Getting the Suns ready
Rigby trains the individual mindset
SUNS high-performance manager Alex Rigby has one of the toughest jobs in the AFL right now but there is one enormous positive he has identified that could come from the COVID-19 crisis.
Rigby is tasked with the job of ensuring a list of about 50 players at the Suns remain in the condition to play elite football when the time comes despite having no physical access to the group.
Players are restricted to working in pairs, and Rigby has come up with programs for each that will enable them to play at the elite level required when the AFL season resumes.
Despite the high pressure, Rigby said there was one major long-term benefit the crisis would have on the players.
“It will really fast-track the development of some of the younger guys and expose them to learning what is required to be an elite athlete away from us,” Rigby said.
“They are starting to understand what it’s like to be an individual athlete, those guys who train for Olympics and train by themselves for long periods of time.
“I see this as a great opportunity for the young guys in our squad to learn what is required to be at the top of your game without us holding their hand.
“That will hold us in good stead moving forward.
“There is lot of education behind the scenes going on about how to train by yourself, what do you do if you don’t have one bit of equipment, what is an alternative.
“No doubt moving forward in the AFL the periods of time away from the club will be greater so we need to make sure we teach the athletes to be able to cope by themselves and maintain the drive so when they return for congested schedules they are ready to roll.”
Rigby said he was building programs spanning no longer than 14 days and mixing up training with challenges to keep the players engaged.
“The danger for the younger guys and the group is to switch off, disengage and then because the period where we can have them together before we restart will be congested, the leap might be too great for some of those guys,” he said.
“We are fluctuating the overall training loads week-toweek.
“If we give them a four-tosix week training program and don’t see footy coming back for a while I know I’d be disengaged with that.
“We have 10- to 14-day blocks of training with a light at the end of the tunnel.”