Crows players can expect to work as hard mentally as they will physically this pre-season, says Physical Performance Manager Nick Poulos.
Adelaide has identified mental strength as a focus area leading in to the 2014 season. To support this focus, the Club has promoted development manager Paddy Steinfort to a high-performance role, with an emphasis on leadership and mental skills.
The Crows lost five games by less than two goals this year, and Poulos said the upcoming pre-season program had been designed to help the players in tight situations.
“It’s going to be an intense physical schedule like all pre-seasons, but there’ll also be an increased focus on the mental side of our preparation and fitness,” Poulos said.
“The emphasis will be on mental toughness, hardness and working for each other. We can draw on the experience of a few games this year like against West Coast and Port Adelaide here (at AAMI Stadium).
“We shouldn’t have lost those games … and when the players are doing it tough in a footy session or running on a Saturday morning, they’ll remember those losses and think, ‘Those moments are why we’re doing this. We’re not going to let that happen again’.
“There’s been a lot of work done behind the scenes by Paddy Steinfort and Dean Bailey to help integrate that mental aspect into the physical program.
“Everyone knows pre-seasons are tough physically. You just get through it and come out the other side. Once the players get through the first block pre-Christmas, I think they will look back and think, ‘Gee that was mentally tough’ and some will handle it better than others.”
Adelaide’s 1-4 year players will start pre-season training on Wednesday, with the exception of Mitch Grigg and Lewis Johnston, who have been afforded extra time after playing in the SANFL Grand Final in October. The pair will return with the rest of the group on Monday, November 18.
Poulos said there would also be a slight increase in the amount of running over the pre-season to help combat the interchange cap which will be rolled out in 2014.
“There will be a little bit more volume of running than we’ve done in the past because of the capped rotations and just the way the game is going,” he said.
“There’ll still be a lot of high-intensity work, but the distances will increase. It’s a real fine balance because the players need to be fast, powerful and put in repeat efforts but they also need to be able to stay out on the ground longer.”
Poulos said he expected the majority of the group to maintain their 2013 playing weight, or shed a kilogram or two to be “more efficient” runners.
“The midfielders will be the ones most affected by the interchange cap because they might average a rotation or two less per quarter which adds up over the course of the season. You still have to be strong, but you don’t want to carry around any extra weight,” he said.
At the post-season team review, coach Brenton Sanderson warned the players this pre-season would be a tough one. Poulos said he expected the players would be nervous about day one.
“Matthew Bode and I have spent a lot of time planning and preparing the conditioning program for the pre-season. You look at it and think, ‘I’m glad I’m not doing that anymore’,” he said.
“As a Physical Performance team, we’re really excited about the work ahead.”
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