The NSW Waratahs have been through two gruelling weeks of pre-season to date, as Head of Athletic Performance, Anthony Cutrupi and his team put them through their paces in this pre-Christmas training block.
After strength tests, yo-yo’s, skinfolds and everything in between, Cutrupi has identified one player in particular who has really impressed him.
“A lot of the boys came back in great shape, but Jake Gordon has been really impressive,” Cutrupi said.
Cutrupi praised Gordon’s lower-body power and speed as a scrum half and was impressed with the leadership he’d shown with his strength and conditioning.
“You expect a nine’s conditioning to exceptional in terms of running, but where Jake came back on day one, after a good break and a holiday overseas was at another level in terms of our markers,” Cutrupi said.
“There’s a generation there that are moving into senior positions within the squad [following turnover from 2019] so to grab hold of that with two hands and come in the way Jake has sets a great example from that point of view.”
The NSW Waratahs High Performance Team use a number of testing elements to gauge players overall fitness and design their programs in pre-season.
The markers – limited, competent and optimal/international – provide a guide on where players begin their pre-season and where they need to be come Round 1.
“You wouldn’t expect anyone to come back at optimal level, but Jake’s come back very close to that and will quite comfortably get to it by the end of pre-season,” Cutrupi added.
It’s been a big year for Gordon who played plenty of rugby across multiple competitions – Super Rugby, Shute Shield and NRC – totally some 32 games in 2019.
He also featured regularly in Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup training camps.
“We gave Jake the biggest break we could, it was a long year for him with plenty of footy,” Cutrupi said.
While on break Cutrupi and his team offer players the opportunity to get tailored strength and running programs to help keep on top of their conditioning.
“The big thing the boys are given is return standards, we want them to enjoy their break but there’s a responsibility to come back in at a level ready to start what’s already been a tough pre-season.
“Our job before and during the break is to give them suggestions and ideas on how to do that and most guys generally seek us out for programs.
“From a strength and conditioning perspective, you need guys [like Jake] to do that and lead the way because you need younger players seeing what they’re doing.
“The fact he and others within the group have taken that side of the program seriously is huge in terms of overall buy-in and team culture.”
