3 x 12      Power Cleans 3 x 12
Incline Fly’s 3 x 12      Military press   3 x 12       Narrow Bench press3 x 12      Jammer Press 3 x 12
Push ups  1 set max out     Rear deltoids 1 set max out     Incline push ups 1 setmax out      Side deltoids 1 setmax out
Dead lift  3 x 12         Arm  Curls   3 x 12            Lat pull downs 3 x 12            Seated curl 3 x 12
Upright rows  3 X 12   Tricep Extension 3 x 12      Shrug 3 x 12                        Cable Tricep extension 3 x 12
Chin ups 1 set max outParallel bar dips 1 setmax out    Back Squat 3 x 12                Med ball push ups1 setmax out
Power cleans 3 x 12    Upper Abdominal 3 x 20      Lunge 3 x 12                       Upper Abdominal 3 x 20
Leg extension 3 x 20   Mid Abdominal 3 x 20         Leg curls 3 x 12                    Mid Abdominal3 x 20
Leg press 3 x 20         Lower Abdominal 3 x 20     Squat Jump 1 set max out      Lower Abdominal3 x 20
Stiff leg dead lift  3 x 20     Oblique 3 x 20                Calf’s 3 x 12                         Oblique 3 x 20
Rower5min max out      Treadmill 5min max out    Rower 5minmax out              Treadmill 5min max out



These training programs were advanced, and were part of an off season training program. They were completed by elite athletes and must not be attempted by anyone without a full medical.  They are an example of the type of training program which was performed by the Canberra Raiders in 2004.

Before I finish this article I would just like to congratulate Halifax on their tremendous start to this season, I’ve being working closely with the head coach Matt Calland and Halifax RL since November last year, designing their physical training programs, and training structure, as part of an online consultancy with my company CJSCC. There heartbreaking loss in the challenge cup against Super league opposition Huddersfield showed that implementing a world class physical development program, even with the limitations of a part time strategy, can develop the catalyst for success in this sport.  If you want to receive world class help which will give you the edge, contact me on the CJSCC web site www.carljenningsscc.com