Physical Results

**New Article** AFL Kick proficiency and skill adaptability increase from an Australian football small-sided game intervention. In comparison to traditional training, we found only the SSG group enhanced their kick proficiency (17%) and were found to be more adaptable after a 4-week intervention. The SSG group executed more kicks over longer distances (i.e., 20–40 m), made quicker decisions (e.g., executing more kicks in < 1s), applied more pressure to the opposition when they were executing a skill and were more likely to “take the game on” by decreasing the amount of times a skill was executed from a stationary position. Full article can be found here....

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2022.1026935/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Sports_and_Active_Living&id=1026935

Kick proficiency and skill adaptability increase from an Australian football small-sided game intervention This investigation is the first to explore the effect of a 4 week small-sided game (SSG) and traditional training intervention on player kick proficiency and player adaptability in Australian football. Twenty-two amateur Australian football players (mean ± SD; age 22.3 ± 2.46; height 182.4 ± 5.25...

Very excited (and honored) to now be working at the Melbourne Football Club - AFLW as the new Head of Strength and Rehab. Looking forward to the challenges ahead!

Great to work with the Sharni Layton Sports Academy on the weekend. We performed athlete physical testing to help identify strengths and weaknesses and ensure program design is specific to the athlete needs. Some really motivated athletes!

My NEW Article: Future Directions and Considerations for Talent Identification in Australian Football. An interesting discussion on factors such as maturation, fatigue and ecological dynamics.

Future Directions and Considerations for Talent Identification in Australian Football As the focus on the elite Australian Football League competition becomes greater so too does the demand for success. Clubs are heavily scrutinized for their draft selections and as such are taking more interest in the younger levels of competition in an attempt to identify and monitor talent. Based....

I am honored to share with you that I have now officially completed my PhD in Sport Science. It has been an amazing 4.5 years, working full time and studying full time (plus working as a strength and conditioning coach and athletics coach). A huge thank-you to Deanne Bonney, Kai and Jobe for helping out throughout this period of time. A massive thank-you to my supervisors Dr Paul Larkin, Associate Professor Kevin Ball and Dr Jason Berry - your guidance and support was incredible!

Here is a full access link to one of our recent articles:
Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game. I hope you enjoy it!

Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game (2020). Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game. Journal of Sports Sciences: Vol. 38, No. 21, pp. 2430-2436.

Just published - Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game. This article explores the technical and physical differences in AF SSG conditions 5v5, 5v6, 6v6 and 7v7.

Feel free to download this article here:

Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game (2020). Effects of manipulating player numbers on technical and physical performances participating in an Australian football small-sided game. Journal of Sports Sciences. Ahead of Print.

Really happy to have another article published: "Can match play kicking and physical performance outcomes be replicated in an Australian Football small-sided game?" In summary, the results suggest kicking proficiency, the number of kicks executed, meters travelled per minute and percentage of high intensity running were all higher in the SSG than during match play. Furthermore, the SSG had less technical variability in comparison to match play. During match play, players had less time affordance to execute a kick and achieved higher maximum running velocities than during the SSG.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/24733938.2020.1758338?journalCode=rsmf20

Can match play kicking and physical performance outcomes be replicated in an Australian Football small-sided game? Can match play kicking and physical performance outcomes be replicated in an Australian Football small-sided game?. Science and Medicine in Football. Accepted .