Bris83, you make a good point there. I do believe as well that with global economic forces squad sizes will reduce, and a good by product will be that home grown talent will be forced through and have to be given their head sooner rather than later as happened regularly 10-15 years ago.
The harder grounds in Aus/SA/NZ does make a huge advantage not only in the conditioning of elite players but also in the development and teaching of Junior Age Group players- the skill levels I have seen in AIS U19’s Touring teams is scary. I think also in Union in particular far too much time is sent perfecting set piece plays even in Junior sides, instead of teaching kids to run hard, catch and pass well, and tackle with great technique.
Enough on coaching- this is a S&C site!!!
I think most teams will have variation on the same theme.
My local side Bradford Bulls did many different things when Carl Jennings was head conditioner- and when he was there they were pretty much unmatched in the league, seemed to have few injuries and always seemed reayd to stick it out the full 80min.
I would dearly love to see- in similar fashion to Ash’s eye on the Crusaders programmes- an eye on say the Brisbane Bronco’s training programme- weights and running work. Dean Benton and Jeremy Hickmans have been on top of their games in recent years and their sides always seem to be very fit and fast with even big old lumps like me being turned into great shape and gaining a few yards of pace.