Bennett's Back-room Boys On Job
Illawarra Mercury
Tuesday November 25, 2008
THIS is the brains trust behind super coach Wayne Bennett's bid to end St George Illawarra's 30-year premiership drought.
New Dragons high performance manager Jeremy Hickmans has devised a high-tech three-year blueprint to give the club a competitive edge in the NRL.Alongside him will be strength and conditioning coach Scott Campbell and rehabilitation expert and National Youth Cup trainer David Ballard.The new coaching structure will also include football manager Paul Massey and technology manager Scott Barker.While Bennett doesn't officially take over until Monday, Hickmans and his team have already been putting the Dragons squad through their paces in preseason testing."At the moment we're just working with the players and establishing the standards required," he said."It could well be that the standards are already well developed and we can start to introduce some of the more high-tech ideas we'd like to introduce to the club. But at the moment it really is just about seeing where things are at."Hickmans spent three years with Bennett at the Broncos, while Ballard has also relocated after being head conditioning trainer of Queensland Cup team Brisbane Norths.Campbell was formerly the Bulldogs' strength and conditioning coach and replaces Steelers legend Paul McGregor.As Bennett's right-hand man at Brisbane, Hickmans said he will be working closely with the new Dragons mentor."The interaction increases more and more as we go into the season," Hickmans said."Obviously as part of my role I will work closely with Wayne in maintaining fitness and strength, developing the program and getting injured players back on the field as soon as possible."Hickmans revealed there will be no controversial magic potions or vials of calves blood, which were rumoured to be part of Manly's training regime.He said he would be looking to introduce other elite training methods, which could include the comprehensive tracking of a player's training performance and endurance using global positioning devices."It's about using the data we collect as effectively as possible," he said."We can collect all the statistics we can, but there's no point unless it's used correctly for each player, whether that be for rehabilitation, recovery or performance."As part of the development blueprint, the Bennett brains trust will be implementing new benchmarks in training for the Dragons' junior grades.Hickmans said it was crucial to produce footballers ready to make the next step in their career and minimise the risk of injury.The new program will help the Dragons SG Ball and talented academy players to make the transition into the youth cup under 20 competition as part of the pathway to the NRL.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury