Outside help a bonus for Troy Simmonds
Mark Stevens | February 21, 2008 12:00am
RICHMOND ruckman Troy Simmonds has become a trailblazer, paying out of his own pocket to work with an elite athletics trainer. Simmonds spent a rostered day off from the club yesterday training in the rain on the Olympic Park track that 100m world record-holder Asafa Powell hopes to grace tonight.
The session with former St Kilda and Fremantle fitness adviser Adam Larcom has been part of his routine since November.
Simmonds, who was restricted to 10 games in the 2007 season because of injury, has been spending up to four hours a week with Larcom - concentrating on sprinting, weights and physio - with the blessing of Richmond.
While other players were relaxing on their summer weekends off, Simmonds and Larcom were doing extra sessions on the track.
It is a common practice in the National Football League in the US, where there is a strong concentration on one-on-one training.
Simmonds will enter the season as the player with the strongest power-lift at Punt Rd. He has also set a personal best for 20m, cutting his time to 2.9sec.
Although teammate Brett Deledio can clock as low as 2.7sec, Simmonds' time is exceptional for a 196cm, 100kg power player.
He regards the use of speed and agility specialist Larcom as a blue-chip investment.
"You can't beat having one-on-one coaching," Simmonds said.
"We've got elite strength and conditioning guys at Richmond, but it's very hard to keep an eye on 44 players.
"The club is very supportive. They trust that I know my body well. I know when to pull up if I get sore.
"The coaching staff are all for it. If you've got a strength in that area and want to develop it, you should be able to.
"I see myself as someone who likes to get the absolute best out of themselves - whether that's in sport, business, life, whatever."
Larcom said Simmonds' dedication was evident during a session at Olympic Park early in the pre-season.
"One Sunday we were at the track, when the rest of Troy's mates weren't doing it," Larcom said.
"By chance the whole Richmond coaching staff came down. They had some rookie players they were looking at and wanted to trial them in the in-field away from everyone.
"Terry Wallace (Richmond coach) came up to me and said he was really rapt. It was good for Troy because the staff saw he was training hard on a weekend. No one knew . . . he didn't tell them."
Simmonds worked closely with Larcom at Fremantle.
"Working with Adam at Fremantle was huge for me, because it changed my body," he said. "It turned me into a power/speed-type player."
The relationship has been rekindled, with Larcom introducing him to track work with the likes of hurdler Kyle Vander-Kuyp and 100m specialists Adam Basil and Aaron Rouge-Serret.
"It's more than just a running session. It's good for the mind," Simmonds said.
"I can see a stage where several players have personal attention like this.
"I reckon football clubs would love to do it, but it is finding (the right) people.
"It is lucky myself and Adam worked together and we're friends as well."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23248992-19742,00.html
