Poor Match Fitness

  • We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.

conanu

Bencher
Anyone else think that we never looked fit and firing at any stage this season. We really struggled most of the time with staying in games when it got faster. And tonight after a full season Addin Fonua Blake was gassed after 6 mins tonight wandering back into position with his back to the play. Dan Ferris is the greatest physical fitness myth to ever grace the game. If I was Bozo, Ferris would be number 1 on my chopping block not Siebold.

Looks like Penn has cut the gut's out of our Football operations budget
 
Anyone else think that we never looked fit and firing at any stage this season. We really struggled most of the time with staying in games when it got faster. And tonight after a full season Addin Fonua Blake was gassed after 6 mins tonight wandering back into position with his back to the play. Dan Ferris is the greatest physical fitness myth to ever grace the game. If I was Bozo, Ferris would be number 1 on my chopping block not Siebold.

The worst bit about it was the pre-season bragging about the huge upgrades to fitness facilities and overall of conditioning staff.
 
If you look at The Titans, people are saying they look (and are playing) stronger & fitter than they have in years - and their results are there (with a very limited roster).

At the same time, we now look like The Titans of yesteryear, injured, unfit & where 13th / 14th is acceptable.

Pretty disappointing all round. Look at the best forwards in the game - lean, strong leg power, excellent constitution. Taumalolo, Bromwich & co. come to mind. We have a few creampuffs - Vave, Fanua-Blake, Myles - and I worry about Turbo's weight tbh.

Our strength and conditioning this season (not including injuries) has been as bad as it has ever been (and I used to complain about Hiku porking up, under Singe).
 
I still laugh at this:

The three-step plan to lengthen careers of Manly Sea Eagles veterans
  • 5 months ago
  • by Simon Brunsdon
  • Source: FOX SPORTS

WE haven’t discovered the secret to immortality just yet, but Manly is working towards prolonging the football lives of their biggest stars.

The likes of centres Jamies Lyon and Steve Matai, and fullback Brett Stewart are among the best players of their generation.

But the end is nigh. The curtain is closing on these long and illustrious careers.

And while the Sea Eagles realise the end of an era is on the horizon, the club is determined to stave off the farewell tours for a little while longer.

The man charged with doing so is Dan Ferris.

Ferris was headhunted by Trent Barrett to be the club’s strength and conditioning coach this year, replacing long-time Manly staffer Donny Singe.

He spent eight years with Gold Coast Titans before taking the call from Barrett to join his team on the northern beaches.

It wasn’t easy coming into a fairly established playing group that had been following a regimen for 13 years.

94d052392fd991ea0fe0ccc6c9e0a2ec

Nate Myles, Brett Stewart and Dylan Walker of the Sea Eagles.Source: AAP
“I knew I had to prove myself. They’ve had a successful decade or so and I was an unknown to them,” Ferris told foxsports.com.au.

“There wasn’t that trust there, and that was fine, so I had to earn their trust just like they had to earn mine.

“Me and Baz had been planning for three or four months prior to starting, we had everything planned down to the minute. We were mindful of getting those guys to buy into the program.”

STEP 1: BUYING IN

So did the players buy into it? We’ll ask 31-year-old Steve Matai.

“(Ferris has) been great for us, I think it’s been the best pre-season we’ve had in a long time in regards to turning up and doing different things, feeling refreshed,” Matai said.

“He definitely refreshed myself, Killer (Lyon), Snake (Stewart), Nate Myles ... they’ve really looked after us and he did a lot of work.

“It’s probably the freshest I’ve felt and the fittest I’ve felt in a long time.”

So Ferris has crossed job number one off his list — get the players to buy in to his program.

That means they believe in the work he’s making them do and trusting it will get their bodies in the best shape possible to run out each and every week.

The senior guys are reaping the rewards of this new strength and conditioning program.

462e42036e874e3a04068c4cb4425817

Dan Ferris working with the Titans last year.Source: News Corp Australia
STEP 2: MAINTAINING INTEREST

After a decade of early morning starts, beep tests, hill runs, weight sessions, ice baths and coaches’ sprays you can imagine the life of a footballer gets a little old.

So for a guy like Jamie Lyon — currently playing his 17th season at the top level — the motivation to get out of bed every morning might wane over time.

That’s where Ferris thinks he can help.

By introducing new training techniques and keeping individual programs fresh, Ferris ensures everyone arrives at the Narrabeen headquarters ready to rip in.

“They’ve seen everything, they’ve done everything, and it’s now getting to enjoy and keep enjoying every day at training,” Ferris said.

“Mix things up, give them time away. The majority of them have got young families and kids so the more time they can spend with them they will actually enjoy coming to work more.

052f81c05cf4ff5b2e89e5aad6f1b158

Sea Eagles fullback Brett Stewart.Source: News Corp Australia
“If it’s groundhog day for them that’s when thoughts creep in like ‘do I want to do this?’.

“It’s keeping that balance of making sure they train right and train smart, make sure I am prepping them correctly, and look after that psychological side as well.

“They’ve earned that right to do that.”

STEP 3: MONITOR THE LOAD

Manly has more players over the age of 30 than any other NRL club in 2016.

Jamie Lyon (34), Steve Matai (31), Brett Stewart (31), Brenton Lawrence (31), Feleti Mateo (30) and Nate Myles (30) are all resident members of the “old boys” club at Brookvale.

Ferris understands the human body and he knows it needs different management at 30 than at 20 years old.

“Those guys don’t necessarily have to run as far as other people or do the same weights,” Ferris said of the older players.

“The key is looking after yourself away from the field as well. You can have a player that’s played for 10 years but if you’re fat and lazy it’s not going to work.

b01ac5e268777e9307180b7ad94bc079

Manly's Jamie Lyon and Brett Stewart.Source: News Corp Australia
“These guys generally take care of themselves and they’re professional in what they do.

“With Brett Stewart we got him to his weight target, we hit a certain strength level we knew we had to get him to then we just kept him there ... dropped back his weights, dropped back his running load.

“Fitness sessions he might do half or three quarters of it, whereas Tommy (Trbojevic) will do all of it.”

Nate Myles, who’s got to know Ferris well after working with him at the Titans, is a fan of the bearded fitness mentor’s individual programs.

“The senior guys know what to do, they know their bodies better than anyone else and Dan helps them get ready for what they’ve been doing for decades,” Myles told foxsports.com.au.

“Dan has an ability to get the best out of players, they know what they’re going to get every time.”

e1c19b00b252fd54e19312bdec428ccd

Manly centres Steve Matai and Jamie Lyon arrive for training at Narrabeen.Source: News Corp Australia
DOES IT WORK?

So Ferris has got the Manly veterans to buy into his training philosophy, he’s maintaining their interest and the workloads are being monitored.

The end goal is to allow the players to stay on the field longer.

Jamie Lyon is off contract this year and will be 35 years old once next season rolls around.

Does he believe he can go around again, thanks in large to the club’s new strength and conditioning program?

“Ask me in two years if I’m still going around,” he says.
 
It is completely laughable. He was at the Titans for 8 years and obviously a huge part of their non-success. Obviously a job for one of Cartwrights buddies.

6 out of 8 years @ The Titans, his team missed the finals.
His last 5 years there, 16/16, 11/16, 9/16, 14/16, 14/16

Funnily, we (take out Parra) are, 14/16 this season.

Like I said, we look sloppy, just as they did. They were massive faders, and were known for travelling really poorly.

All facets we have inherited.

Check out an article on when Ferriss got punted from The Titans (basically stating their new Conditioning Coach had to change the culture, and bring them "up to standard":

Gold Coast Titans new strength and conditioning coaches aim to bring success to the club
c921e451e0862312f4bf83668f861264

Tom Boswell, Gold Coast Bulletin
November 5, 2015 1:00am
c921e451e0862312f4bf83668f861264

THEY have worked at some of the most successful franchises in NRL history and now Sean Edwards and Matt Ford are aiming to replicate their success on the Gold Coast.

The Titans’ new strength and conditioning coaches are two of the three new faces, along with former Brisbane Broncos assistant Adam Paulo, on the Gold Coast’s high performance unit.

Edwards has already spent time working under Titans head coach Neil Henry during a nine-year stint at the Canberra Raiders and a year at North Queensland Cowboys while he most recently was part of the resurgence of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Edwards hoped to help develop a winning culture.

“Neil really wanted me to come and instil some discipline,” Edwards said.

“Coming from the Rabbitohs and Cowboys it has been very important to come from a winning culture.

“My goal would be to promote the culture, the discipline and set high goals and standards for the team.”

Edwards said the measure of success would be how much the players bought into the ideals and after spending the first week of preseason training with the team this week he had no doubt they would.

“A winning culture simply comes down to the players, it has to be player driven,” Edwards said.

“As coaches we steer the players in the right direction ... I know the players will get on board.

“When they do get on board they will see the results and with those results success will come naturally.”

Edwards said the lure of working with Neil and the challenge of moulding the Titans into a premiership force were behind his decision to move to the Glitter Strip.

“I think he (Henry) is one of the best coaches in the NRL,” Edwards said.

“The challenge for me is bringing up a developing club like the Titans and turning them around like we turned the South Sydney Rabbitohs around over the last four years.

Ford has also previously spent time at the Raiders where he worked with the likes of current Titans William Zillman and Dave Shillington before most recently thriving at the Melbourne Storm.

Ford said he would endeavour to implement the same successful formula he had at the Storm, considered one of most professional teams in the NRL, at the Titans but insisted the Gold Coast would create it’s own identity.

“I learnt as much from the playing group at the Storm as what they probably learnt from me over the last couple of years,” Ford said.

“Every club in the NRL has got their positives and the Storm’s is based around their culture but I’m hoping that there are plenty of positives up here at the Titans that we can build on.

“I was blessed to walk into a club (Melbourne) that had a very strong playing group that had been built up over the years so I just had to do my bit and make sure it was all meshing.

“But certainly the challenge is to bring it a club up the table and work the great staff here
 
  • 📚
Reactions: Rex
The pre season was a joke. We started off underdone. No wonder injuries flowed from there.

Noticed ferris handing out water in the in goal after yet another chocolate soldier strole. He looked as popular as a cop at a rave.
 
Yes, I did find it a little strange that we recruited from a club that has underperformed in this area for quite some time. Then to hear that the staff that have worked in the Melbourne structure were also available and yet we did not bring them in, is concerning.

I do see injuries, massive player/staff turn-over and 5 day turn-a-rounds all as legitimate factors in our performance this year; however, fitness and attitude in defence have been clearly lacking in my view.

Our defence has been the most concerning issue for me this year, yes we have other issues; however, defence is the biggest. When your fitness isn't up to scratch - the first place you notice it is in defence. Defence is a mixture of attitude / culture and the fitness to back it up.

Great fitness requires great attitude, that attitude and fitness then translates into good defence. To me, there is a distinct correlation here and is the first thing I would be addressing. If Bozo and co are to be ruthless in their decision making in the offseason - they should start here. The issue is whether the right people are out there and available to bring in. If not, Ferris and his team must have it made very clear to them that they fix it, or they will not be around in 2018.
 
Last edited:
According to the article:

Under Donny we had a decade of early morning starts, beep tests, hill runs, weight sessions, ice baths and coaches' sprays.

Under Ferris the priorities were to have players feeling fresh in preseason, time away including family time, individual programs with reduced weights, etc.

The new regime was certainly made to sound cozy - like the hard work ethic has gone seriously south.
 
They looked like they where all on light weights when we played Canberra, abysmal strength in the forward pack with maybe Jake and Marty excluded a lot of those boys look slow and weak.
 
This is what Ryan James had to say when asked what is the difference between this years Titans and Last years.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 7.14.01 pm.png
    Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 7.14.01 pm.png
    31.3 KB · Views: 39
Agreed 100%. This guy should absolutely be the first bloke turfed. Get in someone with an ACTUAL track record of success with fitness. No more hyperbole. Please I beg you!
 

Members online

Latest posts

Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
Back
Top Bottom