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RUGBY LEAGUE COACHING MANUALS

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2 Coach TalkPeter Sharp - Northern Eagles Head Coach

6 Club ContinuityPeter Sharp - Northern Eagles Head Coach

8 Attitude Needed in the RuckDaniel Anderson - NZ Warriors Head Coach

10 Developing For The FutureDaniel Anderson - NZ Warriors Head Coach

12 Train Harder or Train SmarterTim Gabbett - Manager Sports Performance Unit, Tasmanian Institute of Sport

14 Various Defensive FormationsBob Wood

16 Women in Rugby League - Some Medical ConsiderationsBy Doug King - RCpN DipNg PGCertHealSc(SportMed) Sports Nurse

18 Energy For Stop and Go SportsLawrence Spriet Ph.D.

20 League Coach Forumhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/leaguecoach

23 Basic Training DrillsNSWRL Coaching Academy

Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Coach TalkPeter Sharp - Northern Eagles Head Coach

Season 2002 is Northern Eagles’ coach PeterSharp’s fourth year in top-grade rugby league, buthe’s been on the periphery since 1990. A formerback-rower with Maitland and CentralCharlestown, Sharp has spent his time in the lowergrades wisely, honing his education and preparingfor the step up to the big time. In this edition ofRLCM, we pin-point Sharp’s philosophies on lifeas an NRL coach.

RLCM: You served a lengthy apprenticeshipbefore breaking into the top grade. Is that thebest way to go?

Sharp: I think so. I never actually played in theNRL so it was great for me to come up throughthe grades as a coach. I really enjoyed my time in

the junior reps, the SG Ball and Jersey Fleggcompetitions. It was a great background and I gotto meet some of the top players as they werecoming through. Having said that I have to admitthe step up from reserve grade to first grade isworlds apart – the intensity of the game and thespeed of the game are just totally different but Ithink the hardest part of the step up is the externalpressures.

RLCM: Can you expand on that?

Sharp: You really need to be able to handle theexpectation of the media, the expectation of theclub and the expectation of the fans. It’s not theactual coaching of the side that becomes the mostdifficult aspect but more those external pressuresthat you suddenly find yourself placed under. Icertainly found it a difficult adjustment. The fact

is at the end of the day, everybody wants to winthe comp. You can say at the start of the year thatall we want to do is put some foundations downor blood some young guys but as soon as the firstgame is on and you don’t win it, you’re under thehammer. It comes back to the expectations of theclub, fans and media. It’s something that can behard to come to terms with. Gaining the ability todeal with it comes with experience – you obtainthe ability to block out the negativity that you getand become less sensitive. When you first comeinto first grade you are mostly coming from aworld of no pressure and all of a sudden you arein the spotlight so you need to learn to handle thenegative press when and if it arrives – the quickerthe better. But as far as the coaching itself is

concerned, your principles remain the same nomatter what grade you are coaching. And I alsobelieve there are no hard and fast rules as thewhether you should serve an apprenticeship beforecoming into the top grade, it’s just that for me, Ifound it beneficial. I think the fact I didn’t playNRL and never experienced it as a player, it wasgreat for me to come through the ranks beforetaking the step up to head coach.

RLCM: Is there a step up between coachingan NRL player and coaching one of the game’selite?

Sharp: Basically not, everyone is looking for helpand some knowledge, if you can provide thosethen it goes a long way to providing somecredibility. It doesn’t matter if it is a young guycoming into first

The simple fact is that ball control wins games

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grade or one of the elite players, everybodyregardless of their standing in the game hassomething to learn. The great part of coaching anelite player is the input the player can have in theside. If used correctly, the elite player can be agreat coaching aid.

RLCM : The word momentum seems soimportant in the game today – the ability tomount and keep pressure on the opposition.How do you coach that?

Sharp: Pressure is a key ingredient in rugbyleague. You’ll find the sides that are in the bottomhalf of the competition are the sides not able tomaintain pressure for a long period of time. That’s

mostly because of inexperience with young guyswho haven’t obtained the ability to sustainpressure and then mount it back at them(opposition) be it offensively or defensively. Indefence for example, you can apply pressurethrough field position – increasing your line speed,increasing your controlled aggression at point ofcontact to win the ground – all these little things.You can’t do that down your own end when you’retrying to defend your try line because it’s all aboutsurvival then. Being able to change the tempo ofthe game is vital as well. For me, the Broncos arethe masters of it. They can go quick, and then pullit back when they need a break and then go quickagain. Newcastle is very good at this as well. Theytend to start at a thousand miles an hour and blowsides off the park in the first twenty minutes. Soas the coach you need to prepare your players towithstand that onslaught and be prepared for thatspeed and intensity of the game which they willfind themselves in. All of the good teams in footyhave continuity – the Broncos and Newcastle aretwo teams in particular that have had a lot ofcontinuity for the last ten years, stable coaches,stable playing roster and they’ve worked into thisspeed of being able to play the game over a longperiod of time.

As far as breaking up the intensity of those teamswhen you’re out in the paddock I guess there’s afew things you can try. I remember back inParramatta in the good old days when I was withBrian Smith trying things to decrease the speedof the play – set starts, kicks for touch, slowingeverything down, questioning the ref’s decisions– all that sort of stuff can put a side out of theirrhythm. It might work, but in saying that, quiteoften a team like Brisbane or Newcastle will comestraight out and go bang, bang, bang, and it’s 12-nil before you even get possession. So it becomesimportant for me to get some possession early inthe game, it’s critical. If you don’t – if they canget four or five back-to-back sets on you early in

the contest, then you’ll find yourself on the backfoot from then on. The Grand Final last year(Newcastle v Parramatta, 2001) is a perfectexample. The Knights had a ton of ball early,controlled the speed of play and had continuity ofpossession – it was all over before you knew it.

RLCM: How do you prepare an inexperiencedplayer to handle that intensity?

Sharp: That’s a good question. Sometimes wehave gone into games with six or seven players inour team who we need to make the adjustmentquickly. You can simulate in training as best youcan but the fact is a lot of it comes from gameexperience. Every time we play against those topsides our young players learn more and more –about halfback play from going against Alfie,about fullback play from Lockyer. In training youcan only simulate it as best as you can. And as faras when you’re out on the field the younger guyscan keep up intensity for periods but they tend tolapse in and out from set to set of good intensity,where the experienced player can last the distanceif required. Inexperienced sides tend to drift inand out of good football. I think it’s really an issuewith your mental toughness. The difference with

I think the short side is a great place to attack not onlydown the attacking end of the field but also in your own half


Andrew Johns and the rest is that he’s toughermentally. It’s not a physical difference; I knowthat for a fact because I know him quite well –it’s his mental toughness which sets him apart andwith Joey it’s astounding. And by mentaltoughness I’m talking about things like patience;not panicking if you fall 12 points down early,not going for the miracle play but being disciplinedand working your way back into the contest.

RLCM: What guidelines do you set down asfar as taking risks in your end?

Sharp: I think most sides are well structured whenthey’re coming out of their own end. You’ll findthat when most sides can get down the other endthey can score a try, that’s not the problem – it’sthe sides that turn the ball over in their own halfthat are going to pay the price. We have structuredsets, and that can come undone by poor decision-making. Finishing your yardage sets becomes veryimportant for me – getting to your kickconsistently on the back of good yardage makes abig difference in getting the ball out of your ownend and away from your danger area (own 20metres). The simple fact is that ball control winsgames. If you can secure good field position andstart and finish your sets in a better position thanthe opposition, you’re a good chance of winningthe football match. It’s as simple as that. We struckproblems in the trials this year where we foundthat we couldn’t get out of our own half and therehave been some games this year where some teamshave almost played an entire half locked downtheir own end. To get field position you have tohave good ball control – if you don’t maintainpossession you put your kickers under pressure -if you can get a roll on the kickers tend to find agroove.

RLCM: What have been the majorimpediments to the flat attack over the lastcouple of years?

Sharp: Interchange is one, and the ten-metre rulehas also made a big difference. There is still atime and a place for it though – but I think nowyou need a better mix in your game as opposed todoing it all the time. Sometimes you need to playback from the line; sometimes you need to play atit. The flat attack is relevant to your go forwardbut I really think to do it successfully you need tomix things up. Now that we have to keep playerson the field longer (due to limited interchange)and they are playing closer together (due to ten

metre rule) the players are under pressurethemselves when they carry the ball and they haveto do everything in the coalface. It’s qualityfootball but it’s also high pressure – all the wayfrom the player passing the football, to the playercatching it, to the support players, because theyare now so close to the line. As far as defendingagainst it you simply have to make sure that youcontrol the speed of the play the ball. You have togive your line a chance to get off the back foot.For example back when the Storm had Kimmorleyand Hill coming at you with support runners inholes is very difficult to defend. They werebrilliant at making the defence make decisions andcombined with decent ball possession and goodgo forward, it was always going to be effective.So to control the play the ball you need todominate the tackle. The flat attack is a veryeffective style of football but it’s also fraught withrisk.

RLCM: When you took Kimmorley to theEagles in 2000, did you find you had to changehim to suit the team, or the team to suit him?

Sharp: Well I like that style (flat attack) forstarters so I wanted to play that way anyway. Wehad some problems with it and it’s probably fairto say Kimmorley has had problems with it atCronulla this year – so I think it’s also fair to saywe needed to find a better mix between Brett,myself and the team as well – a better mix in ourgame. I’m sure it would have happened if we hadtime to build on it, longer than just the one season.A halfback has always been critical to a team’ssuccess although I tend to think that might alsobe changing a bit as well. Parramatta for exampleis a multi-skilled team as opposed to the traditionalhalf, five-eighth and lock doing the majority ofthe ball carrying.

RLCM: Are you an advocate of usingstructured play to attack the blindside?

Sharp: A lot of football is now reactionary basedrather than being structured. The blindside is stilla great place to attack – there is probably twoobjectives that come into play down a blindside.The first is to get an imbalance in the defensiveline e.g. three on two, four on three. The secondis to find a small or poor defender on the edge ofthe football field. Some areas to take intoconsideration when attacking the short side arethe quality of your lead up plays e.g. your abilityto shorten up the line and the skill level required

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to attack a short side. In summing up, I think theshort side is a great place to attack not only downthe attacking end of the field but also in your ownhalf. Your skill level and awareness need to be ata high level to be able to execute correctly.

RLCM: If a committee came to you and saidyou can have any team you want, what sort ofplayers would you look to build the teamaround?

Sharp: I look for quality of the person as animportant trait. Someone who is a good leader,has a good work ethic and is prepared to putsomething back into the game. Leadership in yoursenior players is a very important ingredient inthe building of your team. Without stating theobvious on the football side of things the peoplewho handle the football most are a key ingredient.Skill level and awareness levels of your halves,hooker and other key ball handling members must

be excellent. The front row is also another keyarea of your team building, their ability to goforward and lay a base is critical in the structureof any team

RLCM: Do you find sometimes your coachingis forced into trial and error because of theunstructured nature of the game at present?

Sharp: I wouldn’t say that coaching is trial anderror. We are constantly revising and refining ourcoaching methods, the changing nature of thegame demands that. Provided that your playersare armed with the ability to carry out the buildingblock skills of Rugby League e.g. catch, pass,tackle you will tend to find they have the abilityto change fairly quickly. I will stress that no matterwhat approach you take to your coaching be itthrough games, skill drills or team skills yourprogress will be limited unless equipped with asound basic skill structure.


It’s spruiked every weekend from the bowels oflosing dressing sheds all over the world. The samemessage over and over. Chiefly it’s coming fromthe lips of the head coach. “We just didn’t do thelittle things right”.

Aussie singer/songwriter Paul Kelly even summedit up in lyric – ‘From Little Things Big ThingsGrow” – it’s debatable whether Kelly had rugbyleague on his mind when he penned the verse, butnonetheless it’s been universally accepted andrepeated in the rugby league coaches’ vocabulary.

So what are the little things? Every coach has adifferent opinion. To some it’s quick play the balls,to others ball possession, or field position, orlimiting risks, or their defensive structure, perhapsit’s their kick chase/returns, or all of the above.Whatever it is, it lays the platform. The top teamsin the NRL, Parramatta, Newcastle and Brisbanehave vastly different patterns of play, but there’sone principle they share in common. They do thelittle things right.

But there’s something else those teams have incommon which has largely gone by unnoticed bysuccess-driven supporters and headhunting media.It’s continuity. Coaches don’t mention it all thatoften, and Paul Kelly’s never written about it, butaccording to at least one NRL coach, without it,you’ll always be struggling to do the little thingscorrectly.

“My big bugbear at the moment is continuity”,says Northern Eagles mentor Peter Sharp. “ If youdon’t have it then you miss the little things thatlead to winning. And I’m not just talking aboutcontinuity on the field, but throughout the entireclub – in your playing roster and in your supportstaff. If you have continuity in those areas, asopposed to a club that is constantly recruiting fromoutside, then your attention to detail is far greaterbecause you don’t have to spend as much time

covering the big things each year. It frees you upto focus more on the little things that ultimatelymake a big difference”.

Sharp has a point. Take Newcastle as an example.The Premiers didn’t recruit an outside player forthis season. In fact, with Glen Grief going toSouths, they went into the new year lighter onpaper than last. But their continuity and clubstructure meant they knew they always had thetalent from within to remain a leading force. It’sa situation Sharpe can only envy.

“I probably think the Knights are the benchmark,just a smidge ahead of Brisbane (in terms ofcontinuity). This year they recruited no one sowhen they promote a young bloke he might beinexperienced in terms of first grade games, buthe’s very experienced in terms of the club and itssystem. The Broncos and the Eels are pretty muchthe same. To me, that’s a far healthier position tobe in than a club that has to go out at the end ofeach year and buy ten players from six differentclubs. It erodes the club culture for one, and itmakes it difficult to find time to focus on the littlethings and bring stability and confidence into theclub. If you are out there at the start of each yearteaching a bunch of new players your defensiveand attacking systems you don’t have the time tofocus on the little things. At the top clubs theplayers learn it as they come through the grades.At the end of the day continuity leads to betterclub players, more loyal players, and cheaperplayers.”

Leading Australian sports psychologist PhilJauncey has worked with a number of elitesporting clubs, and he believes that withoutstability and patience, weaker clubs have little orno hope of improving their status.

“I think where Peter Sharp is coming from is spoton. If you look at the consistently strong clubs in

CLUB CONTINUITYPeter Sharp - Northern Eagles Head CoachWritten by Ashley Bradnam

Getting the Little Things Right

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almost any sport in the USA or England you’llsee that almost all of them have stability withintheir coaching, managing and playing rosters, andwithin their infrastructure. Having said that,change can be a good thing because it can preventstaleness but I maintain that you can’t buy apremiership and that club culture is a moreimportant ingredient to success than player talentalone. In terms of patience I would use theCowboys sacking of Murray Hurst this year as anexample of what not to do. Just as a junior playercoming through the ranks needs to be able to seea clear path leading to the big time, so does thecoach. He needs time and support to implementhis philosophies and regimes, and only after thattime has been given to him should an assessmentbe made on his performance. If he is axed beforehe’s given adequate time, then it’s to the detrimentof the culture and stability of the club”.

It’s Peter Sharp’s goal to lead the Northern Eaglesinto an era where junior talent from the districtcan see a career path leading to first grade. Thisyear he has a crop of talented youngsters, led byLuke Dorn, who have come through the systemand tasted NRL football. The question is willSharp be given the time he needs to build theculture he craves. Tune into Sydney radio mostweekends and you’ll hear at least onecommentator calling for his scalp. Sharpe can onlyrepeat his mantra.

“All the good teams in footy have continuity –stable playing rosters, stable coaches and supportstaff, and they have therefore been able to workinto their unique pattern and speed of playing thegame over a long period of time. This year we’vebeen fortunate enough to have juniors comethrough for the first time in about eight years andhopefully we’ll be able to build a team aroundthem. It takes time. As far as I’m concerned thebiggest thing in the game at the moment iscontinuity – because if that’s in place you can thenfind time to fine tune the little things and focuson the individual instead of the team.”

Maybe Paul Kelly got it wrong. If Sharpe wrotethe song he would have put it the other way round:‘From Big Things Little Things Grow’. Sharpesays he needs time, stability and patience to turnthe fortunes of the Northern Eagles around. Is heright and will it be afforded to him? Only timewill tell.

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On TV, radio and in papers media types areincessantly decoding matches into confusinggraphs revealing where losing teams lost the plot.“You’ll see it here”, they’ll bawl, as they sketchlavish circles and uneven squares around evenmore elaborate grids and diagrams, “This is wherethey fell away in their completion rates”.

The belief is a high completion rate translates intosuccess, which is wrong. Something doesn’t addup!

Sure, good ball possession is important, limitingmistakes help and good kick-chases alsocontribute. But don’t be fooled into believingimpressive statistics epitomize impressiveperformances.

Parramatta coach Brian Smith believes completionrates simply reveal the quantity of ball possession,not the quality. Other coaches agree. The NewZealand Warriors are currently enjoying one oftheir best seasons ever, however their completionrate is nowhere near as good as seasons past. Infact, in 2000, the Warriors finished the year withthe best completion rate in the competition, yetsat just off the base of the ladder and well out offinals fever.

So where does the truth lie. Losing coachesfrequently bemoan their victory chances went west

‘On the ground’, (i.e. in the ruck area). So whatcan coaches do to improve their performance inthis crucial area?

“The main thing in this game is attitude”, countersNew Zealand coach Daniel Anderson, “Itoutweighs all other aspects and I’ll take the rightattitude over statistics any day”.

No one has derived a graph representing playerattitude and is unlikely to ever do so. But Andersonbelieves if such a statistic was presented it woulddemonstrate a clear correlation betweenappropriate attitude and winning. It’s not thatAnderson is uninterested in technical aspects ofthe ruck area rather he sees them as beingintertwined with the player’s personal mind-set.

“The main thing about any team winning on theground for me is how much resolve and how goodyour attitude is. If you have a real strong attitudeand you’re motivated you’ll come out better onthe field because you’ll do the things conduciveto winning. The ruck is an ugly area – a lot ofbodies are in there – and there’s various techniquesyou can adopt to keep things smooth and quickwhich would help you play the ball more rapidlyfor example. The same goes for tackling and off-loading and other areas of the ruck – there’shundreds of little techniques which help you on

Attitude neededin the ruckWritten by Ashely Bradnam

Daniel Anderson sees every ruck as a contest

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the ground but the point is it all come back toattitude”.

The meat of Anderson’s message is this: You canteach the player what to do but his attitude willdictate if he does it in battle.

“We are constantly trying different drills attraining making sure players can still play the ballquickly despite being trapped in heavy traffic orwhile copping shoulders. We train under differentreferee interpretations, finding the best evasivemethods from the time the ref calls held to thetime you play the ball and you still have playersall over you. We have found if a player is strongerthrough the hip and gut area they can get rid ofdefenders easily and can fight for us to getpenalties. Weaker players tend to get pinnedlonger and those that don’t have the propertechniques also spend longer than they should inthe play the ball area and all that adds up to a lossof momentum. The best guy we have in this regardis Kevin Campion and he has learnt his techniqueswith a combination of learning the propertechniques and adopting the right attitude over along period of time”.

Anderson sees every ruck as a contest – in defenceor attack. He believes this is one battle that mustbe won before the game’s back is broken. In attackthe aim is to play the ball quickly, in defence it’sto control the tackle and assert dominance thusproviding time for your line. Accordingly one ofhis aims when he moved across the Tasman wasto improve his player’s core strength.

“I use the example of a young player on all foursabout to play the ball and if you push his hipswhen he’s in an arched position normally he’lljust roll over and be turtled. But the seasoned hardplayer will take the push in the hips and hold hisground – he wins the battle. That’s why strongand experienced players are so valuable in the ruckarea”.

When Anderson talks about dominating the tacklehe’s referring to the grey area of attacking withoutthe ball.

The aim of every defensive system is to stop theball carrier on contact. If the carrier goes throughthe defensive line after the point of contact, thenthat can be counted as a lost tackle.

If you don’t dominate a tackle with good techniqueor player numbers then your defensive line isunder pressure to reset and move up. Mostdefensive systems and ours included aim to stopthe forward momentum of the ball carrier asquickly as possible after collision.

Once again though, Anderson reiterates hismantra.

“If you don’t take the right technique and attitudeinto the ruck area you’ll find yourself giving awaypenalties. We lost to St George Illawarra this yearand I don’t think we won a ruck all day. Our tackletechnique was very weak, we went in too low andthe Dragons were always on the front foot.Technically, there’s plenty of things we did wrongon the day but the main thing was our attitudewas wrong”.

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Supporting Coaching & Development www.nzrl.co.nz

“It’s going to explode, guaranteed”.

It may sound like a beefy front rower overlookinga pot roast in cooking class, but in fact it’ssomething far more relishing.

It’s NZ Warriors coach Daniel Anderson crystal-balling the future of rugby league in New Zealand.Under Anderson’s scrutiny, the Warriors havereaped a record season, now firmly entrenched inthe top eight and with a crucial top four spot arealistic expectation, the club has banked respectfrom all quarters. Most significantly, its country’schildren are taking notice.

As always, the boys in black are big and strong –

nothing new there. But these days they go thedistance, toughing out the full eighty minutes withcontrolled aggression and freshly discovereddiscipline. The key for Anderson is to ensure thenext generation of rising Kiwi stars are superiorto the current crop. It’s a goal the formerParramatta lower grade coach knows won’t beeasy. One area he has isolated as in need ofburning attention is the coaching reserves at a locallevel.

“In New Zealand we really need to get back andstart re-coaching the coaches. The coaching here(in New Zealand) is very, very basic and notdeveloped to where I’d like to see it. As a result,the players are unskilled to a certain degree exceptfor a few naturals”.

The introduction of an elite squad has assisted thestandout youngsters, but there’s still a long wayto go before all bases are covered.

“We have introduced an elite training squad wherewe get the twenty best 16-19 year olds and webegin drilling them in the techniques they wouldexperience in the NRL so they can come throughhopefully at a more rapid pace. I’ve coached some

good young Aussie players over the years and theKiwi boys coming through are the equal to orbetter than all of them”.

Boom rookies Lance Hohaia and IafetaPalea’aesina are both graduates of the elite trainingsquad and Anderson conservatively estimates he’sholding onto at least another five of comparablecalibre. Another five Lance Hohaia’s? Amazing.

“I really think things are about to explode here.It’s fantastic. In the next two or three years peopleare going to see that there’s some very, very, goodfootballers there (in New Zealand). As good asanything that’s coming out of Australia, that’s forsure”.

However, Anderson’s sanguinity is not shared byall league-lovers across the Tasman. The figureswould tend to disagree as well. Statistics published

NEW ZEALANDDeveloping for the FutureDaniel Anderson - NZ Warriors Head CoachWritten by Ashley Bradnam

Give the kids something to aspire to.

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in a recent New Zealand paper revealed in thepast six years league’s numbers have fallen by31%. In some areas the game has disappearedcompletely and the South Island now provides just20% of the country’s players. Following thearrival of the Auckland Warriors to the NRL thegame enjoyed a brief explosion, infiltrating thesacrosanct domain of rugby-dominated schools.At its peak, 131 schools converted to rugby league.The figure has now diminished to 57.

But Anderson remains defiant. The key, hebelieves, is to give the kids something to aspireto.

“There’s 30,000 kids out there”, says Anderson.“If we can train them up properly, lift their skilllevels and provide them with the coaching theyneed to rise up through the ranks, then we’llbenefit (the Warriors), the NRL will benefit andultimately the game here will benefit. We need toeducate the rugby league player and the rugbyleague parent to the career path we can offer. Ourkids who have come through the elite squad havemostly gone on to dominate their localcompetitions and as a result the other players whoare outside of the squad can identify the areas theyneed to improve to be competitive. Things like

strength, catching, tackling and passing skills thenbegin to filter down through the system”.

Which gets us back to re-coaching the coaches.

“There’s not enough being done about it, that’sfor sure. We have got a standing invitation forlocal coaches in the Barter Card Cup or the NJC(National Junior Coaches) to spend some timewith us. They can come and sit in on our sessions.A number of coaches have taken that invitationup and spent a week with us but I can only hopethat is sufficient enough to developing their ownskills. I haven’t been able to get out and look atthe coaches myself because I’ve been too busyputting structures in place for us at the Warriors.

Auckland continues to be New Zealand’s rugbyleague stronghold. Its 438 teams nearly doublesthe entire number of sides playing in the SouthIsland and contributes 85% of the country’splayers. A successful NZ Warriors outfit basedin Auckland can only enhance that monopoly, butif intelligent and swift steps are taken to link theNorth Island’s success with the South Island’suntapped talent base, then perhaps Anderson’sprophecy will prove exact.

Stand back and savour the action – there’s anexplosion on the way.

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The following article was written to provide asummary of recent research conducted by theauthor while employed as the Director ofPerformance of the Runaway Bay Rugby LeagueClub. This article forms part of the ongoing‘Injury Prevention and PerformanceEnhancement Project’ designed to reduce theincidence of injury in rugby league.

The question of how intense, how long, and howmuch training a rugby league player shouldperform, is a challenge often encountered bycoaches. By implementing low intensity, shortduration training sessions, coaches run the risk ofhaving players ‘underdone’. Excessively long,high intensity sessions may lead to overtraining,with players forced to compete in a fatigued state.From an injury prevention and performanceenhancement perspective, how much training doplayers require to improve physical fitness whilealso minimising the number and severity oftraining injuries?

Periodisation

Periodisation refers to the application of sportscience principles to coaching. Specifically,periodisation allows the coach to break down theoverall training year to design and implement aplan for each session, each week, and each monthof the season, so that peak performance can bereached at the correct stage of the season (e.g.finals). Some astute coaches have also introduced

Should Rugby League PlayersTrain Harder or

Train Smarter?Tim Gabbett - Manager Sports Performance Unit. Tasmanian Institute of Sport

Weeks (microcycles)

0 1 2 3 4

Low Medium High Recovery

Training Load

Training Block (macrocycle)

The training load applied during the first three weeks (microcycles)is progressively increased until the fourth week (recovery). The fourmicrocycles make up one macrocycle.

Figure 1. An example of a typical four-week periodisation plan

a longer-term (e.g. three-year) periodisation planbased on the age or physical development ofplayers. Periodisation allows conditioningcoaches to monitor training intensity and trainingloads, in order to take away the ‘hit and miss’component of training. Finally, whileperiodisation for rugby league is a relatively newconcept, the implementation of a periodisationplan has been advocated as a method of avoidingunnecessarily high injury rates. Using a typicalperiodisation plan, a training block (i.e.macrocycle) usually includes three progressivelyharder weeks (i.e. microcycles), followed by onerecovery week (See Figure 1). However, it is notuncommon for different teams to use shorter (e.g.three-week) or longer (e.g. six-week) macrocyclesdepending on the stage of the season, the standardof competition, the motivation of players, and/orthe coaching philosophy employed by the club.

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Do intense training sessions cause injuries?

Recent evidence from the Runaway Bay RugbyLeague Club Injury Prevention and PerformanceEnhancement Project suggests that injury ratesmay be closely related to the training load applied.Throughout the project, training intensity, trainingduration, and training load were monitored foreach training session. In addition, all injuriessustained during training sessions were recorded.Training load increased from December throughto February, followed by a progressive declineuntil September. Training injury rates followed aremarkably similar trend, increasing fromDecember through to February, followed by aprogressive decline until September (See Figure2). These findings suggest that as training load isincreased, injury rates are also increased. Thereare a number of possible explanations for theobserved injury trends. Traditional trainingactivities (i.e. running without the ball in hand)have typically been employed during the off-season and pre-season phases of the rugby leagueseason, with game-specific activities introducedas the season progresses. It has also been shownthat the greatest proportion (37.5%) of traininginjuries occur during traditional training activities.It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, to find highinjury rates from December through to February.Equally, given that game-specific activities areassociated with a low incidence of injury (10.7%),the finding that training injury rates decreaseduring the competitive phase of the season is alsoto be expected. While the average distancecovered in a rugby league match has beenestimated to be between 7,466-10,052 metres (SeeMeir, Rugby League Coaching Magazine, 20),rugby league players are rarely required to runfurther than 40 metres in a single bout of intenseactivity. These findings question the specificityof traditional training activities for rugby leaguethat provide an adequate training stimulus toenhance physical fitness and performance, withoutunduly increasing the incidence of injury.

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Summary

The conditioning coach has traditionally been the‘disciplinarian’ of the rugby league team, oftenimplementing torturous training sessions todevelop the ‘mental toughness’ necessary forplaying success. Well planned, intense sessionsare necessary to improve the physical fitness andperformance of rugby league players. However,excessively intense training sessions may have anadverse effect on the fitness and subsequentperformance of the player. Training loads appearto be closely related to training injury rates, withthe incidence of injury increasing as the sessionintensity increases. Conditioning coaches shouldmonitor training loads closely in order to optimiseperformance and minimise the adverse effects ofinjuries.

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Figure 2. Relationship between training load and injury rate

Training loads and injury rates for each month of the 2001rugby league season. The 'vertical bars' represent the training load while the 'dots' represent the injury rate. Anincrease in training load resulted in an increase in injuryrate, whereas reductions in training load resulted in areduction in injury rate. From a practical viewpoint, thesefindings suggest that the harder rugby league playerstrain, the more injuries they will sustain.


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Question.

“I’m a fairly new coach and you hearall these other guys talking about slide,umbrella, up and in, up and hold etc,could you spare me 5 mins of your timeto explain the pros and cons of eachone?”

Answer.

Depends what age group you are coaching. Mostteams don’t need anything as complicated, butmore on that at the end.

VARIOUS DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS:

SLIDE - NOW CALLED UP AND OUT

The object is to mark up INSIDE your opponentand slide him towards the sideline, used when youhave a small pack of forwards and a very fast backline. You show the opposition space on the outsideand tempt them to use it. When they do, you useyour speed and the sideline, you are trying to keepthe opposition from coming down the centre andif they do you are packing your forwards closertogether to allow them to help each other. Usedvery successfully by the Canberra Raiders in thelate 1980’s.

UP AND IN

Here you have a slower backline, but big strongforwards. You mark up OUTSIDE your man anddrive them back into your killing zone where yourbig forwards can pound them, the winger will

actually mark up between his opposite centre andwinger and get in between them to deny the ballgoing out wide. Used by Canterbury Bulldogs.

UMBRELLA

A real throwback to when the defence was only 5yards back from the Play The Ball. Not used thesedays, people tend to think that Up and In isumbrella, but it isn’t, although there aresimilarities. Warren Ryan used umbrella with theCanterbury Bulldogs, they would rush up on theoutside and form a big U shape, channellingeverything into the ruck area. This caused the twoSydney Grand Finals where there were no triesscored and the results (from memory) betweenCanterbury and Parramatta were 4-2 and 6-2, allgoals. After that defences were moved back 10metres and it became physically impossible tokeep rushing up and back for 80 minutes. Big gangtackles were a feature of this very hurtful defence, it was designed to intimidate teams and it worked,in it’s day.

UP AND HOLD

Now you are starting to get into the late 1990’s,here the teams would perform the Up portion ofthe UP and In or Up and Out which is to advancethe first 3-5 metres very fast and then to slow downand adjust to what the opposition is doing. So ifyou are always running a slide defence, then theopposition can put on angles to beat a slide andsame with Up and Out, but, Brian Smith when hewas with St George developed the Up and Holddefence theory, wait until the opposition hadperformed all their angles and then tackle the final

Various Defensive FormationsA question posted on the League Coach Forum Website ..... Answered by Bob Wood

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/leaguecoach

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ball carrier so sometimes you might Up and Outand other times you might Up and In. Canberra Iknow toyed with this defence as well. It was goodin theory, but I didn’t like it in practice (personalopinion). When I saw it in operation I saw a flatfooted defence line against a fast moving attack.

How do you work it? Well you don’t work any ofthese I would suggest until Under 10’s or Under11’s.

THE BASICS OF A MODERN DEFENSIVEPATTERN

Start with your two Edge Captains, generally forjunior football your half on the right side and your5/8 (stand off) on the left side. Outside each ofthese Edge Captains is a Centre and a Winger.Inside them are 2 forwards. With your marker(s)and fullback, that is pretty much your team. Ifthere is one left over, he fills in on the open side,I don’t know your age group, so I don’t knowhow many you have on the field.

The Edge Captains jobs are:

1) In the initial attacking forays to get up a bitquicker and try to force the attack back inside,they must ensure that their inside defensive unitis in place and operating. The other edge captainmust force his inside defensive unit across to shutthe gate.

2) If the attack goes wide, then the edgecaptain, switches his focus to his two outside menand works with them on either an Up & In or anUp and Out pattern to shut down the oppositionsbackline.

All these roles must be drilled and the EdgeCaptains must be able to control both of theirdefensive units, inside and outside. By doing thisyou break up the defensive responsibilities intolittle groups of 3, which it is possible to control.

Notes


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Women’s Rugby League is slowly but surelyraising some interest in all areas. Whilst the lastRugby League World Cup was playing and weall watched the teams from around the world playfor the ultimate prize, there was a Women’s RugbyLeague World Cup playing as well. These playersdidn’t get the media coverage or Television

exposure that the male competition did, but theystill played, trained and participated in the sameconditions and some countries. Some teamsactually paid for the privilege to participate. Thesame can be said for the Medical qualificationsfor the teams that participated as well. Somecountries cannot afford to have the luxury of aspecialized Medical Practitioner for both a mensand womens team and placed the care of theWomen’s team in the hands of the trainer whoacted in the role of trainer, medical support personand probably many other roles.

The local competition often mirrors this wherethere is usually a Doctor for the club, but primarilythis is for the greater population whichtraditionally is for the men’s teams, or just for thetop team depending upon the generosity of theDoctor and the clubs finances so the care of thewomen’s teams usually falls down the ladder ofpriorities. But do we really need to have someonespecialized in the care of Women’s sportingparticipation or can someone who has general firstaid training just go out and do this?

A woman in Rugby League presents us all with avery unique set of medical considerations.

Physically they are obviously different from themale rugby league player, but medically they canhave some problems that if not corrected orattended to can lead to life long complications wellafter their playing days are over. This is not tosay that just women in rugby league have theseproblems as these can affect any female sports

participant. So how many of you can hold yourhands up and say you are aware of these medicalconsiderations and are able to keep an eye on theplayers for any signs and symptoms (I suspect thatnot many hands are being raised).

Generally there is no difference between the waythat women in rugby league train and play thegame but medically they need to take a few extrasteps in their care to enable full activeparticipation. These steps are the same for allplayers and they should not be discriminatedagainst just because they are women. Sometimesthere may be a need to have these players assessedby a qualified sports medical practitioner to dealwith specific topics and areas particular to thefemale player.

WOMEN IN RUGBY LEAGUE:Some Medical ConsiderationsDoug King. Sports Nurse.

A women in Rugby League presents us all witha very unique set of medical considerations

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There are both visible and non visible differencesbetween male and female players. Visibly Thetypical female player is usually shorter in staturecompared to the male by an average of 10 cms,has less body mass (on average 13.3 kg) and ahigher proportion of fat tissue (on average about12%). They are on average only two-thirds thatof the males in strength (40 - 60% in the upperbody and 70 - 75% in the lower body), have lessmuscle hypertrophy, poorer running economy andcome under the influence of hormones differentto that of males. They also have a lower maximaloxygen uptake (VO2max) which is due to severalrelated factors such as a smaller heart size, a higherheart rate, lower oxygen carrying capabilities (lessred blood cells and haemoglobin) a smaller thoraxresulting in less lung capacity and a lower basalmetabolic rate.

Biomechanically women have a lower centre ofgravity, increased forces in their legs due to awider pelvis, increased flexibility, smaller anteriorcruciate and an increased risk for foot pronationand patellofemoral problems such as knee injuries.They have a shorter arm length and an increasedstroke rate for motion which results in the playerhaving to swing their arms more times for runningand increasing the risk of shoulder problems suchas shoulder impingement and burn more energy.

Other areas that can present in the female athleteare signs such as tiredness, a drop in their level ofperformance and maybe staleness in their trainingcapabilities. This may be related to a dietary intakealteration or other medical related problems thatwill need to be assessed in consultation with asports doctor. They may also present often withsore feet and lower legs, usually diagnosed as astress fracture and this also needs to be medicallyassessed as it can lead to life long complicationsif this is present with a few other factors thatusually the female player may not want to openlytalk about.

So what can you as the trainer, coach, player do?Well the best things are to casually monitor theprogress and participation of the players and notefor anything such as lack of energy in their trainingprogram. Observe for an increase in ball handlingmistakes, especially when they have had good ballskills and can usually fully last the training session.Note for any sudden increase in their own trainingprogram but a decrease in their ability on gameday, or the amount of injuries that they may bepresenting with and repetitive injuries such as shin

splints and stress fractures (This is usually anindicator that their bone mass density is decreasingand they are prone for osteoporosis in later life ifthis is not corrected). If any of these becomeobvious then have them assessed by a sportsmedical practitioner as it could simply be thechange in training that is having a flow on effectof the player and they may need somesupplemental support to maintain them fully.

Simple measures such as what they eat, what theycombine with their meals and the type of diet thatthey are consuming can quickly and easily aid incorrecting these problems. For example, if theyare not eating red meat, encourage them toconsume the darker parts of chicken and fish asthis contains more of the readily absorbable ironin it (but red meat is best for this) which aids inthe oxygen carrying capacity of their blood. Don’tdrink tea or coffee directly with or immediatelyafter the meal as this can decrease the availabilityof the iron to the body. Eat at least 2 - 3 servingsof dairy products a day (low fat yoghurt, cheese,milk etc.) as this can supplement their calciumintake and assist in maintaining their bone massdensity. Have a variety of vegetables both freshand lightly cooked so as not to get rid of all oftheir minerals and vitamins and importantlyconsume at least 60% of the diet in carbohydratessuch as rice, potatoes, pasta etc. For further adviceit is best to have the player consult a sportsdietician to enable full planning of the dietespecially if they are training hard and buildingup to an important event.

Training and coaching a female team can berewarding for all concerned especially when theplayers achieve the optimal goals bothindividually and as a team. These simpleawareness measures can assist all in keeping theteam together and keeping the players at theiroptimal best both in the short term and for therest of their lives.

For more information consult your local sportsmedicine agency or a sports medicine specialist.


New research shows that the aerobic energysystem is very important for peak performance in“Stop and Go” sports, as it contributes up to 40%of the energy used in sprints.

More importantly it plays a dominant role inrecovery.

Dr Lawrence Spriet is Professor in the Departmentof Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences at theUniversity of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

He recently spent one year as visiting professorin the School of Health Sciences at DeakinUniversity in Melbourne and has spent years 15researching “Metabolic Regulation in HumanSkeletal Muscle During Exercise”.

So what exactly are Stop and Go Sports?Many sports require stop and go efforts whereathletes are constantly changing the pace andintensity of their movements in order toaccomplish the goal of their sport. The Australianfootball codes - rugby, league and Aussie rules -are excellent examples of stop and go sports. It iscommon to be walking or jogging at one momentand sprinting or grappling with opponents thenext. The constant transitions between low-intensity and high-intensity exercise place greatdemands on the ability of the skeletal muscles torapidly respond to changes in the need for energy.

How is this energy generated?The chemical, which provides energy to yourmuscles, is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP)and there are two ways you can produce it -aerobically and anaerobically - terms you havealmost certainly heard before.

Aerobic ATP production occurs with oxygen, andcarbohydrate and fat as the main dietary fuels. Thissystem has the advantage of producing energy forlong periods of time but at relatively low rates.This is the chemical process our muscles primarilyrely upon during endurance sports.

Anaerobic ATP production means production

without oxygen and this happens through thedegradation of the chemical phosphocreatine(PCr) or by using carbohydrate (glucose) that thebody has stored. Anaerobic production happensvery quickly, in a fraction of a second, andproduces ATP at three times the rate the aerobicmethod does. Clearly this is why we can sprintbut the downside, as we all know, is that storesrun down quickly and there is increasing acidity,which makes it hard for the muscle to contract.

But what can we do to keep sprinting?During a stop and go sport with repeated sprinting,there are three important things you should know[3, 4]:

· The PCr stored in muscle cells, is usedquickly during a sprint, but can bereplenished to about 80% by resting ordoing light activity like walking orjogging for 30-60 seconds. This ispossible because we borrow energy fromthe aerobic system.

· The longer you sprint and the more acidicthe muscle becomes, the harder it is tocontinue producing anaerobic energy withsuccessive sprints. Long sprints orgrappling sessions early in a game areespecially notorious for doing this andtherefore should be minimised or avoided.

· The aerobic system contributes moreenergy with subsequent sprints - it remainspartially activated for the start of the nextsprint and also turns on more quickly.

So the aerobic energy system helps anaerobicsprinting? Sprint exercise is often referred to as“anaerobic exercise” as anaerobic energyproduction dominates these activities [3].However, aerobic energy production also plays alarge role in stop and go sports. This system isactivated every time we sprint and contributessome energy for muscle contraction (up to 40%as the sprints continue). However, it plays a more

ENERGY FOR STOPAND GO SPORTSBy Lawrence Spriet Ph. D.

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important role in the recovery periods betweensprints. Specifically, it provides energy for thereplenishment of the PCr store [4] and theclearance of waste products, including lactate [5].Therefore, a well-developed aerobic capacity isessential for peak performance in stop and gosports.

Is the type of training important?Good aerobic fitness provides a strong base fortraining regimens that incorporate intermittentsprint work. Sprints should be kept short, less than6-10 seconds, to minimise acidity in the muscleand simulate game conditions. It’s a fact that mostsprints or periods of heavy exertion during a gamelast less than 6 seconds. Adequate recoveryperiods of 30-60 seconds (walking or jogging) areimportant to maximise recovery of PCr andclearance of waste products. Good aerobic fitnessspeeds up the recovery process and increases thepotential for energy production in subsequentsprints.

A sprint training program built upon a soundaerobic base will increase anaerobic power duringsprinting [1, 5]. The training program will alsoincrease muscle mass, which means more musclecan contribute more anaerobic energy. Thetraining also increases maximum aerobic power,which will help contribute aerobic energy duringrepeated sprints and will speed recovery.Collectively, these changes lead to increases inboth speed and recovery between sprints. Clearly,combining sprint training, designed to maximisethe provision of energy in muscle, with game skillssuch as ball handling, kicking, agility training,decision making, reading the field situation, etc.will improve all aspects of a player’s performancein stop and go sports.

Will diet before and after Stop and Go sportsaffect training and performance?Carbohydrate is a fuel for both aerobic andanaerobic ATP production. It is well known thatperformance of stop and go sports can beimproved by making sure you have plenty ofcarbohydrate in the diet during the days and hoursleading up to the match [3, 5].

More recently, research has also suggested thatperformance is improved by the ingestion of acarbohydrate beverage during the activity, evenwhen muscle stores of carbohydrate are not fullydepleted [2]. Other researchers at the Universityof Carolina studied men and women who wereconstantly repeating one-minute bursts of high-

intensity activity followed by three minutes of rest.The tests were done on a stationary bicycle, withthe power bursts 20% to 30% beyond theiranaerobic threshold.

One group drank an 18% carbohydrateconcentration drink before exercise and a 6%solution every 20 minutes during exercise. Asecond group drank similar volumes of a placebocontaining no carbohydrate.

The group that drank carbohydrates couldmaintain high-intensity effort for an average of28 minutes longer than the placebo group [6].

While the metabolic mechanisms for theseimprovements are not currently understood, theymay involve better maintenance of energyproduction in the muscles, or by assisting thecentral nervous system in the maintenance of itsactivity.

References

1. Nevill ME, Boobis LH, Brooks S, and WilliamsC. Effect of training on muscle metabolism duringtreadmill sprinting. Journal of Applied Physiology67: 2376-2382, 1989.

2. Nicholas CW, Green PA, Hawkins RD, andWilliams C. Carbohydrate intake and recovery ofintermittent running capacity. InternationalJournal of Sports Nutrition 7:251-260, 1997.

3. Spriet LL. Anaerobic metabolism during high-intensity exercise. In: Exercise Metabolism Editedby M. Hargreaves. Human Kinetics, Clapham,South Australia, 1995. pp. 1-40.

4. Trump ME, Heigenhauser GJF, Putman CT,and Spriet LL. Importance of phosphocreatineduring intermittent maximal cycling. Journal ofApplied Physiology 80: 1574-1580, 1996.

5. Williams C and Gandy G. Physiology andnutrition for sprinting. In: Perspectives in ExerciseScience and Sports Medicine. Vol. 7, Physiologyand Nutrition for Competitive Sport. Edited byD.R. Lamb, H.G. Knuttgen, and R. Murray.Cooper Publ. Group, Carmel, Indiana, 1994. pp.55-98

6. Davis JM, Jackson DA, Broadwell MS, QuearyJL and Lambert CL. Carbohydrate drinks delayfatigue during intermittent, high-intensity cyclingin active men and women. International Journalof Sports Nutrition 7 (4):261-273, 1997.


League Coach FORUM��

RLCM continues to reproduce questions andanswers which have featured on the League Coachwebsite. This website is available for all to use, ifyou are looking for any information regardingcoaching, training drills or philosophies feel free toask a question of join an existing discussion.

Question 1

Information required on abc defend-ers either side of the ruck & their du-ties/roles to the markers & defensiveline.

Answer 1

ABC defenders is a name given to the first threeplayers in the defensive line on either side of theruck. So lets say that you have a ruck defence thatlooks like this:

Markers : hooker and lock.Right hand side counting out: Right Prop, RightSecond Row, Half.Left Hand side counting out: Left Prop, Left Sec-ond Row, 5/8 (or stand off). Visually that wouldlook like:

6,11,8 are ABC if the attack is coming downYOUR LEFT side.

10,12,7 are ABC if the attack is coming downYOUR RIGHT side.

The purpose of nominating them ABC is to pro-vide a defensive call - ABC’s work ... generallyfor the first 3 tackles. To remind your ruck de-

fence to get up and meet them at the advantageline. The two players who tackled stay as mark-ers and 9 & 13 fill in the holes left.

Markers roles depend on your defensive align-ment ... I prefer 1st marker chases, 2nd markerholds ... the 2nd marker is holding in case a playersteps back in or uses an inside ball ... the 13 in theabove example would fill the hole behind the playthe ball.

The roles in the defensive line are that the halves7 & 6 control their side of the ruck and should arcup to form the horns of your ruck defence.

The example below shows what it would visuallylook like if they attack down YOUR RIGHT side.

Notice how with 9 moving across and 7 movingup a *bit* faster, we have created a trap for theattacker X ... he is about to get tackled.

13 has held to close the hole behind the play theball and 6,11,8 have moved across to Shut TheGate.

Hope that helps.

Bob Wood

Supporting Coaching & Developmentwww.cowboys.com.au

North Queensland

COWBOYS

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Question 2

I have been asked to coach an Under 8local side, I have not had anyexperience with coaching such a youngteam and need a few tips for training.I am lacking basic skill building drills.

Answer 2 (a)

When coaching an Under 8 side the importantthings are:

1) The basics;2) Fun

I actually had to work with an U/8’s coach at thestart of this season, who wasn’t sure why she wasback coaching, no-one was having much fun andthey weren’t winning many games. She waslooking for some secret success, some reallytechnical NRL secrets that other U/8 coachesdidn’t know.

I watched the first training session, whichconsisted of set drills which looked veryimpressive, like any other Rugby League coachingsession. The players went through their patternshowever they didn’t learn anything, they werebored and fighting.

My advice to her was - you have an U/8’s birthdayparty and the caterer’s van has broken down, youhave to wait for 45 minutes before the cake, videosand food arrives. Your son has invited 12 of hismates over and they are all looking at you, whatare you going to do?

Her answer (as I’m sure most parents would be):Play some games.

There is your training session - pick some kidsgames that they like ...What’s The Time Mr Wolf,Rob The Nest. Talk to the parents of your teamand learn some games, modify them to add afootball and/or tackling and you have your training

session.

Give the kids a mini game at the end of the session.with a basic structure to follow e.g. who runs 1st,2nd, 3rd etc.

And that’s it.

By the way her team’s results this year

Win,Loss 18-19Loss 12-19Win 15-10Win 39-5

Remember this is a team that wasn’t doing toowell last year and now they are playing gamesand still producing on the football field, learningskills and having fun ... they’ll be back.

Answer 2 (b)

I have started this year coaching U7s. I Startedwith the basic plan

Rule 1. To have fun

Rule 2. If kids this age are having fun you canteach them anything.

Rule 3. Have no pressure on them from winningor losing (thats a big persons’ thing winning orlosing)

Rule 4. After games I don’t tell them if they wonor lost its not my expectation, it’s how they playthats my expectation of them.

Rule 5. At the beginning of the season I set outthe rules that I require them to follow at trainingand to their team mates.

Rule 6. As the season goes on I have worked oneach of the kids separately to improve the thingsthat they lack because you are teaching individualsthat play in a team.

Rule 7. If all of the above fail refer back to Rule1.

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Question 3

Ok all you coaches out there, what doGreat Britain do now?

Answer 3 (a)

You are all missing the point, the major reasonthey started ok but went downhill fast is becausein the SL, they still use the outdated 6/4 subs rule,therefore they are not used to impact playerscoming off the bench and keeping up the speedand tempo of the game, scrapping the 6/4 rule andintroducing the 12/4 NRL rule will definitly helpin future, everything will be faster, thinking andanticipating etc.

Would’ve helped if Russell Smith had them back10, instead of 13 metres.

Answer 3 (b)

I didn’t quite understand the tactics used by DavidWaite & the GB side. They lacked variety &therefore didn’t ask enough (if any) questions ofthe Aussie defence.

Compared to the tactical structure assembled forthe first test of the Kangaroo tour last year whereGB (in the orange zone) took a double shot towardthe central field zone then threw a double pivotpass, dummied to the outside runner & turned theball back in to an angled runner; GB wasunimaginative. GB also used a lot more angledrunners to break up the Aussie defence structureonce in the green & their pass selection inchoosing the correct runner was far superior.Defensively the GB side used an Up & In stylewhereas on Friday night they appeared to lose alot of ground with an Up & Out.

I think that the one-off test for GB was alwaysgoing to be a disaster considering that they had

one week to aclimatise & familiarise, their jet-lagfactor was extended according to certain presssources, they selected a safe half-back optionrather than an imaginative one in Ryan Sheridan,3 or 4 of their world-class players were comingback from extended injury absences, but most ofall they’ve got a very intelligent & tactically cleverNON-BRITISH coach. I don’t know how MrWaite would go about stirring up national pridewhen he’s speaking with the voice of the enemy?Also the Aussies were coming off a very closelyfought State of Origin series.

GB should be asking for any future tests to beplayed in Mother England (especially if one-offtests & mid-season), GB should be looking for anew national coach with David Waite as an adviserto this person & the overall English Super League.A possible candidate would be Brian Noble fromBradford.

Tactically GB could have targeted a few of therookies & tried to exploit unfamilier combinationswhich existed in the Aussie side. The idealsituation would have been to kick down their leftcorridor & have Tahu returning the ball rather thanTuqiri. Attacked Simpson’s side continuously asthis would have blunted Tallis’ power of gettingemotion surges from big tackles (he loves the bigplays & it builds him up each one he does). GBneed to go back to a more Up & In style defenceas this suits a majority of their personnel, & Up& In is moreso about attitude than Up & Out - abig aggressive side like GB would thrive in thisevironment.

The tactics above are very similar to NSW’s inS.o.O One this year & with the one-off situationdetails of opposition personnel & individualtargetting takes on a much more magnified role.

I don’t think all is lost for GB.

Rick

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Continuing a proudtradition as a

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RLCM wish to acknowledge the New South Wales Rugby League Academyand Coaching and Development Manager Martin Meredith for their kindsupport in allowing RLCM to reproduce these drills from their Official RugbyLeague Coaches Handbook (Printed 2001).

The coaching drills used in this issue are designed for skill acquisition forplayers between the ages of 5 to 14 years. Players will best acquire the skillsof rugby league if given a fun environment full of activities, which best fit,the physical capabilities of each age group.

To increase the difficulty of these drills, coaches should consider:

1. Decreasing space of drill2. Decreasing the time available to perform the skill3. Increase the physical presence within the drill

[Published with the authority of the NSWRL Academy]

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Setting9 Players minimum, 10 x 10 Metre Grid, 4 markers

- The group is divided into three equal teams- 1 team is nominated as the chasers, the other two teams must

avoid being tagged (two handed grab) by Team 1- If a player is tagged he becomes a frozen player and must stand

still with his legs apart- Team members of the frozen player must attempt to ‘defrost’ the

player by crawling between his legs- Once all players have been frozen by Team 1, the teams swap

roles so Team 2 would become the chasers- The team the can freeze the opposition in the shortest amount of

time wins

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- Divide group into two teams- Players in Team 1 must attempt to tag players in Team 2- Team 2 must avoid being tagged- Team 1 may run anywhere within the grid passing the ball to

each other but may not run when in possession of the ball- When attempting to tag a player they may only take one step

and must hold the ball in two hands- Once a player has been tagged he must move outside the grid- Each time the ball is dropped by Team 1 one player from Team

2 may return to the game- The coach should designate a period of time, at the end of this

time the number of tagged players are counted

20m

20m


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- Divide group into two teams- Each team gets an equal amount of time to make as many

passes as possible- The player with the ball must stand still and find a support player

who moves into position to receive a pass- The opposition team must attempt to intercept the ball or knock

down the pass

10m

10m


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Setting5 Players Minimum, Approx 20m X 20m Grid, 1 sock per player

- All players start the game inside the grid with one football sockplaced in the back of their shorts

- On coaches command players attempt to snatch socks fromother players and store them in a pile on the edge of the grid

- Players who lose their sock continue to snatch socks from otherplayers

- When all socks have been snatched, count who has the most

20m

20m

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Setting5 Players Minimum, Approx 20m X 20m Grid

- All players start the game inside the grid- 2 players (P1 & P2) join hands and are nominated as chasers- P1 & P2 must attempt to tag other players- Once a player has been tagged he must then join the chain- The chain grows until all players have been tagged

P1

P2

20m

20m

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Setting4 Players Minimum, 6 markers

- Set up markers as shown above- Players line up in pairs with equal numbers at each end of the

grid, all players carry a football- On coaches command P1 runs the marked path, P2 starts once

P1 steps the first marker- P2 chases P1 and attempts to tag P1 with the ball- When P1 and P2 reach the other end of the grid P3 and P4 start

off back through the grid- The chaser must tag the leader as many times as possible

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P1P2

P4P3


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- Set up markers as shown above- Players run through the grid stepping at each one- Initially start the drill at half pace- Progress the drill by increasing pace- Then introduce a football to be carried and handed off at the end

of each run through

Start


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- Set up markers as shown above- Players line up in two equal groups behind start markers- On coaches P1 & P2 run down the grid in zig zag fashion

between markers- After rounded the last witches hat, players run down the centre

of corridor- Both players attempting to pick up the football on the run and

then score a try- The player without the ball attempts to tag the player now in

possession of the ball with two hands- The next two players then continue the drill- Add points for a try to introduce a game aspect- Team members should encourage the runner

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P1 P2


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Setting6 Players Minimum, 15 x 25 Metre Grid, 9 markers

- Two columns are set up one wider than the other- Attacking players line up in pairs with 1 defender in each

column positioned on marker- The first pair (P1 and P2) run down the grid attempting a draw

and pass on the defender- P1 and P2 then round the end marker and return down the

second column which is wider than the first- Once again they attempt a draw and pass on the defender- Defenders can only move left and right and not forward and back- Progress by adding more defenders into the columns so

attacking players must perform consecutive plays

D1 D2

P2P1

10m 15m


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- Continuation from 2 on 1- Attacking players line up in groups of 3 with 1 defender in the

first column and 2 defenders in the second column- The first trio (P1, P2 & P3) run down the grid attempting a draw

and pass on the defender- The trio then rounds the end marker and returns down the

second column which is wider than the first- Once again the trio attempts a draw and pass but now there are

2 defenders- Defenders can only move left and right and not forward and back

D1 D2

P2P1

10m 15m

D3

P2


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- Players line across grid in a group of 5- The first 2 players (P1 and P2) make a pair , and the other

players make up a trio- P1 and P2 run up the grid passing back and fourth- When they reach the first set of markers the players with the ball

places it on the ground- P1 and P2 then proceed to line 2 where they must touch the

ground, turn and then become defenders- Once the first group has placed the ball P3, P4 and P5 proceed

down the grid- P3, P4 and P5 must pick up the ball and then attempt to beat

the two defenders with a 3 on 2 play

P1 P2

P3 P5P4

Line 1

Line 2

P1 P2 P3 P5P4

Start

Football

15m

15m


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- P1 and P2 run down the grid passing the ball back and fourth- Once they reach the second set of markers P3 and P4 run down

the grid- P3 & P4 must join P1 and P2 in a support position creating a 4

on 2 situation on D1 and D2- The group now consisting of 4 players attempts to score a try- P1 and P2 become defenders and the drill continues

P2

P1D1

D2

P3

P4


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Setting10 x 40 Metre Grid, 4 markers

- Players make two lines facing each other- Players in line 1 (P1) carry a football, line 2 (P2) are defenders- P1 advances towards P2, who, standing in a front on position

makes a chest to chest contact with P1- P2’s arms extend around P1 to secure a strong hold on the

attackers back- P1 then uses his momentum to force both players to the ground- Repeat the tackle using alternate shoulders and then swap

attackers and defenders

P1

P2

Defenders

Attackers

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Line 1

Line 2

40m

40m


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- All Players start within the grid, 1 player (D1) is nominated as adefender

- D1 must attempt to tackle and force to the ground and onto theirbacks as many players as possible in 1 minute

- The defender gets 1 point for each grounded player- Continue the drill so all players have a turn at being defender

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- Divide group into two equal teams (attackers and defenders)- Teams line up opposite and facing each other- Each attacking player is given a number- The drill starts with the coach directing the attacking team to

move left or right by raising his arm- The defending team must adjust and nominate the attacker they

are marking- The coach calls a number (e.g 3) and player 3 must approach

the defence with the opposing players making the tackle- A ruck is formed, and play continues by a dummy half moving in

and passing to his attacking line- All players must adjust- Each team has possession for six tackles then change roles

30m

20m

P1 P5P4

P3

P2

D1 D5D4D2 D3

Coach

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No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, storedin any retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form orby any means electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recording or ink-jet printingwithout prior writtenpermission of thepublishers.

The publishers wish to thank the Australian RugbyLeague and contributors for their assistance incompiling this publication.

PublisherGary Roberts

[email protected]

ResearchKeith Hookway

[email protected]

Advertising ManagerJohn Ryan

[email protected]

ProductionReagan Roberts

[email protected]

PhotographerMatthew Roberts

[email protected]

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ContributorsPeter Sharp

Daniel AndersonTim Gabbett

Martin MeredithDoug KingBob Wood

Lawrence SprietGlenn Bayliss

WriterAshley Bradnam

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