Rugby League World Magazine UK (Published May/09) 










Bradford Bulls 2001 Championship Year Training Regime

To continue the theme of selecting an aspect of training from my 12 years involvement as a head strength & conditioning coach, I have selected a number of Bradford Bulls training routines taken from the 2001 Grand final winning year.
I spent 5 fantastic years at the Bradford Bulls between 1996 and 2001 working with some great coaches, and players, helping to build the club into a dominant force. I take a huge amount of pride out of the fact people still look back on that Bradford bulls era and recognise them as the juggernauts of the modern game. Developing a side which was perceived to be physically dominant took a lot of expertise, and hard work, but also reflected the special personnel we recruited during that time.
Everyone worked extremely hard developing an elite training environment, and the players we had found it natural to create a tough team mentality. Looking back some of the toughest training sessions I’ve planned and implemented were performed by that group of men. I had a saying at that time which was “ less science more appliances” as I felt some athletes and teams were looking to sport science at that time,  to give them an easier way to success, I made it quite clear to the bulls group and every subsequent team I have coached that there isn’t any short cuts to success. The teams I have coached in the past and the present know they have to invest in pain and sweat if they want to taste victory.
Over the years at the Bradford Bulls the training  program evolved with the ability of the teams individuals, training age( The duration of time an athlete has spent in a training program)  is a massive part of any athletes potential success, this was evident in the Bulls case as well as my 5 years at  the Canberra Raiders , and more recently at the Penrith Panthers. It takes time to develop the physical and mental abilities of the athletes in your charge to become capable of thriving in an elite environment. Time isn’t always something coaches have, as the industry we work in is performance based, but it is necessary for player and team development. In my experience it takes about 18months of intense progressive training ( two off seasons and an in season)  for a group of athletes in a team environment to develop the sufficient training maturity to start to become physically capable of  performing at a  consistently high level, if however the physical improvements are not shown within this time frame, there is something drastically wrong with either what you are planning and implementing as a coach, or what the group is investing into it, either way changes are needed to enable the group to move forward
It is evident when I look back on my earlier training programs (1996 – 2003) the structure and intricacies of preparation in relation to Strength & Conditioning has evolved quite considerably. Especially since the formation of specialized Associations such as the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association (ASCA), which supports elite Strength & Conditioning coaches with the most up to date information  and science, to help enhance physical sporting ability. Although things have changed over the years, the core of what I implemented in my early years as a coach was very good and in some respects well before its time. In this article I’m going to focus on a number of routines covering strength speed and endurance that were implemented during the 2001 year. As I’ve mentioned I may not utilize these routines now in entirety, but they stand as historical training routines performed by a championship team of that era.


Fitness Routine
I had a belief in the late 90s and early 00s that creating an effort for effort ability within a Rugby League athlete by enhancing the anaerobic energy system through resistance exercise (short duration weight  / Cardio, cross training), was the key to fitness for Rugby league, and therefore most of my training philosophy focused on this aspect. My view in this respect has not changed dramatically over the years, but it has evolved from developing a better understanding of the sports specific energy system requirements of various player positions within Rugby League. My current overall fitness program is much more position specific, which has created the need for increased Aerobic activities, supported by a more complex running based program, along with the Anaerobic, Alactic energy system support.





The following Fitness routine was performed at the Heartbeat Gym in Bradford UK 2001.
The team was split into 3equal groups and performed a specific routine for 30min before moving onto the next activity.
Activity 1   30minsActivity 2   30minsActivity 3   30mins

30min Boxing Circuit
A continuous Boxing Bag circuit and free body weight exercises routine.
Working for 1minute, with 20seconds to change stations.
Working in the sequence
1.Bag Work
2.Abdominal exercise
3.Free Body Weight exercise (chins / dips / pushups)


30min Cardio  Circuit
Treadmill  10min
Lev 10 -  lev 15  (1min intervals)

Concept 2 Rower 10min
5 X 1min efforts 1min recovery
(target 300m each effort)

Electric Stationary bike
10min Continuous
Lev 6 Lev 12 (1min intervals)
Keeping RPM above 80RPM


30min Resistance Circuit
Perform each exercise set on the minute.
(1min to Perform the reps including the  recovery )
Bench press  8reps  8reps  8reps
Incline fly’s 10reps 10reps
Incline Dumbbell press 20reps
2min recovery
Barbell Curls  8reps  8reps  8reps
Tricep Extension 10reps 10reps
Parallel bar dips 20reps
2min recovery
T bar Rows 8reps 8reps 8reps
Chins 10reps 10reps
Back Row machine 20reps
2min recovery
Seated Shoulder press 8reps 8reps 8reps
Dumbbell side delt raises 10reps 10reps
Seated Barbell Press 20reps

I can remember this routine was a popular session with the squad, especially Brian McDermott who thrived in this form of fitness activity. The boxing room often had to be mopped out after we had finished as it was covered in pools of sweat, and if I ever selected Jimmy Lowes, Brian McDermott, Jamie Peacock, Paul Anderson and Stuart Fielden in the same training group, the roof nearly caved in, when they started pounding the Bags, it was pretty scary. I remember one week in particular when Jimmy Lowes got stuck into the bags without gloves on, his knuckles were raw afterwards, during the subsequent game he had to be blood binned on a number of occasions due to his knuckles bleeding, the coach didn’t find it amusing at all, I kept my head down for a few days!!!
Strength Routine
Developing Strength in the Rugby league athlete has always been something I’ve prided myself on, and it was the foundation for the Bradford Bulls team,  we believed we were stronger than our opponent from wing to wing, and built a reputation off the back of that mind set, and ability.
Although developing maximal strength played some part in the overall Periodization plan, I focused more on developing an optimal strength ability, which seemed to be more effective, which relates to the effort for effort ability I have spoken about previously.
I utilized routines of a more mixed set / rep energy system format, believing it would create a better sport specific strength adaptation. Looking back on these routines, they indicate 2 things about the game, first of all how advanced that training groups ability was as that time, but more importantly how much the modern NRL game takes out of a player, because if I were to implement this routine during our current in season training phase, although my athletes could complete the routine,  it would have a counterproductive effect on game day performance, as the session would impact too greatly on the recovery process, which has become the dominant aspect of the modern in season program. .

The following strength program was performed at the Bulls training centre UK in 2001.
Warm Up Circuit  10min
With a partner complete the circuit with a 1:1 work rest ration (30seconds work 30seconds recovery)
1. Concept II rower   2. Dumbbell step up   3. Medicine ball sit up throw   4. Spinner forward   5. Shoulder Rota Cuff
6. Concept II rower 7.Dumbbell side lunge   8.Medicine ball twist throw  9. Spinner reverse   10.Front &Side delts
Strength Routine

All exercises are performed as supersets, which is performing one exercise directly after the other.
1. Power Cleans                6   4   2   2          Superset         Dumbbell Bent Over Rows  8   8   8   8
2. Clean Pulls of Box          6  4   2   2           Superset         Upright Rows    8  8   8   8
3. The Jammer                 6  4   2   2           Superset         Leg press   20   20   20   20
4. Single Arm Snatch        6   6   4   4            Superset       Heavy Diamond bar Shrug of Box   6   6   4   4
5. Shoulder Press             6   4   2   2           Superset        Front & Side Delts      20    20    20   20
6. Medicine Ball Distance Throw   6sets of 6reps       


I can remember the gym environment pretty well and it was always  workman like. The backs ripped in just as hard as the forwards which  created a great competitive environment. At that time I always trained the team in one large group, with the same physical emphasis across all positions. This is where things are slightly different today as I now train 3 different smaller groups all with a different position specific emphasis, within a program that runs parallel. More complicated, but it is necessary in today’s game.
During those Bulls years I worked with some tremendous gym athletes Henry Paul was a fantastic all round athlete, Robbie Paul had excellent strength to body weight ratio. Scott Naylor, Jamie Peacock, Jimmy Lowes, Nathan Mcavoy, Brian McDermott were great trainers. Mick Forshaw was a real gym junkie and set the pace in most sessions. Stuart Fielden was a freakish trainer with unbelievable leg strength, I can remember him leg pressing 150reps with 310kg when he was 19yo, I’ve not seen anything like that since. To be honest the whole squad seemed to really enjoy the gym sessions, there again they had no option because any slackers would get an ear bending off Brian McDermott (The Sargent), there was no place for weakness.

Speed  Routine
Speed development was always a big part of the Bradford Bulls training program. We were extremely lucky to have Ray Barrow as our speed coach. Ray was a renowned member of British Athletics, and played a massive part in our off season preparation. His track sessions were top class, I learned a lot off Ray, and I’m not too proud to say I still use many of his principals to this day. The main difference between Ray’s track sessions and mine are that his were performed in the cold English months of November December January, when we often turned up at the track to find it covered in ice, where as in Australia the track session are performed in our off season when it can get as hot as 40+ degrees.  In 2001 I remember bringing in a lot of American football agility drills. I believed change of direction, acceleration, and deceleration were extremely important weapons for a rugby league player. So it became a big emphasis that year and subsequent years since.  

The following speed program was performed at the Bulls training centre UK in 2001.
Warm Up
10 X 100m runs on the minute
10min stretch
Speed session
1. Plyometrics – Hurdle Jumps 4 X 6 double leg jumps
2. Harness Sprint   6 X 20m (Performing a sprint every  minute)
3. American Football Drill  (change of direction sprints)  over 30m  X 6 (Performing a sprint every  minute)
4. American Football Drill (tight change of direction and quick acceleration drill)  over 20m X 6
5. 20m reaction sprint races X 6
Warm Down
10min light jog walk & Stretch

The sprint work was performed on a regular basis Robbie Paul particularly enjoyed agility and was exceptional at it. I do however remember Paul Anderson was very quick and agile for a big man, he performed a lot of SAQ work in his own time as extras, and if there was one thing apart from his size which made him the player he was, it was his speed and agility . I believe the program I implemented in 2001 which did revolve around change of direction drills rather than pure agility was one of the keys to our success that year. From that time I have continued down the rout of acceleration, change of direction, as well as repeated pure sprint efforts.

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s article and a brief insight into my Bradford Bull’s days, Next month I will share some Canberra Raiders routines.
Train Hard & Smart

Jenno