Elite Performance Unit

Off-season training is underway for our rugby league and rugby union athletes.
For our more senior athletes, this period gives us an opportunity to place a greater emphasis on individual physical development.
We currently have a number of different programs running across the group. For athletes who need to add size, there is a greater focus on hypertrophy and building lean mass. For others, where adding mass isn’t the priority, the focus shifts more towards developing maximal strength and improving force-producing qualities.
The off-season isn’t about putting every athlete through the same program. It’s about identifying what each athlete needs to improve and using this period to target it.

As athletes get older, the demands of their sport change.

A 10-year-old doesn’t need bigger arms or more muscle.

Once our contact sport athletes have built the movement quality and strength foundations, our focus shifts towards hypertrophy and tissue adaptation.

More muscle.
More resilient tissue.
Better prepared to absorb and produce force.
Better equipped for the demands of contact.

That’s why you’ll often see extra upper body volume at the end of sessions. Arms. Shoulders. Upper back. It’s programmed with purpose - the best athletes aren’t just stronger. They’re physically built for the game they play.

You won't get to where you want to be if you're relying on motivation.

A few years ago I arrived at the school gym on a dark, foggy winter morning, thinking about how cold it was outside, only to look out and see two of the boys already completing their speed work before the gym session started.

Another morning, I drove past one of our athletes running towards the school gym. He couldn’t get a lift, so he ran 5km to make the session.

No excuses. No one forcing them to be there. They had committed to improving and found a way to get the work done.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those boys are now playing professionally.

That’s discipline - and it took them further than motivation ever could.

Athletes:
Sport: Boxing

The athlete in this video is 12, but the foundations were built earlier.

Our program starts with athletes aged 10–12, teaching them how to move, jump, land, balance, and perform fundamental strength movements correctly.

It isn’t about lifting heavy or rushing development. It’s about building the skills, confidence, and movement qualities they’ll rely on as they grow and the demands of their sport increase.

Athlete:

Today’s lower body session focused on developing force production, movement efficiency and tissue resilience in a way that transfers to the field.

Our main lift was paired with jumps and plyometrics to target the force–velocity spectrum. Strength work builds the capacity to produce force, while the jump and plyo work teaches the athlete to express that force quickly - which is ultimately what acceleration and change of direction demand in rugby league.

Unilateral movements were then layered in to target pelvic control, frontal plane stability and single-leg force production.

The accessory work targeted the posterior chain and lower-leg complex. Hamstring strength and calf capacity are critical for sprinting, deceleration and long-term injury resilience, particularly as athletes move into higher training loads through their teenage years.

At this age the goal isn’t to chase fatigue or numbers to make the athlete or the session look impressive. The goal is to build a physical foundation that allows the athlete to run faster, change direction better and tolerate the demands of their sport as they progress through the years.