News Paper & Magazine Articles
Related To
Carl Jennings
Panther Grant plays pain game
Tyson Otto From: The Daily Telegraph January 01, 2011
IT'S called the sweat box. A place Tim Grant has spent his Christmas break, pushing himself harder and further than in any other pre-season.
Nothing more than a two-car garage made of bricks in Glenmore Park. This is where up-and-coming Panthers prop Tim Grant has spent his Christmas break, pushing himself harder and further than in any other pre-season - when he's meant to be on holidays.
The 22-year-old was there on Boxing Day, boxing gloves on, training with Penrith strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings. He was churning up bitumen in Cranebrook with his cross-trainers on Christmas morning while the rest of us were eyeing up the turkey.
And while the majority cope with New Year hangovers today, Grant will be training again, on a gridiron field in Cranebrook, bear-crawling on his palms and sprinting his way up and down the turf as the mercury soars.
"Yeah, I've got a good sesh planned with Jenno," he said. "[The bear crawl] is you're running on your palms and toes with someone sitting on top of you.
"Of course it's hard work . . . but it's made me feel much more like a first-grade player."
Grant has not yet been able to train with teammates after undergoing surgery on his ankle in October. But he has torn into his rehabilitation program in a bid to make sure the club's straight-sets exit from this year's finals series never happens again.
The ankle injury forced him to the sidelines for most of the back end of the 2010 season. He revealed yesterday he returned in time for the club's finals campaign, with his ankle not fully recovered, only because teammates were falling like flies as the injury list grew.
"I don't want to let the boys down," he said. "I felt I kind of did, being injured at the business end of the season.
"We genuinely believed we could win it last year, so it was just really hard to watch that Roosters game with Franky [Pritchard], myself and Trent [Waterhouse] all on the sideline. It was so hard that we couldn't help."
The rehab training means that Grant has a gap to make up on his teammates' fitness training. But Jennings believes Grant's commitment over the off-season has him on target to be fitter and stronger than last year.
"Tim's just one of those kids. A real professional," Jennings said.
"I think we can expect big things from him this year. He's in great shape. He wants to be ready for it. He wants to be at his best right from the start."
Jennings has also sacrificed his holidays in a bid to help his players set the benchmark for conditioning ahead of trials beginning in February.
In a warning to other teams, Jennings said nearly all his players, including fullback Lachlan Coote, speedster Michael Gordon and rising star Sandor Earl, have been training hard over their holiday breaks.
Grant doesn't care what other teams are up to in their pre-seasons but admits he was pumped up even further to hit the training paddock when he ran into Wests Tigers centre Geoff Daniela at a local shopping centre and heard the Tigers, too, have been putting in the hard yards in the holiday season.
Grant will return to the Panthers' main training group when the rest of the players return from their break on January 4.
Jennings king of the mountain men
By Steve Gee From: The Daily Telegraph March 13, 2010
IT'S news to chill the spine of the NRL's best defenders and smartest thinkers. Penrith speed machine Michael Jennings is even quicker this year - 10 per cent more elusive.
Not content with leaving the game's best defenders clutching at thin air last season, the Panthers flyer has undergone an intense training regimen to boost his lateral speed.
A combination of specific weight regimen and twice-weekly sprint sessions with Panthers strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings has ensured the 21-year-old international will be even tougher to catch in 2010.
"He's actually improved his lateral movement by 10 per cent which is considerable when you think about the level he was at," the trainer said.
"Michael's effectiveness in the game is his ability to change direction - you will see him run down over 60 to 80 metres from time to time - but his best asset is his ability to get away from somebody and pull through that chaotic situation to score a try.
"That's his strength - his amazing agility, and that is the area we have improved."
Genetically blessed, only Billy Slater can match Jennings when it comes to zig-zagging through heavy defensive traffic at high speed.
But determined to keep ahead of the pack, the Test centre has tapped into sports science. The work began in December when he resumed training following the Four Nations tour determined to cement his place among Kangaroos teammates Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.
Carl Jennings analysed his runnning through video and then measured Jennings' straight line and lateral speed over a specially developed test.
The Panthers centre then spent a month on specific resistance strength work to his legs and lower back before being retested.
Carl Jennings said the Origin star was still three years away from his peak and even with his varied training regimen could still match Olympic sprinters with his 2.5 second best time over 20m. "Because he's got such tremendous natural athletic ability you could actually turn him into whatever athlete you wanted to do," Carl Jennings said.
"It's just the fact we need to turn all his natural abilities into the ultimate rugby league athlete."
Penrith stars fight to regain jumpers
By Tyson Otto From: The Daily Telegraph April 20, 2010
PANTHERS coach Matthew Elliott has warned star players Wade Graham and Daine Laurie they will struggle to force their way into his side after Penrith continued their best start to a season since 2004.
Coming off Sunday's 40-12 win over the Warriors in Auckland and sitting equal second on the competition ladder, the Panthers mentor said fierce competition for spots at training was the reason for his side's three-match winning streak.
While the Panthers were again hit hard with injuries earlier this season, they now have 27 fully fit first graders.
High-performance manager Carl Jennings joked it was the first time Penrith has had 27 first graders available for selection since 1933.
Panthers five-eighth Graham (shoulder) and back-rower Laurie (toe) played for Penrith's NSW Cup the Windsor Wolves on Saturday and Elliott said - barring any fresh injury concerns - he couldn't see either being promoted to first grade during the next few weeks.
"No, I don't [anticipate changes].
"We'll look closely at the team again but I think each player that represented the club on the weekend stuck their hand up pretty hard.
"They're two guys I really believe have massive contributions to make for us - at some point I've got to find a way to get them both into the team, for sure."
Who are the NRL's top halfbacks? Join Buzz's blog
Joey Johns blogs live - NRL round six review
Elliott admitted he was facing another selection headache this afternoon when he names his team to tackle Wests Tigers on Saturday night and has floated the idea of naming an extended bench.
Both the Panthers and the Tigers have four wins from their opening six games, with the Tigers out to bounce back from Friday night's 24-4 loss to Canterbury.
Panthers captain Petero Civoniceva, who sits second in voting for the Dally M player of the year, said the tough competition for spots proved his side is in the best form he has seen since moving to the foot of the mountains in 2008.
"Yeah, it is our best start, there's a real competitive spirit at the club at the moment," Civoniceva said.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves we know we've got some way to go but we know we're on the improve."
The inspirational leader said he was a "couple of weeks" away from making a decision on his playing future with the big prop tossing up between moving back to Brisbane or staying at CUA Stadium.
Penrith stars fight to regain jumpers
By Tyson Otto From: The Daily Telegraph April 20, 2010
PANTHERS coach Matthew Elliott has warned star players Wade Graham and Daine Laurie they will struggle to force their way into his side after Penrith continued their best start to a season since 2004.
Coming off Sunday's 40-12 win over the Warriors in Auckland and sitting equal second on the competition ladder, the Panthers mentor said fierce competition for spots at training was the reason for his side's three-match winning streak.
While the Panthers were again hit hard with injuries earlier this season, they now have 27 fully fit first graders.
High-performance manager Carl Jennings joked it was the first time Penrith has had 27 first graders available for selection since 1933.
Panthers five-eighth Graham (shoulder) and back-rower Laurie (toe) played for Penrith's NSW Cup the Windsor Wolves on Saturday and Elliott said - barring any fresh injury concerns - he couldn't see either being promoted to first grade during the next few weeks.
"No, I don't [anticipate changes].
"We'll look closely at the team again but I think each player that represented the club on the weekend stuck their hand up pretty hard.
"They're two guys I really believe have massive contributions to make for us - at some point I've got to find a way to get them both into the team, for sure."
Who are the NRL's top halfbacks? Join Buzz's blog
Joey Johns blogs live - NRL round six review
Elliott admitted he was facing another selection headache this afternoon when he names his team to tackle Wests Tigers on Saturday night and has floated the idea of naming an extended bench.
Both the Panthers and the Tigers have four wins from their opening six games, with the Tigers out to bounce back from Friday night's 24-4 loss to Canterbury.
Panthers captain Petero Civoniceva, who sits second in voting for the Dally M player of the year, said the tough competition for spots proved his side is in the best form he has seen since moving to the foot of the mountains in 2008.
"Yeah, it is our best start, there's a real competitive spirit at the club at the moment," Civoniceva said.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves we know we've got some way to go but we know we're on the improve."
The inspirational leader said he was a "couple of weeks" away from making a decision on his playing future with the big prop tossing up between moving back to Brisbane or staying at CUA Stadium.
Penrith star Lachlan Coote stacks on 10kg in off-season
By Tyson Otto From: The Daily Telegraph February 23, 2010
WHAT exactly is in the water at CUA Stadium?
Gone is the scrawny Lachlan Coote you might remember from 2009 - the Panthers fullback has bulked up in pre-season training and has shoulders big enough to pound a prop forward.
The 19-year-old now tips the scales at 85kg - this time last year he was one of the lightest players in the competition at just 75kg.
The incredible transformation of the once lightly framed speedster comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed teammate Jarrod Sammut had also upsized 10kg in pre-season.
Coote credited Penrith strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings for his "new body", with the drill sergeant designing the youngster's weight routine and diet since October. The No. 1 spent only two weeks on holidays in October before hitting the gym harder than ever with Jennings' six-month plan to pump up the Penrith junior and get him on level pegging with the game's biggest builds.
"I'm at the weight I kind of need to be. You can probably tell that my size was a disadvantage and it was the main reason for a few problems I had with injuries. I needed to bulk up so I'm prepared to play against these men. I think I can play my best footy at this weight."
While Coote wasn't afraid to throw his tiny frame around in 2009 against players 30kg heavier, the big hits took their toll with a series of injuries marring an otherwise breakthrough 2009 season. A shoulder injury saw him miss the second half of the 2009 premiership.
Coach Matt Elliot said Coote was still his "favourite option" to wear the Panthers' No. 1 jersey but could not guarantee him a spot in the starting 13. Coote's "new body" will have its first test on Saturday night in Port Macquarie when Penrith take on the Knights in their last trial before their opening premiership clash with the Raiders at CUA Stadium on March 13.
"[Jennings] was great, he put a lot of pressure on me to meet targets every week and it really helped me," said Coote.
Coote said the added kilos had not affected his speed, but it was nearly impossible for the "little guys" to match it with hulking forwards without riskinginjuries. "If you put your mind to it you can still be the little guy running around, but I had to get out of that," he added.
Penrith NRL fullback Jarrod Sammut puts on 10kg of muscle in the off-season
By Dean Ritchie From: The Daily Telegraph February 17, 2010
HE was once the scrawny fullback with light feet and bleach-blond hair. Well, not anymore.
Last year, Panthers fullback Jarrod Sammut played NRL at just 72kg. But a rigorous off-season weight program has the former lightweight now 10kg heavier and sporting long black hair, a menacing handlebar moustache - and a brand new tattoo to boot.
With the words "Justify Your Existance" inked around his neck, Sammut will be out to do just that this season with his new-look frame and added muscle.
Sammut underwent an ankle reconstruction in November that prevented him from running for a large portion of the off-season. Rather than being a setback, the injury allowed Sammut to get stuck-in inside the Panthers' weights room at CUA Stadium.
"I've put on a good 8kg," Sammut revealed yesterday. "I played last year at 72kg to 74kg but I'm now at 82kg. It is the heaviest I have been."
Sammut has always had the speed and skill but not the body mass. This year, though, he could emerge as a genuine match-winner for the Panthers.
"The ankle injury gave me the chance to work out lifting some heavy weights," Sammut said. "I definitely feel stronger.
"I can feel the difference in my strength. I put on a few kilograms before last season but found it difficult to cope with. But I have confidence within myself for this season."
Sammut is expected to play in Saturday night's trial match against Parramatta at CUA Stadium. The Panthers missed last year's finals but are supremely confident they will be able to contest this season's play-offs.
"This year will be big year for me too," said 23-year-old Sammut. "I have been playing first grade here now for four years. Although I am young and the side is young, I feel I am now one of the senior players. I have to step up and take on a senior role. I want to be a leader."
Sammut will, however, have to fend off a challenge from rising star Lachlan Coote to be starting fullback this year.
Penrith's strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings explained Sammut's extra body mass also came through sticking to a high-protein diet.
"As a smaller player, this will give him a lot more confidence," Jennings said. "He should be commended on the hard work he did. It's really showing now."
Penrith director and club legend Greg Alexander said Sammut's versatility would be a bonus in 2010.
"Jarrod is now a ball of muscle," he said. "Not that he ever took a backward step - but he could really now start to dish it out. He will be more confident attacking the line. With his extra weight, he could play dummy half if necessary."
Penrith's serial pest is back
Joe Barton Big League Thu, 16 Apr 2009
Luke Lewis wants to make one thing perfectly clear – in-form Penrith back-rower Trent Waterhouse is still as much of a pest as he ever was.
According to Lewis, Waterhouse was a pest when the two celebrated Penrith’s dream grand final win in 2003, and a pest when he picked up all of his NSW and Australian jerseys.
But one thing is certain, pest or not, Penrith fans will see Waterhouse is a changed man from the one who has struggled to leave his mark on the NRL in recent seasons.
“I’ve been playing with him for a fair few years now… I think this is the seventh or eighth year I’ve played with him and to be honest, he hasn’t changed much,” Lewis explains.
“He’s always the same – loud, cheeky and probably the biggest pest in the team.
“He’s a rat, and I love the bloke. He’s a champion, but you have to put that in there… that he’s a pest… and make sure it is quoted from Luke Lewis and Nathan Smith.”
The playful banter between two of Penrith’s hardened leaders underlines the tight-knit fabric that is pushing the Mountain Men to prove their critics wrong.
Central to that charge is the form of Waterhouse, an oft-maligned soul who’s battled with media criticism in recent years. But a player whose changed outlook on life and new body (sculpted by noted strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings) has returned him to the upper echelon of NRL back-rowers, and rocketed him back into representative contention.
“I welcomed my first baby into the world last July, and I think it does make you grow up a little bit… you’ve got a little human you’ve got to look after,” Waterhouse glowed when asked about his little girl, Isla.
“It does make you mature a lot more. It puts everything into perspective… she comes first with everything now, it’s really grounding.
“Instead of going to the bar I’ve got to come home and change some dirty nappies mate!”
But on the field ‘the ’House’ felt flat. Having forged a career on punching through the line, leveling opposition forwards and using his hefty frame to barge his way to 10 Australian jerseys he felt too light and knew something wasn’t right.
So at the end of a disappointing 2008, Waterhouse came to Jennings and told him in no uncertain terms he needed to change – he wanted to bring back the bulk, in a big way.
It was music to the ears of the popular English trainer, who helped Waterhouse add six kilograms of lean muscle mass over the summer.
“Last year I focused on getting them as fit as possible because I assumed with the 10 interchanges the game would be a lot quicker – but we lacked power, we lacked strength,” Jennings clarifies.
“And that was a thing last year, it was really against my beliefs in a lot of respects, but we made a decision that we had a big team as far as stature was concerned, so we felt that we had to get them a lot more mobile and lighter.
“Trent was putting the mileage in, but it was counterproductive in the end with the amount of stoppages last year… it just backfired on us completely.
“And with Trent I think it’s been magnified in a lot of respects because he’s a hard trainer so he really got stuck into last year’s program, which hurt him, and he’s done the same getting bigger on this year’s program, and you can see the results of that on the field.”
At the start of this decade Jennings was responsible for crafting one of rugby league’s more fearsome forward units, the Bradford Bulls “juggernauts” pack.
Their pack included 130-kilogram behemoths in the front row and Pommy brutes Stuart Fielden and Jamie Peacock in the back row, where Waterhouse would have flourished.
“They called us the ‘juggernauts’, we had a reputation of being the biggest, strongest pack in the English Super League, and we believed it was the biggest most powerful pack in world rugby league,” Jennings tells Big League.
“Trent would have been fantastic in that pack, he’s playing outstanding and he’s got some punch back into what he’s doing – he’s feeling strong in himself, which is giving himself confidence.
“Fitness and having a good engine… that is Trent Waterhouse, he’s got that toughness and he can push himself to the limits.”
So we are seeing Trent Waterhouse back doing what he does best: breaking the line, shrugging off tackles and lifting his team-mates.
In just five games, Waterhouse has produced three line-breaks, just one less than he could muster all last season. And after breaking just 40 tackles in 21 games last year, Waterhouse has shocked the stats men by crashing through 17 already in 2009.
Lewis puts it down to the 28-year-old’s new-found seniority in a seriously green team.
“I know all the young guys look up to him and he’s really leading from the front which is awesome,” Lewis, Waterhouse’s only remaining team-mate from the 2003 premiership side, says.
“You can’t take away experience, and Trent’s experienced everything – he’s been in all the big games.
“He’s just a workhorse. He plays hard, and I think he’s back to the footy that he showed that he can play when he played for NSW and Australia.
“I think with all the crap that has been going in the papers, he’s out there showing what he can do and what he wants to do for his mates on the field.”
The Origin arena is one of Waterhouse’s main goals for 2009, having worn the jersey twice in 2004, and he wants to take his Penrith leadership skills into what is likely to be a youthful NSW side.
“I’d love to be part of the NSW squad this year. I got a taste of it a few years back and I’d love to get back there,” he admits.
“Origin is the pinnacle of playing the game. It’s the best footy you can play. I just remember the intensity of it, and the hype around it… I was pretty young and it was pretty overwhelming at the time.
“I love having a leadership role at Penrith, we’ve got all these young blokes in our side, we’ve got a pretty young side, and I’m learning off leaders like Petero, so I’d love to see that translate into Origin footy if I was lucky enough to get picked.
“Petero’s been great for my game personally; it was big for me when the club signed him.
He’s one of the best leaders and players in the game. Just learning off him has been great for me.”
NEW BREED
Sun, 20 Apr 2008
TIM Grant’s mother knew all too well the risks of her son playing football. She was often left to look after the kids when Tim’s dad was injured from playing in the local competition. But rugby league was always in his blood.
“I played soccer when I was four but I always loved footy,” he explains.
“Mum was always left with us kids when dad was recovering from injuries, and he got injured a lot, so she was really reluctant to let me play. But I kept asking them and eventually when I was seven I was allowed to join a league team.”
Grant has never looked back. A proud resident of Penrith, rugby league quickly became his life.
“Growing up my heroes were never Superman or any super heroes, they were first grade footballers,” he recalls.
“I loved the Penrith area but I was a huge fan of Newcastle. Paul Harrogan was my hero, he was a great player, really inspirational.”
The Panthers prop is only just 20, but already amongst the biggest players at the club. Standing at 191cm and weighing 106kg, Grant was always meant to do a forward’s work.
“I was never built for speed,” he laughs.
Grant quickly made his way through the Panthers’ lower grades before securing his debut last season. In 11 games he managed to stamp himself as a bright future prospect and has flourished under the direction of Matt Elliott, who has a good rapport with his younger charges. However a shoulder injury required surgery at the end of last year, and he snapped ankle tendons during a training run in the pre-season.
“It has been tough, especially with the timing, but I’m over all that now and ready to go.”
How tough was it getting an injury in the year you were ready to establish yourself as a first grader?
I wanted to establish myself but the really devastating thing was not being able to play alongside Petero Civoniceva. It’s like being a young halfback and being able to play alongside Andrew Johns. He’s not only a great player but a great guy in the way he is so professional – in how he talks to the media and fans – and he’s someone I want to learn from. My injuries were not a blessing but in some ways it was good because it made me take things more seriously in terms of getting my body right.
How tough was the pre-season this year?
It was hard but a lot easier than my first one the year before. I had Joel Clinton getting me through that. He told me he would go home at lunch during his first pre-season and just sleep because he was so exhausted. I used to do the same thing but this year my body was more used to it and I didn’t need a nap. Our trainer Carl Jennings has helped me a lot, especially with nutrition.
You’re only 20 but part of the club’s leadership group. How did that come about?
We had a camp in the pre-season and decided we needed a leadership group to close the gap between the players and coaching staff. It was an ‘us and them’ sort of thing last year and the leadership group has really changed it this season, we’re a lot closer. Matty Elliott realised we needed to be a lot closer and they wanted a younger player so the other young guys had a voice. It’s helped because a lot of the shy ones who never spoke up before, will now. I’ve always taken on a bit of a leadership role within junior teams so I enjoy it.
Did you always want to be a rugby league player?
I had it in the back of my mind that was my dream, but rather than put all my focus on that I took up a plumbing apprenticeship. It was mainly to keep mum and dad happy because they knew footy wouldn’t be always around. I had to give the apprenticeship up when I started at Penrith full-time, though I don’t miss it. I’ll never go back to it, I really didn’t enjoy it.
Helping Panthers players go the distance
Rugby League10 Mar 09
by Lawrence Machado
PANTHERS players are set to reap the rewards of a whole new way of training this season.
Strength and conditioning coach Carl Jennings has hitched up his laptop and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to map out the best training methods for the players.
“This new technology is light years ahead of the previous ones we used as we can know exactly what is needed for each player,” he said.
“The technology has been developed at the Australian Institute of Sport for more than eight years.
“Manly and Melbourne have been using it for three years and I think it has definitely helped them get to the top,” he said. “All AFL teams also use them.”
Jennings has been using the technology since training began last November.
He places the GPS device on several players during training to monitor their heart rate among other things.
“We can check on whether a player has under or over-trained and work specially with him on different aspects,” Jennings said. “It takes out all the guess work.
“Rugby league is a long season and not a sprint and we must train for that.
“The technology also helps us in injury prevention and during the trials we only had a few injuries,” said Jennings, who is doing a masters degree in strength and conditioning.
“In modern training, everything is not periodised and it’s a year-long plan now.”
Jennings was the number one shot putter in Britain but left the sport when he was injured before the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“I love to work with rugby league players as they have the passion and put their bodies on line all the time,” he said.
Jennings worked previously with coach Matthew Elliott at Bradford Bulls in the Super League and the Canberra Raiders.
Outstanding British rugby league forward Jamie Peacock has praised Jennings in his autobiography No White Flag, saying he made a positive difference to the sport.
