THERE once was a time, back in Watersheddings days, when training was restricted to the training pitch; when backroom staff consisted of a physio and a ‘sponge man’ (John Watkins eat your heart out) and most training sessions consisted of a few laps of the pitch, then sprinting, followed by games of tig-and-pass.
Graham Starkey introduced a clip board, basic stats, pre-match warm-ups, regular trips to the gym and the occasional session on Blackpool beach when ‘Sheddings was frozen — and they thought he was mad rather than 20 years ahead of his time, writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
How times change!
These days, Rugby League training is ultra-sophisticated and technical, not only at full-time Super League level, but at all levels from the elite down to the community game.
Take the Betfred League One Roughyeds as an example. As head coach Stuart Littler and his assistant, Brendan Sheridan, continue to get their new-look squad ready to hit the straps running when League One starts on March 27, Stuart has provided fans with an insight of what is involved.
To start with, he and Brendan have a staff of five working alongside them, comprising of Ben Wilstrup (strength and conditioning coach), Sam Doyle (kit and general duties), Thomas Ketteringham (sports therapist), Lee Thomas (analyst) and Elsye-Paige Rutherford (physiotherapist).
As well as those specialists, there’s a leadership group of senior players, made up of club captain Martyn Ridyard, vice-captain Luke Nelmes, David Hewitt, Tom Spencer and Jordan Andrade, and the club has entered into a new commercial partnership with Sheffield-based nutritional suppliers, Santini 7, whose products will be available to players throughout the season.
We also have a new partnership with Glo Gym, the ultra-modern and refurbished gymnasium situated in the North Stand at Boundary Park, next to the Oldham Event Centre. The players will be working out and doing rehab there, Glo Gym having become our official training partners under the agreement.
Said Stuart:
“We try to be as thorough and as professional as we can. Our lads all have jobs to go to, so unlike the full-time clubs we can’t spend all day Monday in the video room.
“We’re together on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and then on Saturday mornings, but we pack in as much as we can and use modern technology as well to take maximum advantage of the digital facilities that are available to us.
“The one thing Covid-19 has taught us is how to adapt to challenge and change and how to make the digital revolution work for us.
“We have Zoom meetings and virtual get-togethers online and all the players get relevant information on their smartphones, iPads or laptops.
“We strive to be the best we can be and the most up-to-date we can be. We all challenge each other and no two more than Shez (Sheridan) and I. I’m aware that, as head coach, the buck stops with me but beyond that there’s no pecking order. We’re a team, a partnership and very good friends. Shez is a great guy and a very accomplished coach
“Our thoughts on rugby league are very, very similar. We share ideas, have terrific mutual respect and our ideas go on the table for discussion.”
He also spoke highly of Ben, Sam, Elsye, Lee and Thomas, all of whom were totally committed to the club, to the welfare of its players and to their specialist roles behind the scenes.
As an Oldhamer, Sam had town and club running though his veins.
“He’ll turn his hand to anything we ask of him. Cut him in half and he would bleed ‘Oldham’,”
said Stu.
The backroom staff will clearly have major parts to play in how the squad performs over the year that stretches ahead of us.
With that in mind, we’ll look at each of them in turn, and their professional input, over the course of the next few days.
