Alex is currently employed by the Brisbane Broncos working with their NRL Squad. He first worked as a High Performance Manager at the Canberra Raiders in 2000. Over the following 20 + years in the NRL he worked at the Melbourne Storm (2003-2013), Brisbane Broncos (2014-17) and the NZ Warriors (2018,19). His proven ability in S&C was recognised with invitations to work with the Australian Kangaroos from (2007-13) and the Queensland State of Origin Team (2016-20). Alex derives much satisfaction from observing athletes [he has worked with] have long, successful careers and sustained excellence. Alex is a strong advocate for game specific conditioning and conjugate gym based training.

QUOTES

“You do have a use by date in certain roles”

“The main priority is to present the players, individually and in a group, in the best physical condition you can on a day-to-day basis, on a weekly basis in season”

“There are certainly elements of your training that need to be at or above peak game speeds in the preseason”

“The key with any “overspeed” training is the athletes need to be able to execute the skill”

“The conjugate method believes if any element of training is not trained for a certain period of time those qualities will fall away”

“Higher volume session on the field are generally paired with upper body weights and lower volume field sessions with lower body weights”

“Strength is still one of the most important markers in rugby league in terms of performance output”

SHOWNOTES

1) Alex’s professional pathway from PE teaching and being a rugby league coach to strength & conditioning

2) The role of the performance manager in elite rugby league and the stakeholders involved in shaping that role

3) Monitoring and adjusting performance plans of rugby league teams and athletes

4) Working with the strengths and weaknesses of the staff you are involved in and the ideal composition of a performance department

5) Training over and above game speed and the run-wrestle fitness component of rugby league

6) Adapting a conjugate method of training to rugby league

7) Fitting strength & conditioning into the coach’s plan and deciding on the best schedule

8) The big rocks of preparing athletes for rugby league and Alex’s strength standards for rugby league players

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Mal Megniga

Steve Kearney

Craig Bellamy

Israel Folau

Greg Inglis

Alan McCaw