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Wests Tigers coach Jason Taylor believes club's injury crisis could have been prevented
Michael Chammas
Published: February 15, 2015 - 9:14PM
Wests Tigers have been decimated by injury over the past two years but new coach Jason Taylor insists the majority of those injuries could have been avoided with the right training and rehabilitation program.
Taylor, who took over from sacked coach Mick Potter in the off-season, believes most of the injuries the Wests Tigers suffered during a tumultuous two-year period cannot simply be put down to "bad luck".
A whopping 154 games of NRL were missed through injury by nine of the Wests Tigers' highest paid stars over the past two seasons, with Tim Moltzen missing 41 of those on his own. As a result the club was forced to fast-track a lot of its juniors and had its depth stretched to the limit as the rehabilitation ward grew larger each week.
But Taylor, who joined the Tigers from the Roosters after two years as Trent Robinson's assistant, remains critical of the club's previous training and rehabilitation program, adamant it contributed to the hefty injury toll.
"It's not bad luck," Taylor said. "Some guys are a little bit more injury prone than others but to have an exaggerated amount of injuries across the squad, it has to come back to the program and the way the team is preparing. Why isn't it happening to everyone else? Some of those injuries, it is possible that some a small percentage of them weren't able to be avoided. But the majority, in my opinion, could have been avoided."
The former Parramatta and South Sydney NRL coach has made a host of significant personnel changes to the club's coaching staff, parting ways with former strength and conditioning coach John Skandalis and appointing Corey Bocking as the Tigers' physical performance manager. Bocking has been working closely with Keegan Smith, who now has a consultancy role with the Wests Tigers, developing a new program that will hopefully reduce the number of injuries at the club.
"We're actively working hard to improve the injury rate in relation to the way we train and by the way we rehab and make decisions whether guys are ready to return to play or not," Taylor said.
"Pushing guys out there before they are ready or having a program that's not getting them strong enough in the areas they need to be strong in will contribute to the injury rate. We've spent time talking about it and implementing new ways of working. I always believed in professionalism and how important that was to getting you back on the field each week."
Fullback James Tedesco missed most of last season with respective knee and ankle injuries, while Curtis Sironen has missed 16 games in the past two years through injury. "Wests Tigers is the club people are talking about when it comes to injuries," Taylor said.
"But internally at each club, I would be surprised if there was any other club that isn't talking about injuries, injury prevention and actively working on all of that stuff day in and day out. It's part of the game and a program that prevents injuries should be stock standard in the NRL and we've worked really hard on preparing the guys for this season so that they're resilient in relation to what they have got to go through for the next six or seven months.
"I think there's a little bit of bad luck in most injuries but it's only a tiny bit. The majority of it is about preparation and the training and often the rehabilitation of injuries you've had in the past. That's what we believe and we're working really hard to get the guys to a point where we can get that injury toll under control in some way."
The Tigers are hopeful of being close to full strength for round one, with Tedesco racing the clock to prove his fitness in time for the opening game of the season against the Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday, March 7.
Taylor has been impressed with the attitude of his players in the pre-season, confident the scars of last year's horror finish to the regular season won't impact on their start to the 2015 campaign.
"The attitude has been really good that's one of the most impressive things about the guys, how well they've bought into the program and how committed they are to it," Taylor said. "We'll have some disappointments we'll have to deal with and how we deal with those will determine where we get to.
"From my experience when a new coach comes in, players are just looking to be directed on how he wants them to train and play. It's the job of the coach to get them to believe in that vision and if they do, they'll get on board.
"All I've seen is a confident group. You can talk about how the season finished, but if you look at how their season started, these guys were up there with the top four teams so those memories aren't too long ago."
WESTS TIGERS
Games missed by key players through injury over past two years
Tim Moltzen 41
James Tedesco 21
Liam Fulton 21
Keith Galloway 20
Braith Anasta 17
Curtis Sironen 16
Chris Lawrence 14
Robbie Farah 7
Aaron Woods 7
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ould-have-been-prevented-20150215-13f4r1.html
Michael Chammas
Published: February 15, 2015 - 9:14PM
Wests Tigers have been decimated by injury over the past two years but new coach Jason Taylor insists the majority of those injuries could have been avoided with the right training and rehabilitation program.
Taylor, who took over from sacked coach Mick Potter in the off-season, believes most of the injuries the Wests Tigers suffered during a tumultuous two-year period cannot simply be put down to "bad luck".
A whopping 154 games of NRL were missed through injury by nine of the Wests Tigers' highest paid stars over the past two seasons, with Tim Moltzen missing 41 of those on his own. As a result the club was forced to fast-track a lot of its juniors and had its depth stretched to the limit as the rehabilitation ward grew larger each week.
But Taylor, who joined the Tigers from the Roosters after two years as Trent Robinson's assistant, remains critical of the club's previous training and rehabilitation program, adamant it contributed to the hefty injury toll.
"It's not bad luck," Taylor said. "Some guys are a little bit more injury prone than others but to have an exaggerated amount of injuries across the squad, it has to come back to the program and the way the team is preparing. Why isn't it happening to everyone else? Some of those injuries, it is possible that some a small percentage of them weren't able to be avoided. But the majority, in my opinion, could have been avoided."
The former Parramatta and South Sydney NRL coach has made a host of significant personnel changes to the club's coaching staff, parting ways with former strength and conditioning coach John Skandalis and appointing Corey Bocking as the Tigers' physical performance manager. Bocking has been working closely with Keegan Smith, who now has a consultancy role with the Wests Tigers, developing a new program that will hopefully reduce the number of injuries at the club.
"We're actively working hard to improve the injury rate in relation to the way we train and by the way we rehab and make decisions whether guys are ready to return to play or not," Taylor said.
"Pushing guys out there before they are ready or having a program that's not getting them strong enough in the areas they need to be strong in will contribute to the injury rate. We've spent time talking about it and implementing new ways of working. I always believed in professionalism and how important that was to getting you back on the field each week."
Fullback James Tedesco missed most of last season with respective knee and ankle injuries, while Curtis Sironen has missed 16 games in the past two years through injury. "Wests Tigers is the club people are talking about when it comes to injuries," Taylor said.
"But internally at each club, I would be surprised if there was any other club that isn't talking about injuries, injury prevention and actively working on all of that stuff day in and day out. It's part of the game and a program that prevents injuries should be stock standard in the NRL and we've worked really hard on preparing the guys for this season so that they're resilient in relation to what they have got to go through for the next six or seven months.
"I think there's a little bit of bad luck in most injuries but it's only a tiny bit. The majority of it is about preparation and the training and often the rehabilitation of injuries you've had in the past. That's what we believe and we're working really hard to get the guys to a point where we can get that injury toll under control in some way."
The Tigers are hopeful of being close to full strength for round one, with Tedesco racing the clock to prove his fitness in time for the opening game of the season against the Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday, March 7.
Taylor has been impressed with the attitude of his players in the pre-season, confident the scars of last year's horror finish to the regular season won't impact on their start to the 2015 campaign.
"The attitude has been really good that's one of the most impressive things about the guys, how well they've bought into the program and how committed they are to it," Taylor said. "We'll have some disappointments we'll have to deal with and how we deal with those will determine where we get to.
"From my experience when a new coach comes in, players are just looking to be directed on how he wants them to train and play. It's the job of the coach to get them to believe in that vision and if they do, they'll get on board.
"All I've seen is a confident group. You can talk about how the season finished, but if you look at how their season started, these guys were up there with the top four teams so those memories aren't too long ago."
WESTS TIGERS
Games missed by key players through injury over past two years
Tim Moltzen 41
James Tedesco 21
Liam Fulton 21
Keith Galloway 20
Braith Anasta 17
Curtis Sironen 16
Chris Lawrence 14
Robbie Farah 7
Aaron Woods 7
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ould-have-been-prevented-20150215-13f4r1.html
