The injuries we suffered this year were awful, unbelievable, often a result of terribly bad luck and partially ruined the wallaby season. It was horrible and enough to incense any wallaby fan, however, what angers me most is that the ARU's response and proposed solution has been so bloody typical of them; knee jerk, reactive rather than proactive, intent on giving them MORE power over the players and provinces (because they do SUCH a stellar job preventing the preventable when the players are under their care, plus it paints the picture of them taking control of the situation while the ruthless money hungry suits at the provinces try to crack the whip and drive the players into the ground), at minimal expense to them, and delivered to the media is such a way as to portray them as helpless (remember it is the ARU who agreed to extend the season), blameless (the evidence and rumours point to the nature of wallabies training as contributing to more preventable soft tissue injuries) and doing their best for the players and the code. All up the reaction has been cowardly, useless and self-serving to the core. We must do better than simply copy the Kiwis Nucifora!
What they could have done (and had such ample opportunity to do) is propose a thorough and multi-faceted approach to ensuring that our injury prevention system, player management and strength and conditioning is up there among the best in the world, regardless of sport.
That in mind, I propose the following
1. [the most important] The appointment of a National Director (coordinator) of athletic preparation and development. The person appointed to this role would be responsible for the coordinated planning of the type/timing of training that all Wallabies under take (not specific gym exercises, running sessions etc., that would be the role of the WALLABY strength and conditioning coach though if he was the right person [see below] then I suppose he could consult there), plus monitoring overall load/health status and progress made in rehab both while with the national team and then would consult with the Super teams. These roles are usually covered by just an S and C coach and physio/Dr at the provinces (though at the Reds they have Ollie Richardson as well who basically is a S&C coach/rehab expert responsible for programming the boys while they are still recovering from injury and transitioning them back to full S&C and rugby training) but I feel that in the national set up an overseer type person is required to fully streamline the efforts of all departments into a fully integrated system. Furthermore, they would have roles in rugby specific S&C coach education, and basically development of the Australian rugby approach to athletic preparation, from the top level initially and eventually all the way down to club/school level.
For example, this person would oversee how much the wallabies should and will be doing as far as timing and intensity of sessions (skills, speed, gym, fitness and critically recovery/regeneration) and take a global approach to planning week to week and month to month volumes of load and recovery and then advise the S&C coach and skills coaches on how hard and when they should push the players (Damian Marsh does this at the Reds, though like I said, in the national set-up I think it would be appropriate and dare I say it proactive and innovative to appoint a separate guy to do this along with the other roles) and when to back off certain players because they are at risk. Then, during the off-season and partially during Super rugby, they would perform consultant work at each franchise doing the same thing, plus be involved in setting up systems and infrastructure for clubs and schools such that we have a consistently excellent approach to strength and conditioning and player management across all levels of the game.
To top it off, I reckon I know the perfect candidate for a job like that (ARU hacks possibly reading this take note). His name is James Smith, he's an American strength and conditioning coach working in Europe with a glittering resume. The guy is an absolute genius, and has written extensively about the need for the kind of role I just described (He and I both believe it to be the way forward for athletic preparation), furthermore is that the guy has expert experience in that kind of role IN rugby union (as well as previously with other sports). He currently fills a position like this with the Portuguese Rugby Union (his website is
http://www.powerdevelopmentinc.com/)
2. The resurrection of Camp Wallaby
I don't particularly care where, but I think it is a good idea to have a place for the wallabies to base themselves for the times when they are in 2 or 3 week training block in preparation for a Test or series of Tests (like the Poms do at Twickenham/Penny Hill Park). Perhaps it could fit into some existing infrastructure (somewhere). Ideally it would be an all in one prep facility complete with accommodation, state of the art gym and fitness spaces and gear, recovery facilities (ice bath, physio rooms etc.) and food (with dieticians and chefs preparing everything, like they do at the Brumbies. Perhaps the players could have the option of paying for that like at the Brums I don't know), plus a place for them to check into and have interviews/consultations with national team staff (when their super team is in town). The reds have something close to this at Ballymore (maybe the re-development would make Ballymore the a good place once its finished, though that might piss off the non-QLD players/fans). I just don't think it does the boys any favours to have to be shifting for each and every week when they are playing in Australia/NZ. I think it would be better if they train all week at some kind of "spiritual home" and then make the trips to the venue closer to the day before (obviously when they're on tour in SA/ARG/Europe this is moot). This is more of a long-term idea.
3. An agreement between all parties and players about the amount of training time (and if necessary, game time) players should be rested from during a Super season, plus a universal standard about what constitutes a player being unfit to play (definitions of what is a minor enough niggle to play through and what isn't, though I realise an standard is unlikely and it probably needs to be more on a individual case-by case basis, therefore a person should be appointed to do those consults.).
4. An ARU sponsored initiative to mandate the use of this app floating around in rugby league circles where the players input information about their weight, sleep quality, subjective and objective measures of recovery, health status etc. at designated times (e.g every day, week whatever) and all the info is collated by the ARU and provinces (though I know that some provinces have already got this in motion). This would provide actionable player feedback in a simple and user friendly way to help with their management and rehab/recovery.
I think those 4 things would be a great, and dare I say it, proactive and innovative approach that would put us ahead of the game in this vital area, and hopefully reduce the likelihood of another injury disaster like we saw this year