Derek McConn taking the Burgers to higher levels
At the end of the 2015 season it saw a major change to our fitness and high performance department. With James McConnell, who was the clubs High Performance Manager from 2014 and who was previously the clubs rehab coordinator, deciding to call an end to his time at the club, it saw a very important decision to be made- and that was who would be taking over.
In the end, the club managed to engage Derek McConn from the successful Box Hill Hawks outfit.
Originally from the Irish town of Ballyhaunis, based in County Mayo, Derek arrived in Australia in July 2012 to take on the position of Head of Health and Physical Education at South Morang’s Marymeade Catholic College.
Shortly after, Derek would also be appointed as a Strength & Conditioning coach at the Box Hill Hawks, where he would also complete a month’s Internship with their aligned side Hawthorn. At Box Hill City Oval, Derek was in charge of the fitness for the Development League side for three seasons where they would make three Grand Finals, however would also play a vital role with the senior side, especially for their 2013 VFL premiership campaign.
With a new high performance manager, it also resulted in a new team being formed. Supporting Derek is Adam Veli, Tom Lariba and Hayden Browne, while in recent weeks Nick Duryea from the Super Rules has come on board as a fitness assistant.
Since arriving at the club, Derek has enjoyed his time at Piranha Park “It been really good, it’s been a great experience. I’ve met some great likeminded types who are very keen to improve and get better, and I believe been around people that are keen to improve whether it be as coaches or players that it is a pathway for success into the future, having those sort of people around.”
Derek’s arrival also meant a new fitness program was to be implemented for the Pre-season campaign in preparation for the upcoming season. Training consisted of the regular three nights a week with Saturdays also consisting of gym sessions for the players.
“Our Aim and goal for the pre-season was a three pronged approach in development. Football specific conditioning consisted of different types of running done, not labouring or runs around the pack. It was running with specific conditioning needed. Footy specific strength was specific to position; injury prevention was a big thing. However, where I thought we’d get real value was nutrition- calorie intake and education- not just educate and learn but also have them understand what is required for the demands of VFL Football.”
The Preseason camp in Mansfield also highlighted the differences in training in previous seasons. While the first day of the camp consisted of a main session, the second day consisted of a morning hike up Mt.Buller, and the last day saw a fitness circuit become undertaken on the morning of the camp.
While the results see Coburg 2-6 after the first eight games, five of those six losses have been by no more than two goals. In previous seasons, the Lions were in positions to win the games, however as the game progressed on, it saw them overrun in the end with the score line making it much more flattering.
“Our overall aim from a results point of view were to make the finals, that’s what I wanted us to achieve. However, in a more basic game in terms of what we do personally, on a more subjective note is development of positive relationships throughout the club, underpinning success within the club. For the players, I want their understanding and education to be better in our three key areas, as well as personally the relationship side of things, in order to see us make the finals. I Wouldn’t define success based on ladder position, but finals would be a key goal in the end. For the rest of the season, we’re fully focused on making finals and making our mark there.”
The fitness implemented has seen the youthful lions side look a whole lot stronger and fitter compared to previous seasons at the club. With players having been advanced with regards to their physicality and growth in order to compete against much bigger and experienced opponents, Derek still is pleased with the progress despite knowing there is still a considerable way to go. “Even in losses, boys are progressing in this area. The positive is that we will have a positive launch pattern into the second half of the year. Through progressive improvement we will continue to get better and intangible results will be wins on the board in coming weeks and months.”
The GPS systems that have been implemented by Derek from Sports Performance Tracking have seen further research and development become implemented within our football and high performance department. “Our players are giving us fundamentally objective data. It’s not the coach giving the results, but its physical literal data with an accurate reading from a work rate perspective. Players have nowhere to hide as every player wearing a unit is accountable and who is and isn’t working hard gets found out. The entire list creates a culture, especially a positive one in terms of work rate. I can assess how they track in terms of conditioning, key conditioning aspects how they can improve in a game. From an injury perspective we can monitor load of players in order to improve performance and reduce injuries in the long term.”
From the day one of preseason Derek made his mark early with particular aims to have been achieved and focused on. “We obviously started in October-November and playing a particular type of football which consisted of high kicking efficiency, outside run on the park, turn teams over and work really hard. It’s been really clear with both attributes- with improved fitness and kicking efficiency we work much better. Although moving forward, players haven’t reached point of learning/capacity. There is significant room to improve especially how to utilize skills attained across the pre-season. We continue to learn and grow, performances will become more consistent as we reap rewards over the hard work put in throughout the training.”
However, the pleasing thing for Derek is that since arriving at Coburg is that he feels part of a club. “To actually see Coburg as a club, it’s been cool to be a part of it. One environment where everyone knows everyone well and in terms of success its fundamental. There is a real care factor, real relationships, and real honesty that exists within.”
Craig Lees has been pleased by Derek’s work he has put into our players throughout the short time he has been at the club. “Derek has been a great acquisition for the Coburg Football Club and he has great knowledge and understanding of how to prepare elite athletes especially at this level of football.”
Derek’s impact at Piranha Park has been dually noted in short time, and we look forward to having him continue to impact our football department with his nous in the areas of fitness and high performance. He has certainly established himself as a major asset to our great club.
