There are a multitude of factors that go into the planning of an A-League season, but few as many complex and critical as the conditioning program.
Strength and conditioning coaches must plan meticulously for the demands of the season, ensuring players are physically prepared for competition while seeking to prevent injuries wherever possible.
It was part of the increasing professionalism of the league that strength and conditioning coaches became extensive full-time roles at clubs, supported in some cases by multiple sport science staff, as teams acknowledged the importance of physical preparation in achieving success.
In the more recent era of the A-League, Andrew Clark has been an exemplar in this role. His ability to condition Sydney FC, reducing injuries, has been crucial to their premiership double.
With Clark in charge of conditioning, Sydney routinely have the lowest rates of injury in the league. No other team in the competition can field their strongest 11 as regularly as Sydney, which proves highly beneficial in two ways: it means the best players, like Milos Ninkovic and Adrian Mierzejewski, are always on the pitch and, secondly, it means the starting XI can develop effective combinations and chemistry that other teams can’t match.
A comparison to other clubs is a stark indicator of this. Brisbane Roar have rarely had the likes of Brett Holman, Eric Bautheac and Thomas Kristensen together in the same team, while Central Coast Mariners’ inconsistency can be linked to the fact that the strongest midfield pairing, Tom Hiariej and Wout Brama, have rarely started in tandem.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Historically the most successful A-League teams follow the current Sydney FC pattern. For example, most fans could practically name from memory Ange Postecoglou’s strongest XI at Brisbane Roar, Kevin Muscat’s championship-winning Melbourne Victory or Graham Arnold’s triumphant Central Coast Mariners team. The latter, of course, was another Andrew Clark success story.
Clark is meticulous in his planning. Starting in the preseason, every player is screened, tested and then constantly monitored, with training loads individually tailored. There is a strong focus on continuous improvement, with players constantly working on their conditioning even during the season – a very different approach to the traditional Sunday League idea of ‘smashing fitness, but only in preseason’.
Instead Sydney FC work hard on a week-by-week basis, with the aim being to constantly reach new peaks in conditioning as the season goes on. It is not all hard work, however, with the players’ rest periods incorporated accordingly and based on the constant monitoring of wellness, injury status and mental health.
This model of player monitoring and conditioning is the gold standard for the A-League, but what is promising is the rise in acknowledging that this sort of detail is necessary at all levels of the game. Many NPL teams, for example, are now hiring specific strength and conditioning staff. There is also an increasing emphasis on providing internships both at A-League and NPL level for university graduates, which is particularly important given the number of students studying sport science degrees.
(AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
It’s feasible that in a few years time, strength and conditioning coaches for not only senior teams but also youth teams will be the minimum expectation as clubs develop improved infrastructure and professionalism.
This is particularly crucial because, for a country that has historically placed great value in our athleticism and intensity, it feels like we have lost some of those values. For example, while there are many reasons for our struggles results-wise at youth level, it is evident in many of those matches that our best young players physically cannot compete with their opponents.
Again, there are a multitude of reasons why this is the case – an emphasis on technical and tactical improvements in the national curriculum is part of, but not the whole, answer – but if Australian footballers are to regain that physical edge once so widely boasted about, then strength and conditioning coaches need to become essential components of clubs.
Thankfully the success of Andrew Clark at Sydney FC provides a useful barometer. Sydney FC are deserving back-to-back premiers largely because of their excellent conditioning program. That should be acknowledged, respected and, most importantly, considered the bar for all other A-League clubs, NPL sides and our national teams to aim for.
LuckyEddie
Guest
Yet we are producing young players that are terribly one footed, cannot head a ball, refuse to tackle and cannot hit a shot on goal form 15m. But they are fit! Without real football skills what is the point of having them fit.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
And thus, if you do have the sports science advantage, you have a better chance of keeping your best XI on the field, therefore, not every team can follow the same strategy of directing the bulk of the salary cap to 11 above average players because not all clubs will have the same capacity to keep the XI on the pitch more often than not.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
If it was just fitness, Bondi Rescue would win the A-League. Its a lot more about club and team management, coaching, salary negotiations, trading players, fan management, marketing, lots and lots of things win you championships.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Jealousy won't get you anywhere Fadida/Tezza/Football is life/Pip. LOS.
Kangajets
Guest
Nothing said about Andrew Clarke and his incremental fitness standards over the season is rocket science. Professional training has been around since I played junior rugby league in the 1980s. Fancy monitors have replaced old fashion measurements of heart rate etc , Even us amateurs that played into our late 30 s knew how to increase fitness over the course a season . The mind boggles that no other club would think of this
punter
Guest
Dreaming of that conga line dance at Merewether is causing you to see things that may not be reality.
Tezza
Guest
I think the key to their success this season has been unpunished repeated tactical fouling, rorting the salary cap and favourable, verging on biased refereeing! LOL.
Football is Life
Guest
Fadida That is the most accurate spot on comment I have ever read on this site. You hust achieved legend status
fadida
Guest
I was sure the article was going to be about unpunished repeated tactical fouling, rorting the salary cap and favourable, verging on biased refereeing!
fadida
Guest
Agree. All of those games when they've had the result sewn up after an hour and the only change they'd make would be Carney for Adrian and Simon for Bobo. Even then the changes tended to be the last 15 minutes. They also have an old side, backing up was always going to be a struggle, compounded by no rotation.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Great SFC management team on and off the pitch. When clubs have bad management they don't get results on the field, no matter how much they spend or which players they have.
Kris
Guest
One of the problems of a salary cap is that is theoreticaly impossible to get much of an edge with your squad - after all everyone else can pay as much as you so theoretically could field a team as good as yours. There is no cap on sports science, data analysis, strength and conditioning so that represents a way a good (or rich) club can gain an edge over the others.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Tim it's a good observation re strength and conditioning, perhaps a consequence of our salary cap system. You can see what I mean by going through some hypothetical figures. The salary cap is something like $2.9m per season at the moment. With a roster of 23 players, if we exclude the two marquees who do not come under the salary cap, we have $2.9m to spread across 21 players for the season, or $138,000 per player. If you recruit your next top 9 players with an average salary of $250,000, that means you are basically paying an average of $54,000 for your next 12 players (and also relying a bit on youth players who do not come under the cap). So, if you have structured your roster as above, your best XI will be a top team in the A-League, all things being equal, but it assumes you are playing your best XI more often than not. The minute you start games with 2, 3 or even four players from your back-up and youth players, you are going to start dropping points, such will be the drop in quality. This is where this article makes some sense, any team which can structure itself as above AND keep its best players on the pitch will go a long way to winning the premiership and placing themselves in the best spot to also win the championship.
BrainsTrust
Guest
Clarke credit can be given for preventing injuries, looking at how they have fallen apart with the ACL ,backing up matches conditioning and recovery is not a strong point. A lot of the blame has to go on Arnold with his lack of rotation and resting of his players.
chris
Guest
Thanks for the article Tim. At the club I am at, strength & conditioning is now part of the regular training routine and we have a group of physios that are always present at training and on game day. Physios also devise plans to ensure that players are not physically overloaded and their mental state is also monitored. (Why the pic of Holosko?)