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Justin is an Australian sports physiotherapist who has worked at the pinnacle of football in Australia in both the round ball game and Aussie rules football. He has been the Head Physio for 3 separate A-League clubs including the Newcastle Jets FC, Melbourne Victory FC and Macarthur Bulls FC, as well as spending 5 years as Rehabilitation Physio for the Syndey Swans (AFL). What’s most fascinating about Justin is not only has he been able to transition successfully across different sports, but he has also uniquely been able to transition between being a “generalist physio” to a “specialist physio”. In this conversation we chat all things rehab, including who should be involved, general milestones and the specifics of developing, implementing and evaluating a comprehensive and successful rehab plan, in amongst his own personal journey from starting in Hunter region of Newcastle, moving interstate, working in the AFL and returning full circle to where it all began. 

Highlights from the episode…

• What a Match day +1 entails and discusses the recovery protocols, top up drills for players and triaging of injured players that currently occur at the club.
• He talks about the steps that opened the door to his first opportunity in professional sport, including helping out and observing for over a year unpaid before ever being presented with a role at the club.
• How Justin deals with complex cases and the process he uses to manage injuries where he may not have extensive experience and knowledge around.
• After being on a rollercoaster of results with the Jets, Justin shares the lead up to the historic 2018 home grand final in Newcastle. 
• How Justin received a job offer from one of the power houses of Australian football (Melbourne Victory FC) and the things he had to consider moving away from Newcastle to Melbourne.
• Justin shares his time at the Melbourne Victory and meeting world renowned sport scientist Ryan Timmins.
• Why Justin chose to leave one of the biggest and established A-league clubs to join one of the smallest and less developed clubs in the A-League.
• After only a few months at Macarthur Bulls FC, how Justin was offered a role in a different sport, in a different role with a different club with the Sydney Swans.
• What is involved in a specialised rehab physio role and how the medical/performance team was structured at the Swans.
• "With increase personnel comes with the risk of decrease integration”. With larger medical/performance teams in the AFL, can there be too many people in department? 
• If things don’t go according to plan, what’s the evaluation process you use when assessing the outcome of a return to play scenario.
• When developing and implementing a comprehensive rehab plan, how do you know what exercises, tests, milestones matter most?
• Justin shares why he left the Sydney Swans to go back and join the Newcastle Jets as Head Physio. 

People mentioned:

• Anthony Crea: https://open.spotify.com/episode/61NEsihgoSiiw5qDRl812x
• Damian Raper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-raper-5b212b23/
• Ryan Timmins: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Bt1GdDjwWiXNcCmjU2jBq

 

Justin Dougherty contact details: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-dougherty-185a0739/

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.