The Programme

The 8 and 12 week programmes aim to provide players with the best opportunity to progress in terms of technical, tactical and physical development. It gives them the opportunity to place themselves in a paramount position to an elite player development pathway. It is of comparable quality to club and provincial academy programmes in terms of:

• Resources and education
• World class facilities
• Coaching and physical development expertise
• Sports science services
• Elite athlete management

The programme is ‘holistic’ in terms of complete player development and combines proven best practice coaching principals, comprehensive athlete management, education programmes, benchmarked monitoring and evaluation procedures. It draws on the knowledge and experience of our professional coaching staff and extensive research into professional athlete development. The programme’s philosophy promotes technique and core competency with comprehensive monitoring to ensure that the benefits of the programme are not only maximised but maintained over the long term.

Intervention Programmes

Strength, Power, Speed, Agility and Endurance Development

The key to an effective physical development programme is to transfer physical gains in the training environment onto the field and to maximise injury prevention in collision and non-collision situations. At the academy, strength and conditioning programmes are specific to each individual and are based around their physiological testing results. They also include elements of ‘prehabilitation’ to address and manage any identified predisposition to injury.

Psychological Skill Development

In addition to an initial ‘Psychological Learning Styles’ evaluation, over the course of the programme players will be provided with the mental toughness tools to assist them in achieving their goals. Throughout the programme individual goals for the overall programme and each cycle are negotiated between the Academy Director and player. Players will be given the tools and techniques which will assist them in:

• Developing confidence
• Visualisation and imagery
• Identifying and establishing individual optimised performance zones
• Overcoming negative thinking and developing positive mental states
• Relaxation
• Pre-game preparation, in-game focusing, and post game review
• Overcoming adversity

Monitor and Review

Throughout the programme each player receives individual training performance monitoring, evaluation and review. In addition players will be monitored in relation to their attendance, attitude, application and physiological and psychological training responses, to ensure that each athlete is not over-training. A weekly report detailing each of these areas will be available to each relevant coach or club for their own review.

Athlete Education

The academy has developed an athlete education programme which utilises Dr Cliff Mallett, Dr David Jenkins and Dr Michael Leveritt. Each are noted experts in their relevant fields and course co-ordinators within the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement Studies. The following athlete education seminars will be provided to academy players during the course of the programme:

• Psychological skills for rugby
• Nutrition
• Time management
• Team building and culture development
• ASDA Drug Education
• Recovery
• Injury prevention
• Leadership development
• Tactical and decision-making development