rosy23 said:
That's why I chose Tambo and Franklin as examples hopper. Both were tall, skinny kids, both aboriginal, but both very different shapes now. I couldn't think of 2 others from similar beginnings to compare off the top of my head but my comments were in no way about who's better or who we should have drafted etc. They just illustrated my point.
Maybe linus can fill me in on whether Matt works full time with the players.
Matt was assistant s/c coach at the club for many years and stepped up when Noel Duncan moved on. I believe he is doing a very good job, our soft tissue injuries were extremely low last year, the main goal of any s/c coach being to get everybody on the park and keep them there.
As far as I know while working at the club full time, Matt is currently completing his Masters in Exercise Physiology by course work, which whether he likes it or not would keep him well and truly up to date in all the latest trends in s/c.
It's a fine line when you are are s/c coach at a football club, I think Matt was there when players like Richo and Simmonds were accused of bulking up too much and losing their mobility, you can't win on Pre sometimes. He was certainly there when Rodan was benching 150kg plus, so I think it is fair to say that if bulk was their goal it would be noticed in some of the older and more seasoned players.
Of course you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear ( all due respect), I am pretty sure Howat or Edwards won't be challenging in the Mr Olympia competition any time soon. And it seems that bulk has fallen out of favour and the ability to run fast and all day has taken precedence over size anyway. You will see players like Jack Reiwoldt and even Tom Hawkins cutting a much finer figure than last year in a quest for more mobility. The value of this was demonstrated clearly in the comparison of Fevola and Richo and their work rate, Richo ran a full 5 km further than Fev in round 1 and it certainly showed up in their output.
To compare the young Tigers to other clubs is a little unfair, with the amount of running the players have to do it is very hard to maintain any muscle mass from season to season so the kids need a few seasons to build up. Ask any bodybuilder, excessive cardiovascular work is the enemy of muscle gain. Most players would attempt to put on a good 5 - 7 kilograms of muscle in the off season, then attempt to maintain at best 3-5 kilograms during the season and the workload of playing and training. If a mobile player puts on 10-12 kilos of muscle over a few years of weight training he would probably be pretty happy. But that would still only take a player like Shane Edwards from 69 to 80 odd kilos, hardly a heavyweight. If you draft a player with Shanes build you just can't expect that he will ever be huge.
Players like Lids are another story. If you top the draft camp in the sprint then there is every chance you have predominantly white or fast twitch muscle fibres. Fast twitch muscle fibres have a much greater capacity for growth in mass and volume than slow twitch muscle fibres, and this shows up now in Lids' extrememy muscular build. There are other factors, like metabolism, position of muscle attachments, hormone levels, etc., but in general you would expect players like Lids and perhaps Gourdis to bulk up quiet well.
But anyway, in conclusion, I don't know Matt personally but knowing where he has been and what he is going through, it is fair to say that if Terry wanted bulky players it would be well within his level of expertise to supply them. It's not rocket science!! But it seems most teams are going for a more uncontested and faster style of football and excess muscle is the enemy of long distance running. Looking at the Tigers over the last couple of weeks I am pretty happy with their fitness. I too would like to see some more bulk in some of the key positions, but with players like Moore, Thursfield and Mc Guane on the list we may be waiting awhile. I think if you want some more size, players like Rance and Gourdis may, given time, make you happy.
