Waratahs 2014

[qwerty51]

I actually think the physical style they're playing is helping with regard to injuries too, if you're winning your collisions you're probably less likely to get injured as you're dictating terms of where your body is going. No doubt the physical training Cheika puts them through would help them get battle hardened throughout the season too.

 

[en_force_er]

how much of that is due to a better conditioning program?

Depends, soft tissue arguably but anything else no.

 

[Braveheart81]

Cheika has talked about being 'body hard' a couple of times when I've heard him speak this year. He's likened it to The Kickboxer kicking the tree over and over again to harden their shins (or kill the nerve endings )

It's about conditioning the players to take the knocks and keep being physical week in, week out at training as well.

He doesn't believe at all in having little contact during the week with the idea that players recover better for the weekend.

 

[Hawko]

I actually think the physical style they're playing is helping with regard to injuries too, if you're winning your collisions you're probably less likely to get injured as you're dictating terms of where your body is going. No doubt the physical training Cheika puts them through would help them get battle hardened throughout the season too.

This is very likely the cause. If you make a dominant tackle its likely to be the runner that gets twisted the wrong way. If you make a dominant run its likely the tackler that gets twisted. Momentum has a great deal to do with who gets injured. The Waratahs put great store in being dominant in the tackle or the run.

Cheika has talked about being 'body hard' a couple of times when I've heard him speak this year. He's likened it to The Kickboxer kicking the tree over and over again to harden their shins (or kill the nerve endings )

It's about conditioning the players to take the knocks and keep being physical week in, week out at training as well.

I agree and having watched training, its full on. I suspect that the length of the training session may vary depending on the level of the fatigue, but the intensity is always 100%.

These two factors have led to the injury free run we have had this year When we had that horrific run of injuries about four years ago and ended up hardly having a reserves team for the semi-final, I wondered whether the training of the team had something to do with it. It was so horrific that it just couldn't have been luck. In the last two years I've seen clear and unambiguous evidence that if you don't train at game intensity and don't train to be dominant then you'll get much worse injuries over the season.

 

[Pfitzy]

Also less gym work and more field work would help. S&C going purely on metrics of lift or beep test isn't replicating game conditions.

 

[fatprop]

Also less gym work and more field work would help. S&C going purely on metrics of lift or beep test isn't replicating game conditions.

From what I have read the Potgieter affect has help the field work become more "game like" as he smashes people at training

 

[Lee Grant]

From what I have read the Potgieter affect has help the field work become more "game like" as he smashes people at training

And so does Tatafu.
.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

can someone confirm whether the final (if the waratahs win this week) will be at allianz or ANZ?

 

[qwerty51]

ANZ

 

[Gnostic]

Also less gym work and more field work would help. S&C going purely on metrics of lift or beep test isn't replicating game conditions.

This also allows them to play the high skill game that Chieka has brought instead of the old % based game because more time is actuallu given over to basic skills including running support lines and working hard off the ball generally.

 

[p.Tah]

Pretty novel concept. Practice how you'd like to play in a game.

 

[p.Tah]

Tahs promo video. I'm getting excited. Really excited

 

[Pfitzy]

I'm shitting bricks

 

[fatprop]

Tahs promo video. I'm getting excited. Really excited

That isn't exactly going to drive younglings to the games, all it lacked was bad laconic poetry

I wonder who is their target market, people over 60?

 

[JSRF10]

5,000 tickets left according to the Tahs newsletter, time to pester mates with reminders to get them to buy tickets to push it up to a sell out

 

[gowaratahs]

Left wet Newcastle at 1pm, lay in the sun on the grass of the Dougie Walters stand with my kid doing cartwheels and handstands at North Sydney Oval watching the hosts blow Scott Fava's farewell coaching game despite outplaying Randwick all day, out to IKEA to grab a few bits n pieces for the house and Swedish meatballs for dinner, back into town for the semi-final, home to Newcastle by 11.30pm and just finished watching the game on IQ. Priceless.

 

[formerflanker]

Left wet Newcastle at 1pm, lay in the sun on the grass of the Dougie Walters stand with my kid doing cartwheels and handstands at North Sydney Oval watching the hosts blow Scott Fava's farewell coaching game despite outplaying Randwick all day, out to IKEA to grab a few bits n pieces for the house and Swedish meatballs for dinner, back into town for the semi-final, home to Newcastle by 11.30pm and just finished watching the game on IQ. Priceless.

Now that's a great day for a rugby tragic.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

@Gowaratahs, That is an outstanding effort. Lucky to get out of Ikea in under 4 hours, and on top of that you would have battled two lots of Sydney traffic.

 

[gowaratahs]

@Gowaratahs, That is an outstanding effort. Lucky to get out of Ikea in under 4 hours, and on top of that you would have battled two lots of Sydney traffic.

Rhodes to Paddo in just under an hour, thought I'd miss kickoff. Magic day, hope I didn't play my GF one week early

 

[Pfitzy]

This week we knocked the rust out. Next week we should be back on song.

I'd really, REALLY like the boys to play the perfect game next week. In every game so far, no matter how comprehensive the victory, there have been periods that let us down. I just want it all to come together and give the Crusaders such a smashing that no-one can question anything about our right to the title.