Source: Radio New Zealand
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in action at Warriors training. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster insists tighter NRL training protocols have not forced changes to how his team prepare for games during the week.
The Aussie rugby league competition has imposed limits on training field contact in a bid to reduce injuries, especially concussion.
The restrictions apply to NRL and NRLW teams through pre-season and in-season sessions.
Men’s teams were notified of the change before the start of the current season, capping contact at 100 minutes through a seven-day turnaround, including wrestling.
The women’s competition starts in July and they can train contact no more than 85 minutes over seven days during their season.
Both men and women see their allocation cut to 40-50 minutes for shorter turnarounds.
“It hasn’t affected anything and no-one’s asked us to change anything about the way we train,” Webster said. “I think, the way we train, they’re really happy with it.
“We have a real understanding of when the boys need to push and when we need to train hard, when we need to do contact at training and when we don’t.
“We don’t want to be overcooking them, otherwise they turn up to gameday and they’re not ready to go.”
Webster admitted injuries often occur at training, sometimes ruling players out of consideration for games, but he couldn’t think of any so far this season.
“Not off the top of my head, but it happens all the time,” he said. “Throughout a season, you definitely get four or five.
“Someone could roll over on an ankle, someone could trip over. Three players nearly tripped over each other today and there was no contact in the session.
“Accidents happen.”
Last week, five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita fronted the weekly Warriors media opportunity with a black eye, apparently inflicted by teammate Kurt Capewell during a just-completed practice.
“They didn’t have a fight, I can tell you that,” Webster chuckled.
Warriors practice tackling technique at training. Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
During the season, early days of the week are usually spent recovering from the previous game. The shorter the turnaround, the less opportunity for contact training anyway.
The Warriors played Gold Coast Titans last Saturday and face the Dolphins this Saturday – a regulation seven-day turnaround.
“We ramp it up later in the week,” Webster said, before flying to Wellington on Thursday. “We had a solid session today.
“It doesn’t go for long … it’s intense, but short. We’re lucky to have a great high-performance team that tell us how the players are feeling and how hard we can press.
“I think we’ve got that balance really well and, if we need to adjust and the NRL want us to, we will, but we always have the players’ best interests at heart.
“It’s always important that they’re comfortable with the reps they’ve done, but they also turn up to gameday feeling good about themselves.”
The Warriors will have to re-assess their workloads again for the off-season, when the NRL is even more prescriptive. Men are limited to 100 minutes a week of contact before Christmas and 200 minutes afterwards, including wrestling.
Teams should schedule no more than three consecutive days of contact training and avoid back-to-back days of high intensity.
The NRL has also laid out a plan covering a staged progression into pre-season workouts.
“The training load guidelines are designed to enhance player safety and have been developed following extensive research,” the NRL said.
The protocols follow similar guidelines applied by World Rugby and the NFL American football competition.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
