Redbacks turn to AFL for extra bite

South Australia’s cricketers will again enter a new summer lugging the burden of expectation, baggage and history but this time round they won’t be carrying unwanted kilograms as well.

The West End Redbacks today began a tough pre-season training regime under the direction of Stephen Schwerdt, a former AFL footballer whose fitness programs were honed over more than a decade in one of professional sport’s most physically demanding environments.

Schwerdt, a physical education teacher by profession who played 25 games for the Adelaide Crows and more than 200 for Central District in the South Australian National Football League has spent 16 seasons as fitness coach for the Crows and the Gold Coast Suns.

Earlier this month, it was announced the 47-year-old had been hired by the SA Cricket Association to the new role of Physical Performance Manager to bring his expertise to the West End Redbacks, the Adelaide Strikers (in the KFC Big Bash League) and the Breezair SA Scorpions women’s squad.

Schwerdt’s appointment not only underscores the SACA’s heightened commitment to overturning decades of mediocrity that has seen it secure a solitary Sheffield Shield title (1995-96) in the past 35 years

He also joins the growing ranks of elite athletes from rival sports who are being employed to help players gain an edge in a game that was not so long ago politely considered the domain of cricketers rather than athletes.

The Bupa Support Team Strength and Conditioning coach of Australia’s men’s side is currently Damian Mednis, a former top-ranked national high-jumper who worked for professional rugby teams in Ireland and Australia before becoming involved in cricket.

And at recent fitness training camps at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, the Australia players have taken part in training sessions with Olympic swimmers Stephanie Rice and Grant Hackett as well as Olympic weightlifter Damon Kelly. 

Damien Mednis takes you through the Bupa National Cricket Centre in 2014

While this morning’s session interspersed some sprint work with reflex drills and a subsequent pool session, it was essentially an opportunity for Schwerdt to meet his new charges and fine tune his brief with newly appointed Redbacks coach Jamie Siddons.

In addition to being the most recent SA captain to lift the Sheffield Shield, Siddons was also renowned for his durability and fitness having himself come from a football background that included two games for the Sydney Swans in 1984.

Certainly, the combination of a new head coach, fitness guru and the prospect of a gruelling training regime had those Redbacks players in attendance feeling a chill of anticipation that was only partly due to the arrival of Adelaide’s winter.

“The boys were a bit nervous with Schwerdty’s football background, but it went really well,” said 21-year-old Redbacks captain Travis Head, whose elevation to the leadership late last summer role also signalled the new direction that the SACA is looking to chart.

“It’s great for us that (Siddons) was the last person to lift the Shield and knows what it takes to win titles – he did it in Wellington (where he coached the Firebirds to two limited-overs trophies) as well and he brings good pedigree in coaching.

“Just this morning there was excitement in the room with the way he spoke, so now we’re raring to go.”

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Skills and fitness on day one of pre-season // SACA

Schwerdt, who concedes he has much to learn when it comes to cricket’s fitness specifics and training protocols, was aware that the reputation he gained working alongside AFL coaches including Malcolm Blight, Gary Ayres, Neil Craig and Guy McKenna preceded him.

“I think they (the Redbacks players) built me up to be some sort of an ogre, but I don’t think that will be the case,” he said in the wake of this morning’s session in the Adelaide Parklands.

“The thing that I have noticed is they’ve got a good work ethic – a good attitude, professional so that’s a good foundation to start with.

“It will be a big difference – make no mistake I’m on a steep learning curve in order to bring myself up to speed.

“But there’s still some non-negotiables that are common in all elite sports, so we’ll be honing in on those.

“The things I talked about with Jamie (Siddons) this morning was being innovative, and I think I can contribute in that area in a big way.”

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Tim Ludeman (L) and Kane Richardson striding out // SACA

A number of Redbacks squad members were absent from today’s inaugural session for the season due to UK League (Jake Lehmann, Adam Zampa, Alex Ross and Daniel Worrall) and County (Tom Cooper and Mark Cosgrove) commitments.

In addition, batsman Kelvin Smith was part of the NCC’s National Performance Squad that travelled to India yesterday as part of an exchange program that includes former Australia bowling great Glenn McGrath.

But the training program that Schwerdt will design for Cosgrove was a hot talking point at yesterday’s chilly session given the 30-year-old batsman’s past fitness battles that led to him being axed by SA a decade ago before returning to the fold last summer.

“I haven’t spoken to him personally but I emailed him and the other boys who are overseas to give them an idea of what we’re doing and I’ll have a conversation with him,” Schwerdt said today.

“He obviously needs an individualised program.

“He’s a completely different athlete to most of the other guys that we’ve got and I understand that but I want to have a chat to him first.

“For someone like Cossie it’s a bit like the other players, you look at their strengths and weaknesses and he’s got a lot of great assets as well so you don’t want to detract from those – his leadership and obviously his cricket ability and his experience.

“There’s a lot of pluses there, so you just have to maximise those and minimise the things he can get better at.”